One of Steam’s most popular games, Grand Theft Auto 5 (GTA 5), has run into a problem for Steam Deck users. Both GTA 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online are no longer supported on Valve’s handheld console.
In an update for version 1.69, Rockstar Games explained that Steam Deck support was dropped due to the integration of BattlEye Anti-Cheat for GTA Online. While this addition aims to combat cheating in the game’s online mode, it also led to the game becoming unsupported on Steam Deck.
Valve now marks the game as “unsupported” under its Deck Verified program, meaning it’s considered unplayable on the device. Although players can still enjoy the single-player GTA 5 campaign, GTA Online is no longer accessible, and overall support for the game on the Steam Deck has been removed.
This affects a significant number of players. Despite being nearly ten years old, GTA 5 remains one of the most popular games on PC. As of now, it ranks 11th on Steam Deck’s most-played list over the past year, with over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, according to SteamDB.
The addition of BattlEye, which has been widely requested by players due to cheating issues, was introduced on Tuesday. The software tracks IP addresses, hardware, and other details from players to detect cheating. BattlEye can be turned off when not playing GTA Online, as noted in the official Rockstar FAQ.
It’s unclear why BattlEye created this compatibility issue, especially since in 2021, the company announced support for Proton, the OS layer that allows Steam Deck’s Linux system to run Windows games. According to The Verge, BattlEye should still function and be easy to enable for developers.
Valve also commented in 2021 that enabling BattlEye for Proton required minimal effort from developers. It works for other games like Rainbow Six Siege, Destiny 2, and The Crew 2 on Steam. However, the integration of external game launchers, such as those from EA or Rockstar, can cause issues, potentially contributing to GTA 5‘s problems on Steam Deck.
A Reddit user who contacted Steam support mentioned that Valve is collaborating with Rockstar on a fix, and the publisher has “heavily discounted the game” in the meantime. Currently, the premium edition of GTA 5 is 25% off, and a bundle with the Great White Shark Card is discounted by 66%, now available for $20.
