5 games I wish I could play on the Steam Deck (2024)

The Steam Deck is a fantastic handheld gaming console, and it can do so much. You can emulate your favorite consoles on it, you can play through the likes of Baldurs Gate 3 and Cyberpunk: 2077, but there are still some titles that simply don't work on it. These games are few and far between, but there are enough that I have five games I wish worked on the Steam Deck.

In this list, there's a running theme of what the true problem really is. See if you can spot it!

5 Destiny 2

Anti-cheat is a stickler

Destiny 2, Bungie's popular online multiplayer first-person shooter, faces significant roadblocks on the Steam Deck, primarily due to compatibility issues with its anti-cheat software. The game relies on BattlEye anti-cheat, which currently does not support the Linux-based SteamOS and powers other games like Escape from Tarkov, too. This lack of support prevents Destiny 2 from launching on the Steam Deck, making it impossible for players to access the game's cooperative multiplayer modes on the handheld.

4 Escape from Tarkov

Anti-cheat woes, but also performance

Source: Battlestate Games

Despite its recent issues (if you know you know), Escape from Tarkov is an intense and immersive multiplayer shooter that I play a lot of, and it faces significant challenges on the Steam Deck thanks to its demanding system requirements and reliance on BattlEye. Even if you could get it running, the performance would simply be so terrible that it wouldn't work. Even running the game docked would be fantastic so that I could play it on the go with a mouse and keyboard, but sadly, Tarkov is such an intensive game that it won't work.

3 Valorant

Riot's first-person shooter requires an anti-cheat to work effectively

Source: Valorant Presskit

Riot's Valorant requires Vanguard, a kernel-level anti-cheat. It only works on Windows, and the company is very outspoken about the fact that it won't support Linux. Given that I'm very much a Counter-Strike aficionado, it's a shame that Riot's equivalent shooter isn't playable on the Steam Deck, too. I'd love to carry a mouse with me and be able to play from wherever I am in the world.

2 Rust

It technically works, but there's no EAC

Photo by Facepunch Studios

Despite its growing popularity and critical acclaim, Rust faces significant compatibility issues on the Steam Deck due to its reliance on Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC), and earns its place on our list. While the game can technically run on the device, the anti-cheat software doesn't function on the Steam Deck, and most servers have it enabled. This incompatibility prevents players from joining the majority of online servers thanks to the Linux-based Steam OS, effectively barring them from the full multiplayer experience that Rust is known for. As a result, even though the game itself is playable, the core competitive and cooperative gameplay elements are largely inaccessible on the Steam Deck.

This is a particular pain-point for Rust fans who have a Steam Deck, as the console would be perfect to take the game portable everywhere. Sadly, that isn't the case.

1 Fortnite

Just like the other games on this list, the problem is anti-cheat

Fortnite, the wildly popular battle royale sensation that has managed to stick around runs into some significant roadblocks on the Steam Deck thanks to the game's dependency on EAC, just like Rust. While the Steam Deck's hardware can handle Fortnite's graphics and gameplay, EAC doesn't fully support the Steam OS, preventing players from accessing the game's online multiplayer modes.

Fortnite is a title that players can play across a variety of hardware configurations and devices, but the Steam Deck is one that simply eludes Epic Games. It's frustrating for anyone who's a fan of the game.

The biggest problem for Steam OS is anti-cheat

It's pretty clear that the biggest problem currently facing Steam OS is its incompatibility with many popular anti-cheat systems These are solutions deemed essential for maintaining fair play in competitive online games, but they are designed to work on Windows without an expectation of the freedom that Linux gives to developers.

Without proper anti-cheat functionality, players are often unable to access the multiplayer components of many popular games, such as those in this list, rendering them unplayable on the Steam Deck. It's a real shame, and because of the nature of anti-cheat, I don't really think it's a problem that will be made better anytime soon. For a lot of these games, if you want to play them on the go, you'll need to get a Windows-based gaming handheld.