EA Is Looking Into Making Its Javelin Anti-Cheat Support Linux/Proton

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Over the years and years of gaming, Electronic Arts (EA) has been one of the developers that I have ultimately played lots of games from. Madden NFL, Battlefield, and The Sims. However, some of these games aren’t playable on the Steam Deck or any Linux device thanks to their kernel-level anti-cheat. But that may not be an issue for long, as it looks like EA wants to start supporting Linux.

In a new job posting on their site, which we found from a post on Twitter/X by @fortniteonlinux, EA is looking for a new Senior Anti-Cheat Engineer. In the listing, they mention that they want to develop a native ARM driver for their Javelin Anti-Cheat, support for loading different versions based on user hardware, and, at the bottom, it mentions charting a path for Javelin to support Linux and Proton, which will ultimately mean supporting the Steam Deck.

While this may not mean EA is looking to support it immediately, as it seems ARM is their priority based on the listing, it does mean support for Linux/Proton is on the table and being actively worked on. This will mean their online multiplayer games, like Battlefield and skate, will be ultimately playable on the Steam Deck in the future.

Not all of EA's games release with Javelin, and their studios have touted Steam Deck support before. Dragon Quest: The Veilguard and Split Fiction both work wonderfully on the Deck, so the games that would become playable on Linux are the larger online titles. Still, support is support, and I will never complain about having more games ultimately playable on the Steam Deck.

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