There has been some controversy surrounding Grand Theft Auto V recently because Rockstar has added an anti-cheat system on PC after 9 years since its release. The big R wants to combat cheats and hackers on GTA 5 servers, but adding BattleEye affects many players who are unable to enjoy multiplayer. In the last few hours, it has been confirmed that the popular handheld device from Valve, Steam Deck, cannot play GTA Online.
One of the most significant changes in the last hours of GTA 5 is that Rockstar has changed the compatibility of Steam Deck to “Not compatible” for their vast open world, as seen on Valve’s store. “The anti-cheat system of this game is not configured to be compatible with Steam Deck,” they point out. This has resulted in players not being able to play multiplayer on both Linux operating systems and Steam Deck.
Rockstar has addressed this by stating the following on their official support website: “Steam Deck is not compatible with BattlEye for GTA Online. You will be able to play the Story Mode of GTA V but not GTA Online. GTAV and GTA Online are not officially compatible with Steam Deck, and all inquiries should be directed to Valve’s Steam Deck support and community content,” the company states (via RockstarIntel).
GTA 5 has been one of the most played games on Steam Deck
According to the Steam website, GTA 5 has been one of the top 11 games played on Steam Deck in 2023, and in the month of August, it has taken the 9th position. As a result, many players who used to play online on Valve’s handheld device are upset even though they can enjoy the Story Mode solo, as indicated on Rockstar’s website, where they also mention that users can disable the technology to play the Campaign.
Another reason for the frustration among this community sector is that BattleEye can work on Linux-based devices like Steam Deck, at least back in 2021. Steam mentioned at that time that “the integration of BattleEye in Proton has reached a point where all a developer needs to do is contact BattleEye to enable it for their title.” This means that “no additional work is required by the developer other than that communication.”
“Partners have started to activate BattleEye support for their titles, which means they already work on Steam Deck,” they mention. We have examples like games such as ARK: Survival Evolved, Arma 3, DayZ, and others that have added BattleEye support on Linux, so players expect the same from Rockstar. It is unknown if the process has changed or if there is added complexity in the case of GTA 5, but the multiplayer community playing on Steam Deck wants answers and actions.
Rockstar could solve the problem of GTA Online on Steam Deck by contacting BattleEye
GTA 5 was classified as ‘Playable’ on Steam Deck and allowed users to enjoy Online and Campaign despite needing Rockstar Games Launcher and manually opening the keyboard with a command. According to RockstarIntel, it runs at 60 FPS and, aside from these minor issues, it was very enjoyable. The future is uncertain, but many players are affected by this measure, one that aimed to combat hackers and cheats in online play.
This situation has led to nearly 1,000 users leaving a negative review of GTA V on Steam, as shown in the image. On average, it usually receives between 30-60 reviews daily, and many of these affected users probably play online on Steam Deck and Linux. Rockstar Games is aware of this situation, and their next steps are unknown, but if they only need to contact BattleEye to resolve this issue, then the solution should arrive soon.
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