GTA Online No Longer Works on Steam Deck, Rockstar Blocks Linux

To combat cheating in GTA OnlineRockstar Games has added the BattleEye anti-cheat via an update. While its deployment was probably well received by the community, this solution caused a stir among players on Steam Deck, therefore Linux.

BattleEye not working on Linux

And for good reason: the addition of BattleEye anti-cheat at the kernel level means that GTA Online is no longer compatible with Linux or the Steam Deck. Valve even confirms this incompatibility: “The Steam Deck does not support BattleEye for GTA Online. You will be able to play GTA 5 story mode but not GTA Online.”

A strange statement since many games support BattleEye when running on Linux via Proton. Including popular titles like ArmA 3, DayZ or even Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.

However, GTA 5 remains playable in offline mode on Linux and Steam Deck by enabling the option -nobattleye which launches the game without BattleEye in the background.

For what GTA Online is stuck on Linux?

Why the addition of BattleEye after almost a decade of existence for GTA Online ? While some believe that this could be a test for the online mode of GTA 6the answer might be simpler. After all, why would Rockstar Games let cheaters plague its golden goose that has 150,000 players connected via Steam at the time of writing.

But punishing honest Linux and Steam Deck players is highly questionable.