Battlefield 6 technical director Christian Buhl expressed regret that Secure Boot could keep some PC players from playing, but he also defended it as a worthwhile anti-cheat trade-off. EA’s October 2025 PC launch guidance still required Secure Boot; the remarks reported in August 2025 were not an announcement that the requirement had been withdrawn.
What did the developer say?
Ars Technica’s August 29, 2025 headline described Buhl’s remarks as an apology. The reported comments were more specific: Buhl regretted the access barrier, not the decision to use Secure Boot. Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, he said, “The fact is I wish we didn’t have to do things like Secure Boot.” He acknowledged that some PCs could not meet the requirement, leaving their owners unable to play, and said that “really sucks.” He also wished players could get into the game with less friction. Ars Technica
In a separate interview reported by PC Gamer on August 28, Buhl defended the security trade-off: “Of course, we’re never going to solve all cheating problems, but Secure Boot is a hugely helpful tool in tackling cheating.” PC Gamer said he considered the setup friction worth accepting in pursuit of a fairer game. PC Gamer
Did EA remove the Secure Boot requirement?
No withdrawal is reported in the sources here. EA’s October 7, 2025 launch guidance said Secure Boot was required to play Battlefield 6 on PC and explained how players could check its status. Buhl’s August remarks acknowledged the burden while defending the measure; they did not announce a policy reversal. EA’s launch guidance
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The requirement applied to PC, not consoles. EA’s August 4, 2025 statement presented Secure Boot as a source of signals for Javelin anti-cheat against software that tries to interfere during Windows startup. The company cited kernel-level cheats and rootkits, memory manipulation and injection, spoofing and hardware-ID manipulation, virtual machines and emulation, and anti-cheat tampering as concerns. That is EA’s explanation of its approach, not independent proof that the requirement prevents cheating. EA’s Secure Boot statement
What did EA say the anti-cheat system stopped?
Reporting by Ars Technica attributed two open-beta figures to EA: Javelin prevented 330,000 attempts to cheat or tamper with anti-cheat controls in less than two days, and EA received 104,000 reports of potential cheaters from players. The first figure counts attempts as EA characterized them, not necessarily unique people; the second counts reports, not confirmed unique offenders. EA said player reports could help develop detection techniques. Ars Technica’s report on the beta figures
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EA’s Javelin anti-cheat team put the limitation plainly in a forum statement reproduced by Ars Technica: “Secure Boot is not, and was not intended to be a silver bullet.”
How can PC players check Secure Boot?
EA’s October 2025 guidance pointed players to Windows System Information. To check the relevant status:
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- Open the Windows Start menu, type
msinfo32, and open System Information. - In the System Summary, check the Secure Boot State entry to see whether Secure Boot is on.
- Compare your system with EA’s PC guidance if it does not meet the stated requirements; the guidance also listed TPM 2.0 enabled, User Secured Boot enabled, HVCI capable, and VBS capable.
These are distinct security requirements and capabilities, not interchangeable names for Secure Boot. Whether settings can be changed depends on the PC’s firmware and configuration; EA’s guidance does not mean every unsupported system can be made compliant by toggling one option.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the requirements change later?
EA’s August 28, 2026 Season 4 anti-cheat update added later context but distinguished Secure Boot from other checks. EA said strict TPM enforcement would be enabled going forward. It also said HVCI and VBS had been requirements since launch but were not yet enforced, and that its enforcement strategy for those features had not been finalized. Those statements describe separate parts of the PC security requirements; they should not be read as the same policy as Secure Boot enforcement. EA’s Season 4 anti-cheat update
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EA also said that 98.76% of current players were already using hardware fully enabled and compliant with the requirements then being enforced. The company characterized most of the remaining 1.24% as associated with emulation, spoofing, botting, or cheating. These are EA’s figures and characterization, not independently audited findings.
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