Skip to content
← All errors

Anti-cheat module could not be downloaded

WARDOGS on Linux: "anti-cheat module could not be downloaded", or kicked for no heartbeat

Published Updated Data as of Season 2 · 15 Oct 2026

This one is not your machine

There is nothing to fix on your machine. The anti-cheat that shipped with Beta 02 has no Linux module, and Bulkhead said on 4 September that it cannot commit to Linux support for launch.

Check whether WARDOGS is down right now →

What you see

Under Proton the launcher stops with "An anti-cheat module could not be downloaded or installed. Check your internet connection, VPN, proxy or firewall, then try again", with a reference code underneath — or the game loads, joins a server, and kicks you after about a minute for no heartbeat.

Also reported as: anti-cheat module could not be downloaded or installed · anti-cheat module could not be downloaded · no heartbeat · heartbeat · 877c050c02fe · bazzite · nobara · cachyos · steamos

What to do instead

The cause is not on your machine, so reinstalling and verifying will not reach it. These are the things that actually help while it lasts.

  1. 01 Read the message as a platform answer, not a network one

    Confirmed

    The wording blames your connection, VPN or firewall. On Linux none of those are the cause: the anti-cheat downloads fine, then fails to install itself inside Proton, because there is no Linux version of it to install. Changing Proton versions, launch options, DNS or VPN does not change that.

  2. 02 Do not troubleshoot the heartbeat kick either

    Reported

    If the game gets past the launcher and into a server, the anti-cheat waits for a regular check-in from its driver. Under Proton that driver is not running, so it kicks you after about a minute. Same cause, one step later.

  3. 03 Refund if Linux was why you bought it

    Confirmed

    Bulkhead said so itself on 4 September: "please, refund the game if you mistakenly bought it thinking you would be able to run Linux via Proton on September 10th." A pre-order sits inside Steam's standard refund window.

  4. 04 Watch the pinned Linux thread rather than this page

    Confirmed

    Bulkhead has said it will "update our stance once we have this confirmed". Its statement lives in a pinned Steam thread; that is where a change will appear first.

Did this fix it for you?

Notes from other players who hit this code. Say what worked, what did not, and which region you are in — a fix that only works in one place is worth knowing about. Best-rated first, and there is no time limit: an answer from the first beta is still an answer.

No comments yet. Be the first to say whether this worked.

This is the Linux page for the September build. The earlier one — kicked after a few minutes with "Authentication timed out (1/3)" — described the August betas, which ran on Easy Anti-Cheat and let Proton sessions start before ending them. Closed Beta 02 shipped a different anti-cheat, and it stops earlier.

What the launcher is telling you

The message reads as a connectivity problem, and on Windows it can be one. On Linux it is not. The Support thread this page is sourced from opened on 3 September with the full text and a reference code, and the replies filled in with Bazzite, CachyOS and Nobara users hitting the same wall, uninstalling, reinstalling, rebooting and deleting old anti-cheat folders without effect. The most useful reply worked out the order of events: the anti-cheat downloads and checks out, so the network is fine, and the failure is the installer trying to put a Windows driver inside Proton, where it has nowhere to go.

A second thread the same evening, titled "They kicked us out (LINUX)", carries the other symptom: players whose game got further, into a server, and were kicked after about a minute for "no heartbeat". That is the same driver being asked to check in when it is not running.

Why the August advice no longer applies

Both August betas ran Easy Anti-Cheat, which has a Linux version the studio can switch on, and that is what the "working on Proton support" line Bulkhead gave in August was about. The September build put an installer called Elytra-Setup.exe in the game folder instead. Whether that is the anti-cheat WARDOGS launches with on the 10th, Bulkhead has not said; what it has said is that Linux is not supported at launch either way. What anti-cheat WARDOGS uses, and what Bulkhead has said about Linux →

What Bulkhead said, in full

On 4 September a Bulkhead developer pinned a thread titled "UPDATE: Linux Compatibility":

We do not officially support Linux and we cannot commit to having support for launch. We are still working on Official Linux Proton compatibility. […] Any previous Alpha/Beta test where Linux worked was by happen stance […] We cannot commit to having Linux support for our Early Access launch. So please, refund the game if you mistakenly bought it thinking you would be able to run Linux via Proton on September 10th.

The same post admits a community manager's message in Discord, screenshotted and reposted on the Linux subreddit, read as a promise it was not. That is the whole of the official position, and it is why the fault sits on the "their problem" side of this hub: a page that offered a workaround would be pretending there is one.

Steam Deck

Nothing separate to add. A Deck runs Windows games through Proton, the same as a Linux PC, and the launcher stops in the same place. Steam shows no Deck rating for WARDOGS.

Still true nearly two weeks into Early Access

As of 22 September, the pinned Steam thread this page and the authentication-timeout page are sourced from has passed two thousand replies and is still active. The 4 September statement quoted above has not been updated, and nothing newer has surfaced from Bulkhead — the situation on Linux is unchanged from before launch.

Source

WARDOGS Steam Discussions, Support, "game won't load due to anti-cheat error", 3 September 2026 ↗

If that did not do it