Riot Games’ anti-cheat software for League also targets Linux users

Linux users may never be able to play League of Legends again.

This week Riot Games implemented a new anti-cheat software for the game that is meant to limit the number of players who use third-party programs while playing. Most of these programs help users cheat in-game, such as by inputting movement commands for a player to allow them to dodge enemy skillshots.

Unfortunately for players who run Linux as their operating system, the new anti-cheat also targets it as a third-party program, preventing them from playing League. Many players took to Reddit and other forums to protest the change, even creating a petition for Riot to add Linux compatibility.

“It’d be nice to have LoL running without issue, or at least, not actively being crippled by shortsighted policy changes (that by the way effect far more than just Linux users),” Reddit user arrbos said in a thread on the site. “If that turns out to not to be possible, whatever, that’s [Riot’s] call, but it’s nice to be able to register my displeasure.”

Unfortunately, there seems to be no forthcoming solution, according to a comment by Riot Perma, the Anti-Cheat Engineer for Riot, on the League forum.

“We’ve not specifically tested for compatibility with Wine or other Windows emulation or virtualization software,” Perma wrote. “Because of the complex nature of our protection and the many variations of software out there, we can’t change our solution to be compatible with all of them. However, we are open to working with any software vendor that wants to make their software compatible.”

While Linux users comprise just a small portion of the community, Riot’s refusal to actively attempt any workarounds reflect a lack of concern for its player base. League was also initially unplayable for Apple users, but Riot eventually created its own client that could run OS X in 2013.

Update June 19 10:16am: Riot Games responded to Dot Esports’ request for more information, indicating that a fix may be in the works.

“To our knowledge Wine developers are working on a fix,” Riot said. “We’ll be updating that thread in the next few days, so I’d suggest watching it for more information.”