Online gaming has exploded into a $198 billion market, but with its rising popularity also comes a plague of cheaters threatening to ruin gameplay integrity. Over 86% of games have directly faced cheating issues from aimbots to asset tampering hacks. This not only damages revenues through lost player trust but contradicts the spirit of fair play.
Fortunately, anti-cheat tools like Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) have stepped up to counter this cheating epidemic. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll give you an insider‘s look into what EAC is, how it catches cheaters, which games rely on it, plus tips to install and compare it against alternatives. Strap in for an in-depth evaluation of one of the top anti-cheat suites securing online play!
A Quick History of Easy Anti-Cheat
Founded in 2006 by developers worried about cheating in their own games, Easy Anti-Cheat arose as one of the first sophisticated responses to hacks permeating successful multiplayer titles like Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat.
Owned by Epic Games (yes, the Fortnite company!), EAC now protects over 100 million PC users across 400+ game titles. Its kernel-level driver monitors system processes in real-time to identify cheating software behavior.
Over 15 years, Easy Anti-Cheat has kept pace with innovating tricks used by hackers to unlawfully gain the upper hand against legitimate players. Its preventative security model focuses on proactively blocking cheats rather than just reactionary banning after damage occurs.
What Does Easy Anti-Cheat Actually Do?
Easy Anti-Cheat sits silently in the background each time you launch a supported game, vigilantly tracking system activities for any hacking behavior. Using a hybrid blend of detection methods, it catches 99.9% of cheating attempts.
Signature Scanning
Like antivirus guards securing your computer, EAC has an extensive catalog of cheating software signatures. It cross-references these fingerprints against your open programs, stopping known hackers.
Anomaly Detection
Even brand-new cheats get noticed by looking for unusual patterns like impossible statistics or injected code compared to normal play. Machine learning trains the software on what human behavior looks like versus bots.
Kernel-Level Monitoring
EAC‘s secret sauce is a driver running at the deepest operating system level monitoring for suspicious processes. This low-level vantage point is superior to surface tools that can be tricked by clever hackers.
When cheating is caught by multiple validation methods, EAC instantly boots the player and blocks new accounts to prevent reentry. Through multi-layer protection and equitable permabans, EAC upholds fair competition.
Why Do Gamers Even Cheat in the First Place?
I realize it can be tempting to chalk it all up to malicious jerks, but the cheating epidemic stems from psychological roots. Players cite reasons like:
- Boosting self-esteem through easy wins
- Peer pressure to prove gameplay skills
- Lack of consequences in anonymous online worlds
Game designers can help remedy cheating urges through achievement ladders, community guidelines, and emphasizing sportsmanship conduct. Anti-cheat tools also establish real punishments via account bans and forcing hack uninstalls before granting reentry.
What Games Use Easy Anti-Cheat Protection?
With over 15 years securing leading games, Easy Anti-Cheat boasts over 400 supported titles across every major genre:
Some all-star hits relying on EAC include:
- Apex Legends
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Dead by Daylight
- Rust
- Valheim
- Squad
- Hunt: Showdown
You can browse the full catalog of EAC-protected games here. Note that EAC can only run under titles that have integrated its SDK into their codebase during development. It is not a generic third-party tool you can activate separately.
Installing and Uninstalling Easy Anti-Cheat
When installing any game that taps into the EAC service, the anti-cheat client should download and configure itself automatically in the background. This allows for hassle-free setup the first time you boot up the game.
However, if you accidentally dismiss or skip the initial EAC install prompt, you‘ll need to trigger it manually before you can properly play:
Manual Install Steps
- Close the game launcher fully
- Navigate into the game‘s installed directory
- Find the EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe file
- Double-click to run the installer as Admin
- Follow the setup wizard prompts
Uninstalling also happens automatically by deleting any EAC-linked games. This cleans up background services no longer in use. Alternatively, run the EasyAntiCheat_Setup.exe in the game folders and choose the removal option.
How Does Easy Anti-Cheat Compare to Other Anti-Cheat Tools?
While EAC leads among dedicated anti-cheat suites, prime competitors BattlEye and VAC also fight hacking incidents. Here‘s an inside look at how they all stack up:
BattlEye
Popular in Fortnite and PUBG. Solid at catching aimbot triggers via signature scanning. However lacks EAC‘s deep system monitoring capabilities.
Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC)
Well-known through integration with Steam. Quick at issuing permanent bans for offenders but less customizable by game creators than EAC‘s open SDK.
No anti-cheat solution yet devised can stop every imaginable hack. However, Easy Anti-Cheat‘s layered defense through signature matching, activity monitoring, machine learning, and especially its low-level kernel access makes it one of the toughest to bypass.
When combined with multiplayer community guidelines and blocking repeat offender hardware, EAC provides end-to-end protection.
What Does the Future Hold for Anti-Cheat Technology?
While amazing progress has been made securing online game ecosystems, cheating innovates as quickly as anti-cheat countermeasures. Emerging fronts include:
- Cloud gaming: More streaming opens new attack surfaces vulnerable to packet injection etc.
- Machine learning: Hackers train aimbots to mimic random human movements to avoid flags
- Hardware bans: Blocking repeat offender PC components from accessing games
Thankfully Easy Anti-Cheat invests heavily into an expert detection team that evolves in lockstep with hack creator tricks. Their commitment and over 15 years experience makes EAC poised to lead anti-cheat innovation against future threats.
The Last Word on Easy Anti-Cheat
At the end of the day, gamers just want to enjoy their favorite titles on fair terms that reward skill, not who can code the best aimbots. That where trusted anti-cheat tools like Easy Anti-Cheat come into play.
With over a decade securing top games through cutting-edge detection, plus backing by gaming giants Epic Games, EAC has firmly established itself as a leader in locking down online play integrity.
Few rival tools can match EAC‘s layered defense spanning signature scanning, anomaly monitoring, kernel-level oversight and machine learning adaptation to new hacks. By banning offenders rapidly and booting cheat tools before entry, EAC upholds the ideals of fair competition and fun satisfaction from skill-based victories.
So for both gamers tired of compromised matches and developers protecting hard work, Easy Anti-Cheat stands watch to enable carefree enjoyment of multiplayer game worlds where teamwork, not hacking, wins the day!
Over and out,
Josh M.
