Recent actions by BattlEye on VFIO/KVM Gaming platform – bans and warnings.
Recent actions by BattlEye on VFIO/KVM Gaming platform – bans and warnings.
Hey there, together we noticed BattlEye is now blocking KVM connections on Linux, believing many users are exploiting the system. I wrote this message to bring attention to this issue, inspired by Linus’s recent videos about KVM gaming and a sponsor mentioned as a remote service.
I’m currently running Manjaro with a Ryzen Threadripper 2920X, upgraded to an RTX2070 for GPU passthrough (GTX 1060 before). For my gaming server, I use Moonlight. You’ll find more discussions here: a Reddit thread with many links.
I reached out to Ubisoft, but they didn’t respond and seem to prefer BattlEye. Trying to contact them hasn’t helped much. There are also new threads about VM spoofing, though they’re not very useful and don’t appear to work well. Removing the CPU hypervisor to partially hide the VM actually hurt my performance, especially FPS. A full masking solution seems out of reach for now.
For everyone assuming a cheater is looking for ways to bypass this, I’m just playing for fun with friends and not focused on rankings. Thanks!
SomeOrdinaryGamers produced several videos on the topic. Most cheaters rely on virtual machines, which prompted BattleEye to decide clearly. Eliminate all users running VMs (and risk losing customers), including those who use them or continue exploiting them. I’m not claiming every VM user cheats, but everyone using a VM suggests they’re hiding their activity. Injection through a VM is hard to spot initially, which explains the need for two bans—one soft (like a Reddit-style warning) and one strict that flags accounts. Each VM user receives the soft ban first; the second only if BattleEye confirms the breach. They’re likely refining this approach, though it’s currently the most effective step they could take to curb hacking. They admitted it wasn’t perfect, but they had to choose between worse options. There’s a solution that would require changing and recompiling the kernel.
You can inquire about the reasons behind using a virtual machine for gaming.
If you're seeking a fix: I'm unsure if it functions in all scenarios, but Battleye does support it. Rainbow Six Siege remains available to play.