For some, Helldivers 2’s anti-cheat software limits the ability to play at all

05.04.2024 - 14:01 / polygon.com

When Steven Spohn wants to play a video game, he boots up the computer and puts on a baseball cap that allows him to use head movements to input keyboard presses. Attached to the hat is a piece of hardware called TrackIR, which uses an infrared camera and metallic reflectors to read the position of his head; Spohn then uses another program to turn those head movements into keyboard presses.

It’s one of several pieces of software that Spohn, chief operations officer for AbleGamers, uses to play video games, along with an on-screen keyboard and dictation software called Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Usually, these programs play relatively nicely with video games.

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“Every time I play those games [like Escape from Tarkov or Fortnite], I get warnings about using those programs, but they don’t flat-out block them, and so far, I have not been banned for using them,” Spohn told Polygon over email. “Although I have heard from some disabled people who have been. Those decisions were ultimately always overturned on appeal.”

Helldivers 2 is different.

Spohn posted about his experience playing the hit shooter on X on Monday, noting that the game blocked the programs he uses to play. “Effectively, an anti-cheat protocol is blocking assistive technology inputs from being read by the game. I don’t have a solution for this,” he wrote.

Ironically, Helldivers 2 has a lot of accessibility options, including extremely high mouse sensitivity, according to Spohn. However, the game cuts off disabled players who use assistive technology that’s blocked by its notoriously strict anti-cheat program, called nProtect GameGuard. It blocks third-party programs like Dragon NaturallySpeaking and on-screen keyboards on top of blocking inputs from Spohn’s hat. “[It’s] effectively eliminating all 3 pieces of assistive technology I use to play games in various combinations,” he said.

Spohn told Polygon he’s really alarmed that Helldivers 2’s anti-cheat programs flagged the hat as a cheating device.

“NOTHING has ever seen my hat as a cheating device,” Spohn said. “All it does is allow me to use my head to turn left or right to push a keyboard button instead of the keyboard button itself.”

Games are often packaged with anti-cheat software, and they’re an especially important way for developers to track and ban cheaters who use third-party programs to give themselves advantages. If you’ve played a competitive multiplayer game, you’ve come into contact with an anti-cheat program, even if you didn’t notice it. Easy Anti-Cheat is one that’s used widely — Apex Legends uses it, for instance. Electronic Arts uses a proprietary program called EA Anticheat for Battlefield games and EA sports titles, while Ubisoft uses its own internally