WARDOGS ships with Elytra. The Steam store page carries the disclosure "Uses Kernel Level Anti-Cheat: Elytra", alongside a note that the game requires agreement to a third-party EULA.
This is a change. The closed beta builds ran Easy Anti-Cheat, and a great deal of advice written during the test period — including earlier versions of pages on this wiki — still refers to EAC. Instructions that tell you to repair an EasyAntiCheat folder no longer describe the software the game actually installs.
What kernel level actually means here
Elytra installs a driver that runs at the highest privilege level on Windows, below the game and below any program you could start yourself. That is what lets it observe tampering a user-space application would never see.
It is also why the anti-cheat is entangled with your firmware and driver configuration rather than just with the game. A component operating at that level is sensitive to the state of the boot environment and to other software that loads code into running processes.
The practical consequence is that anti-cheat faults present as launch failures and crashes rather than as anti-cheat error messages. A game that closes instantly on launch is a much more common symptom than a dialog naming the anti-cheat.
Why the switch broke Linux and Steam Deck
A kernel driver only works on the operating system it was built for, and Elytra was built for Windows. The Steam store page lists Windows as the only supported platform.
Easy Anti-Cheat had a Proton path that a developer could switch on, which is why the game ran on Linux during the test period. BULKHEAD has described that compatibility as happenstance rather than an intended feature, and the new anti-cheat removed it.
This wiki covers the Linux and Steam Deck position, including the refund BULKHEAD explicitly offered, on its own page.
Secure Boot, TPM and what is actually required
The Steam store page states no Secure Boot or TPM 2.0 requirement. The minimum specification lists Windows 10 and a 64-bit processor, and the recommended specification lists Windows 11. That is the whole of the official requirement.
Enabling Secure Boot nonetheless resolves launch crashes for many players, and that remains true under Elytra for the same structural reason it was true under EAC: a kernel-level component cannot verify a startup environment that permits unsigned drivers.
Several recent large-scale shooters do make Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 a hard requirement, and players reasonably assume WARDOGS did the same. It has not, at least not as a published requirement.
Treat Secure Boot as a fix worth trying, not as a prerequisite. BULKHEAD has published no Secure Boot or TPM requirement for WARDOGS.
What BULKHEAD has not published
There is no developer post walking through the anti-cheat change, its timing or its reasoning. The switch is visible on the store page disclosure rather than announced in its own right.
No documentation describes how to repair or reinstall Elytra independently of the game, in the way EAC exposed its own installer. Until one exists, verifying game files through Steam is the supported route.
The detection and ban criteria are not published either, which is ordinary for anti-cheat but worth stating plainly given the incorrect bans reported at launch.
Anti-cheat questions answered
Short answers to the most common anti-cheat questions.
- What anti-cheat does WARDOGS use? — Elytra. The Steam store page discloses it as "Uses Kernel Level Anti-Cheat: Elytra".
- Does WARDOGS use Easy Anti-Cheat? — Not any more. Beta builds ran EAC; the launch build ships Elytra.
- Is it kernel level? — Yes, and the store page says so directly. It installs a driver at the highest Windows privilege level.
- Does it require Secure Boot or TPM 2.0? — No published requirement exists. Enabling Secure Boot still fixes launch crashes for many players.
- Why does it not work on Linux or Steam Deck? — A kernel driver is built for one operating system. Elytra is Windows-only, and the Steam page lists Windows alone.
- How do I repair the anti-cheat? — No standalone repair tool is documented for Elytra. Verify the game files through Steam instead.