GTA V Online's new kernel anti-cheat rug-pull unnecessarily breaks Steam Deck and Linux compatibility

Anyone who's played GTA Online will know that the game has a bit of a cheater problem, and Rockstar Games seems to want to address that, with the company adding BattleEye anti-cheat via a recent GTA V update. While this is likely good news for some devout GTA Online players, it's caused a bit of a stir in the Steam Deck and Linux gaming community, because the addition of kernel-level anti-cheat means that GTA Online is no longer compatible with Linux or the Steam Deck. 

Curiously, the Rockstar support page about BattleEye frames the lack of Steam Deck support as an issue on Steam's side: 

"Steam Deck does not support BattlEye for GTA Online. You will be able to play GTAV Story Mode but unable to play GTA Online."

Rockstar putting the blame on Steam for the lack of BattleEye support is strange, given that there are multiple games that do support BattleEye when running on Linux via Proton. A quick glance at the Steam Deck Verified games list, Are We Anti-Cheat Yet?, and ProtonDB reveals that games like DayZ, ARK: Survival Evolved, ArmA 3, Unturned, Planetside 3, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, and many other games with BattleEye anti-cheat work just fine on the Steam Deck and other Linux systems. 

It should also be noted that GTA V is still playable in offline or story mode on Linux and the Steam Deck by enabling the -nobattleye launch option, which launches the game without launching BattleEye in the background. 

This suggests it is a conscious decision by Rockstar Games to neglect Linux and Steam Deck support — perhaps simply trying to avoid support tickets over potential game-breaking future updates from Steam Deck owners or Linux gamers. The timing of adding anti-cheat to GTA V and GTA Online is somewhat peculiar, given the game launched nine years ago, although speculation suggests that it might be a sort of test run for GTA VI, which is scheduled to launch next year. While a PC launch for GTA VI will likely only happen a year or two after the 2025 console launch, Rockstar may be trying to set expectations for the upcoming game. 

If you're looking for a handheld gaming experience that's built for Windows and can run Linux, check out the $699.99 Lenovo Legion Go.