GTA Online is no longer supported by Steam Deck thanks to a slightly baffling Rockstar anti-cheat update
Rockstar and Valve reportedly working to "find a fix"
GTA Online is no longer officially supported by Steam Deck, thanks to the introduction of some anti-cheat software which can, in fact, be made compatible with Steam Deck. Say what now?
Rockstar added BattlEye Anti-Cheat to GTA 5 and GTA Online in an update on Tuesday 17th September, together with options to disable the anti-cheat functionality for Story Mode play on the Rockstar Games Launcher or third-party launchers. In the process, support for Steam Deck play has fallen through like a police helicopter into a traffic jam.
"Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online," the changelog baldly notes. "You will be able to play GTAV Story Mode but unable to play GTA Online."
It's all a bit curious because, as The Verge point out, it's been possible to set up BattlEye to run on Steam Deck for years, though the Linux-based OS doesn't support it by default thanks to its Proton Windows compatibility layer. Apparently, it's as straightforward as sending BattlEye's vendors a mail. As PCGamer add, GTA Online is or was one of the most-played Steam Deck games, so all this is causing a bit of a stink down Los Santos way.
In their changelog, Rockstar lay the responsibility for the loss of compatibility at Valve's door. "GTAV and GTA Online are not officially supported on Steam Deck and all technical support questions should be directed to Valve's Steam Deck support content and community," it reads. This, players have been doing. One redditor has allegedly heard from a Valve rep that they're "working with Rockstar Games to find a fix".
I'm a bit mystified, frankly, but there's precedent for big publishers being iffy about whether they can run anti-cheat software over the Steam Deck's Linux-based OS. Presumably, you can still fire up GTA Online on the Deck if you dual-boot Windows and skip the Proton layer.
If there's one thing everybody can agree on, it's that GTA Online has a cheating problem. I'm interested to see how they'll tackle that and GTA Online in general after the release of GTA 6.