Last week, Rockstar added BattlEye support to Grand Theft Auto Voffering much needed anti-cheat protection for the hit game. GTA Online multiplayer mode. However, that anti-cheat support wasn't good news for Steam Deck players, who are now facing an error when trying to log in GTA Online.
However, according to Valve, Rockstar could solve this minor technical problem with a single email.
In both a Steam Community update and a Rockstar Support FAQ, the developer notes that “Steam Deck is not compatible with BattlEye for GTA OnlineYou will be able to play GTA V Story mode but I can't play GTA Online.” As such, GTA VThe Steam page now lists the game as “Not supported” for Steam Deck users, because “the game's anti-cheat system is not configured to support Steam Deck.”
But BattlEye's compatibility with the Linux-based Steam Deck hasn't presented a technical problem for developers for years. In late 2021, shortly before the launch of the Steam Deck, Valve wrote that “BattlEye on Proton [and thus Steam Deck] Integration has reached a point where all a developer needs to do is communicate [to] BattlEye has enabled this for their title. The developer doesn't need to do anything other than communicate with them.
Shortly after that announcement, popular games like ARK: Survival Evolved, Day Zand Arma 3 They all took that opportunity to offer support for BattlEye's anti-cheat system and Steam Deck at the same time. But many other BattlEye titles on Steam, including Destiny 2, The crew 2, The day beforeand Republic of horsemen—Apparently they haven't bothered to “reach out to BattlEye” to enable the same support for Steam Deck.
What difference? GTA V The difference from the other incompatible BattlEye games is that this has been one of the most popular games on Steam Deck, with a fully functional online mode, for years. Without a fix, Rockstar's move will render a previously playable online game functionally unplayable for many Steam Deck owners, some of whom have no other way to play it.
Waiting for a solution
Fortunately for those players, there are some signs that this situation might not last forever. In a Steam Support response posted by a Reddit user, a Valve representative writes that the company is “working with Rockstar Games to find a solution.”
Rock star
There's a chance, however, that Rockstar simply isn't interested in letting Steam Deck players into its (recently locked down) online ecosystem. That's because BattlEye on Linux operates in a “userspace” mode that's much easier to bypass than the “kernel-level” protections it offers on Windows. And even a stronger kernel-level anti-cheat system might not work as well in a Linux environment.
“We have no confidence that we can combat cheating at scale with a wide range of kernel configurations, including custom ones,” Epic's Tim Sweeney wrote in a 2022 social media post about the potential for Fortnite to come to Steam Deck.
Modders have already decided not to wait for Rockstar and are working on their own BattlEye bypass for Steam Deck, which may or may not be effective in granting access to GTA Online. Hopefully this workaround won't be needed for long and Steam Deck owners can get back to enjoying one of their most popular games soon.