Helldivers 2 Easy Anti-Cheat: GameGuard is gone, some mods stop working, and Steam Deck still runs it

Helldivers 2 has a new anti-cheat on PC. Arrowhead Game Studios replaced GameGuard with Easy Anti-Cheat on Oct. 20, and the change hits some mods. Here’s what changed, which mods break and what Steam Deck players need to know.

When Helldivers 2 switched to Easy Anti-Cheat. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. Arrowhead announced the change on Steam that morning and shipped it in patch 7.2.0, Devoid of Liberty, the same update that launched the Scope of Authority Warbond.

Arrowhead’s reason is blunt: its GameGuard setup “wasn’t as effective as it could have been.” The studio picked Easy Anti-Cheat, which it calls an industry standard used in over 200 games, and added extra security tools on top.

Why Arrowhead is cracking down. The target is cheat mods that have been circulating among players. Arrowhead says some players went beyond ruining their own games: they hurt the matches of their squadmates and even manipulated the Galactic War, the shared campaign that every Helldiver fights in, breaking its story for everyone else.

Arrowhead also laid out its view of mods, a topic it had only touched before with safety warnings. The studio says it appreciates the creativity behind cosmetic and other mods that don’t touch gameplay, as long as they don’t hurt anyone else’s game.

Easy Anti-Cheat belongs to Epic Games, which bought its maker, Kamu, in 2018 and offers the service free to developers. It protects games such as Fortnite, Apex Legends and Elden Ring. Since 2021, it can run on Linux and Steam Deck through Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, an option each developer switches on.

GameGuard, from the South Korean company INCA Internet, had guarded Helldivers 2 since its launch on Feb. 8, 2024, and drew complaints from PC players from day one.

If a cosmetic mod breaks, the fix comes from the mod’s creator. If Easy Anti-Cheat blocks a mod or program that doesn’t harm anyone, Arrowhead asks players to report it through its official Zendesk support. The studio doesn’t certify any mod as safe, and players use mods at their own discretion.

Steam Deck and Linux players can keep playing: Arrowhead says compatibility stays unchanged. The PC hardware requirements don’t change either. Mods only run on PC, so the change matters most to Steam players.

Arrowhead posted hotfix 7.2.1 on Thursday, Oct. 22, aimed at one of the main crashes after the big patch: the game crashed when another player joined or left the squad.

Helldivers 2 costs $39.99 on Steam. For the newest gear in the same update, see our Scope of Authority Warbond guide, and for another big shooter launching this week, our Modern Warfare 4 release time page.

This page is updated as soon as Arrowhead changes its mod policy or posts the next Helldivers 2 patch.