Apex Legends Removing Steam Deck Support

October 31, 2024

Key Takeaways

As of today, Apex Legends will no longer run on Steam Deck, per a statement from EA and Respawn.
Citing a concern over cheaters using the Linux OS, the game will no longer work on Valve’s popular handheld.
Other live service games have ditched the platform as well, citing many of the same concerns.
Users can circumvent this by dual-booting Windows, however, it is not the easiest of steps to take.

EA and Respawn have announced a massive update to its popular live-service free-to-play shooter Apex Legends. As of today, Apex Legends will no longer run on Steam Deck, Valve’s ultra popular handheld. Citing a major concern over cheaters, a joint statement was released on the Apex Legends Twitter account.

According to the statement, the developers have pinpointed Linux OS — the operating system that powers the Steam Deck — as a hub for all manner of cheats and exploits. To remedy that, access to the game via Linux is being revoked entirely.

“While this will impact a small number of Apex players, we believe the decision will meaningfully reduce instances of cheating in our game,” the statement read in part, adding, “there is currently no reliable way for us to differentiate a legitimate Steam Deck from a malicious cheat claiming to be a Steam Deck (via Linux).”

Apex Legends Battle Pass Update Was A Guaranteed Disaster For The Community

It doesn’t matter how much extra value the new battle pass might offer, there’s no way Apex Legends players were never going to be on board with it.

Respawn affirms that the openness of Linux as an operating system is what makes it attractive to bad actors. It is harder to detect said bad actors, and doing so would require an “outsized level of focus and attention,” which the team cannot provide.

Per that statement, EA and Respawn weighed the number of players on Linux/Steam Deck against the health of their game. The end result was a choice to make the game immediately unavailable in order to protect the larger community.

This Isn’t The First Live-Service Title To Drop Steam Deck

As The Verge noted in its report, the Steam Deck does not have support for numerous extremely popular live-service titles. Those titles include the likes of PUBG and Fortnite, among others, with many citing the same concern over cheating.

It is possible to run the games via Windows, however, that requires extra leg work on the part of the consumer. Because Steam Deck has Linux by default, one would have to find a way to dual-boot Windows. In other words, it’s not an easy task to simply play a live-service title.

Only time will tell what Valve does, if anything, to remedy things. Live-service titles make up a large portion of the overall gamer base, and there’s no doubt people would love to play those titles on the go.