GTA V declared "unsupported" on Steam Deck following BattlEye anti-cheat update

[zohaibahd]

Facepalm: Rockstar Games has seemingly broken compatibility between Grand Theft Auto V and Valve's Steam Deck handheld. The revelation comes courtesy of a recent update to Valve's listing for the game, which now labels GTA V as "unsupported" due to issues with its online multiplayer mode.

GTA V has consistently ranked among the top 20 most-played games on the Steam Deck for at least two years, and it even remained in the top 10 list this week. However, the game's online mode has long been plagued by cheaters. To address the issue, Rockstar Games implemented the anti-cheat system BattlEye.

The software helps developers detect and block cheat programs, manipulation of game-protected code, and other forms of sabotage. It is widely used in other games such as ARMA, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and The Crew 2.

Unfortunately, BattlEye has also introduced an unintended side effect: locking out Steam Deck users. As a result, a new warning on the game's Steam page now lists GTA V as "unsupported."

Rockstar has seemingly shifted blame for the breakdown away from itself, claiming on its FAQ page that "Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online" and directing any questions to Valve.

However, this assertion seems questionable. The Verge reports that Valve enabled BattlEye compatibility for the Steam Deck years ago, and numerous games utilizing the anti-cheat software have transitioned without issues. The publication notes that Valve has even stated that enabling a BattlEye-protected game on the Steam Deck is as simple as sending an email.

Worse, Rockstar remains tight-lipped about its reasons for not following the established protocol, leaving gamers perplexed.

Thankfully, while GTA V's multiplayer mode is inaccessible, the single-player mode is still available. It might be more accurate to list GTA V as "partially playable" rather than labeling it as "unsupported," as this better conveys that the game is not entirely broken.

"Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online. You will be able to play GTA V Story Mode but unable to play GTA Online," reads Rockstar's FAQ.

The caveat is that Rockstar hasn't provided the same evolving content pipeline for Story Mode as it has for GTA Online over the years. Thus, Deck owners will be limited to replaying the same decade-old narrative.

Image credit: Richardgbg06

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GTA V declared "unsupported" on Steam Deck following BattlEye anti-cheat update

 

[rmcrys]

Most companies couldn’t care less with Linux, which is a huge mistake; the same happens when supporting ARM. Most anti cheat software companies simply ignore the support and the ones that buy them the software, also make no effort to change that.

That also happens in a time that they want to focus on GTA VI , so maintaining a high demand for GTA V is not too interesting for them.

Microsoft, gamers and others should demand ARM and Linux / MacOS compatibility, because today they have an x86 windows computer, tomorrow it may be a Linux/macOS with ARM…

 

[Dimitriid]

It's kind of surprising for Rockstar to do anything at all about the PC version: they completely ignored the PC version for over 2 years at this point when they released their 'Expanded and enhanced' upgrade for PS5 and Series X: Basically fairly unnecessary implementation of ray tracing but also some actual online game updates that are not available on PC for no good reason (And before you object, this would be the fastest vehicles in the game if implemented so yeah, they're fairly important)

The sad part is that some people might fall for it, play the game and pay Rockstar money for their pay-to-win schemes to get in-game money since everything will be extraordinarily expensive and even without modders just the regular toxic player base is enough to discourage most people from trying to actually engage with the game legitimately.

More over, the worst news is that the fact that they even update the PC version of GTA Online at this point can be pretty reliably read as all but confirmation that Rockstar is not planning on GTA 6 releasing for the PC for at least 2 to 3 years if ever: if this half-baked attempt at reducing cheaters and increasing microtransaction revenue from PC players doesn't pans out I don't think they will bother porting 6 to the PC at all.

 

[Master543]

We got GTA 5 not supported on Steam Deck before GTA 6

 

[rmcrys]

It's kind of surprising for Rockstar to do anything at all about the PC version: they completely ignored the PC version for over 2 years at this point when they released their 'Expanded and enhanced' upgrade for PS5 and Series X: Basically fairly unnecessary implementation of ray tracing but also some actual online game updates that are not available on PC for no good reason (And before you object, this would be the fastest vehicles in the game if implemented so yeah, they're fairly important)

The sad part is that some people might fall for it, play the game and pay Rockstar money for their pay-to-win schemes to get in-game money since everything will be extraordinarily expensive and even without modders just the regular toxic player base is enough to discourage most people from trying to actually engage with the game legitimately.

More over, the worst news is that the fact that they even update the PC version of GTA Online at this point can be pretty reliably read as all but confirmation that Rockstar is not planning on GTA 6 releasing for the PC for at least 2 to 3 years if ever: if this half-baked attempt at reducing cheaters and increasing microtransaction revenue from PC players doesn't pans out I don't think they will bother porting 6 to the PC at all.

Rockstar is following the route of what gives less work but brings more money, not giving a thing about the clients but their money. A good company cares about releasing a good game, that reaches most players, makes them happy and cashes in a lot.

When most companies now try to make whatever is easy to do, bring support to DLSS/FSR instead of optimizing the game and manipulate the game so that it brings a lot of money, not necessarily that it benefits the gamer…then keep paying that is supporting that way of making games.

 

[toooooot]

At first, I thought the new anticheat is so heavy that the deck cannot handle it.
But it is just a software error. They will definitely find a way to fix it.

 

[MaXtor]

At first, I thought the new anticheat is so heavy that the deck cannot handle it.
But it is just a software error. They will definitely find a way to fix it.

BattlEye supports Linux. RockStar chose not to enable support.

“BattlEye on Proton integration has reached a point where all a developer needs to do is reach out BattlEye to enable it for their title. No additional work is required by the developer besides that communication,” writes Valve

https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/8/22737127/valve-steam-deck-battleye-anti-cheat-pubg-dayz-r6-siege