Helldivers 2 switches to Easy Anti-Cheat and adds Scope of Authority Warbond

Arrowhead Game Studios released Devoid of Liberty: 7.2.0 for HELLDIVERS 2 on October 20, 2026. The update replaces the GameGuard anti-cheat with Easy Anti-Cheat and arrived the same day as the Scope of Authority Premium Warbond. A first hotfix, 7.2.1, followed on October 22 and fixes a crash that occurred when another player joined or left the squad.

On October 20, the game stood at rank 10 in Steam's most played chart with a daily peak of 99,172 concurrent players; a week earlier it was at rank 21. On October 22 at 16:41 UTC, Steam counted 48,622 players in the game, with a peak of 60,835 that day.

The anti-cheat switch

In its post "Changing anti-cheat in HELLDIVERS 2" from October 20, Arrowhead says the GameGuard implementation "wasn't as effective as it could have been". It calls EAC an industry standard used in over 200 games and says it is also adding security measures against cheat mods that have been circulating. The studio warns that some mods, particularly those that affect other players, may no longer work, and that some harmless cosmetic mods will need updates from their creators. GamesRadar+ sums up the target as "modifications that create unfair advantages".

PC Gamer points out that the game has no official modding support, while most existing mods are cosmetic or audio replacements. Its advice for broken mods: "The only real fix, though, is to wait for mod makers to update their work."

The outlet also reports the EAC move "has not gone over well with the Helldivers community", with negative reviews arriving on Steam. Players are split. In one Steam review, a player writes that Easy Anti-Cheat "blocks the game on an unmodded install" and no fix works. Under the announcement, one commenter calls EAC "the gold standard in the industry", while another argues it is designed to block QoL fixes.

Warbond and balance changes

The Scope of Authority Warbond, announced by Arrowhead on October 13, centers on long-range combat. It contains the R-40 Sightliner bolt-action sniper rifle, the P-44 Mist machine pistol, the backpack-fed AMW-20 Apex anti-materiel rifle, the LAS-44 Nova energy rifle, G-11 Caltrops and the SS-33 Mimetic Marshal light armor. GamesRadar+ notes an armor passive with an adaptive camouflage system and judges that the Warbond thrives against the Automatons "but isn't great against other enemies". The Sightliner can one-shot Devastators with headshots, according to the outlet, which counts 25 premium Warbonds in the game now. One Steam reviewer calls the new Warbond "pretty mid but I like the camo."

The patch itself brings a balance pass on the Killzone and Halo Legendary Warbond weapons; since these get no customization, Arrowhead says some of them need a slight increase in base stats. It also rebalances the Sickle and several stratagems, and turns the bug strain that spawns Bile Warriors, Spewers and Scavengers into its own strain controlled by the Game Masters, with its own visual indicator. SteamDB's copy of the notes also lists that support weapon settings such as fire mode now persist across sessions.

For anyone returning now: Arrowhead has posted a support article for crashes after the switch to EAC, with steps to try "while we work on a fuller fix from our side". The studio's FAQ states that hardware requirements have not changed and that Steam Deck and Linux compatibility remains unchanged. Players who rely on mods should expect some to stay broken until their creators update them. The game costs $39.99 with no discount, and its Steam reviews stand at 74 percent positive out of 1,174,680, rated Mostly Positive.