Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online lost their Steam Deck support after a recent anti-cheat update.
The sudden development comes as Rockstar Games introduced BattlEye Anti-Cheat to GTA V and GTA Online on Sept. 17, 2024. This included options to disable the anti-cheat functionality for Story Mode play on the studio's launcher or third-party launchers.
Losing Steam Deck Support
The update changelog noted that Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online. It added that players will have to run through GTA V Story Mode but will be unable to access GTA Online.
The situation is a little confusing as it was possible to set up BattlEye to run on Steam Deck for years now. However, by default, the Linux-based OS does not support the anti-cheat because of its Proton Windows compatibility layer, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
Rockstar Games noted in the changelog that the responsibility for the issue lies with Valve. It noted that GTA V and GTA Online are not officially supported on Steam Deck.
It added that all technical support questions should be directed to Valve's Steam Deck support content and community.
The situation comes as GTA V was one of the top 10 most-played games on Valve's Steam Deck this past week. Prior to that, it has been in the top 20 for at least two years. The issue is the latest fight around Linux ant-cheat.
Similar to the developers of Fortnite and Roblox, Rockstar Games has decided to drop support for Steam Deck with its new anti-cheat update. Many fans of the game believe that it badly needed to deal with cheaters, The Verge said.
On the other hand, Valve previously said that enabling a game with BattlEye to run on Steam Deck is as easy as sending an email. However, Rockstar Games did not comment on this particular part of the issue.
Anti-Cheat Compatibility
Shortly before the launch of the Steam Deck, Valve said that BattlEye on Proton integration only needs developers to reach out to BattlEye to enable it for their title. It added that no additional work was needed other than communication.
After that, many popular games took advantage of the opportunity, such as ARK: Survival Evolved and DayZ. They supported both BattlEye anti-cheat and Steam Deck compatibility at the same time.
However, there were also many other popular titles, such as Destiny 2 and The Day Before, that did not reach out to BattlEye to enable the same Steam Deck support, according to ArsTechnica.
