Developer addresses anti-cheat overreach in ‘Marvel Rivals’

Mac and Linux users can soon play Marvel Rivals via emulation without risk. Image Credit: Marvel/NetEase Games

“Marvel Rivals” developer NetEase will reverse 100-year bans imposed on players who used emulation software to play the game on Mac and other platforms.

Marvel Rivals features an anti-cheat system similar to that on other popular Windows games. Such tools can get removed or disabled as part of the process of porting games to a new platform.

NetEase, the developer of the game, announced that it would be reversing the bans in a future update. The announcement was made on a Discord server.

Players were banned because the game misinterpreted attempts to run the software on currently unsupported platforms like macOS, Steam Deck, and Linux using Windows emulation software as “cheating.” It then imposed 100-year bans on players.

Marvel Rivals is natively compatible with Windows PCs, the Sony PlayStation 5, and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S and X consoles.

The bans caused considerable outcry and bad publicity for the new title. Would-be players on other platforms were simply using emulation software such as Parallels or Proton on Linux in order to play the game.

CodeWeavers CEO James Ramey directly contacted NetEase to complain about the restriction on running the game on alternate platforms. CodeWeavers makes a Windows emulation environment called Crossover that is designed to help macOS, ChromeOS, and Linux users run Windows software.

Until changes are made to the game itself, players could still find themselves notified of a ban for “cheating” by the game. NetEase will reverse the bans when notified by players until it can modify the game’s security mechanisms through an update.

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