Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC)

By Epic Games · User-mode · In use since 2006

EAC is the most widely deployed anti-cheat in PC gaming, owned by Epic Games. It runs as a user-mode service that launches alongside the protected title, builds a weighted hardware fingerprint via WMI and direct system calls, and shares restriction data across every EAC-protected game. The composite fingerprint applies fuzzy matching, so a single component swap is rarely enough to register as a new device.

Start your appeal Try the free Ban Check

Restriction tiers

Account ban
Restriction on the publisher account, typically permanent for cheat-software detections.
Hardware (HWID) ban
Composite fingerprint stored server-side; new accounts on the same device are blocked.
Cross-title propagation
A hardware-tier restriction in one EAC title commonly applies to every other EAC-protected title on the same device.

What it checks

How Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) looks for cheats, as far as this is publicly known.

Process and module integrity scanning
Heuristic detection of memory-editing tools
Composite hardware fingerprint with fuzzy matching
Cross-title correlation across all EAC-protected games
Server-side replay analysis on supported titles

Identifiers it can use

Data that can tie a ban to your device rather than only to your account.

Motherboard serial number from SMBIOS
Disk serial numbers for every connected physical drive
MAC addresses of all network adapters, weighted toward physical interfaces
RAM serial numbers from SPD data
TPM endorsement key on systems with TPM enabled
Windows product ID and installation ID as supplementary signals

Points an appeal can make

Arguments that can matter in an appeal, depending on your facts.

Separate single-player tooling from competitive play with timestamped evidence
Disambiguate household HWID through ownership and primary-user records
Demonstrate a clean-install timeline before re-submission
GDPR Art. 15 access request to surface the underlying detection signal where applicable

How appeals are handled

Where appeals go and what to expect from the process.

EAC routes appeals through the publisher of the title, not Epic directly
Cross-title bans require parallel submissions to each affected publisher
Some publishers issue a single template denial before substantive review begins

Evidence to collect

Keep these before you send anything to the publisher.

Publisher email and the exact reference identifier
Installed-software inventory and uninstall logs
Account creation and purchase history
Statement of household device usage

Games that use Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC)

This page summarises public information. Anti-cheat vendors do not publish every detail of how their systems work, so read it as background, not as an explanation of how your own case was decided.

Banned by Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC)?

Get an appeal written for your case

Send us the ban notice and what happened. You see the price and the waiting time before you pay.

Start your appeal All anti-cheat systems

Two older men playing a video game together