Rockstar Games’ popular game Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) has been one of the most-played games on Steam Deck for the past two years. After being among the top ten most-played games on Valve’s Steam Deck handheld console last week, GTA V has now been added to the “unsupported” games list. Rockstar Games mysteriously broke the compatibility of the game’s online modes with Steam Deck, and Valve has since officially added the game to its unsupported list.
This development is seen as the latest in a series of problems caused by anti-cheat software on Linux-based systems. Like the developers of Epic Games’ popular games Fortnite and Roblox, Rockstar has decided not to support GTA V’s online mode on Steam Deck. The company has implemented a new anti-cheat software to combat the increasing use of cheats in GTA Online. While this move was generally welcomed for platforms other than Steam Deck, Steam Deck users have been completely denied access to the game’s online modes.
But there’s an interesting twist here: Fortnite and Roblox were never on Steam Deck to begin with, so it’s not surprising to see online modes not available on that platform. However, Rockstar has completely pulled the long-supported GTA V online modes from Steam Deck users. The company also pointed to Valve as the source of the problem, stating that “Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online,” and suggested contacting Valve for more information.
GTA V Loses Steam Deck Support Due to Anti-Cheat System
The most important question that Rockstar has not answered is why it has not activated the BattlEye anti-cheat system on Steam Deck. Valve has stated that in order for BattlEye to work with Steam Deck, it is enough to send an email to the developers. Many games have previously started working successfully on Steam Deck with BattlEye support. Therefore, Rockstar’s failure to take this step raises questions. Although Valve’s leading figure Pierre-Loup Griffais was reached to ask if there has been a change in this regard, no response has been received yet.
Some circles say that running anti-cheat software on Linux-based systems could lead to security vulnerabilities. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said last year that this situation is not just a technical problem, but could also have an economic dimension.