Steam Deck players may be disappointed to learn that Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online are no longer supported on Valve’s PC handheld.
Rockstar Games announced in a post for Update 1.69 (reported by The Verge) that the integration of BattlEye Anti-Cheat for Grand Theft Auto Online led to this decision to drop Steam Deck support for the game.
While single-player mode in GTA 5 is still playable, access to Grand Theft Auto Online is no longer available, making the overall game unsupported on Steam Deck.
With GTA 5 being one of the top-played games, this change will impact a significant number of players. Despite its age, the game remains popular with over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam.
BattlEye, known for its effectiveness in combating cheating, was added to the game recently and requires activation through the Rockstar Games Launcher only when playing GTA Online.
Despite BattlEye’s potential compatibility with Proton, it seems to have created an obstacle for Steam Deck support, which remains unclear. Valve has mentioned that BattlEye integration should be straightforward for developers and has been successful with other titles on Steam.
Valve is reportedly working with Rockstar on a fix for Steam Deck compatibility, and in response, Rockstar has heavily discounted the game. The premium edition of GTA 5 is currently 25% off, and a bundle including the premium edition and Great White Shark Card is 66% off, priced at $20.
