Want To Play Destiny 2 On Steam Deck? Buzzkill Bungie Might Ban You
Would you like to play Destiny 2: The Witch Queen on your shiny, new Steam Deck? Think again. Destiny 2 players could potentially be banned if they attempt to play the game on a Steam Deck.
Bungie stated, “Destiny 2 is not supported for play on the Steam Deck or on any system utilizing Steam Play's Proton unless Windows is installed and running. Players who attempt to launch Destiny 2 on the Steam Deck through SteamOS or Proton will be unable to enter the game and will be returned to their game library after a short time.” The help page further noted that those who attempt to bypass the incompatibility issues and play Destiny 2 on their Steam Deck anyway risked being banned. Seriously.
Bungie did not explain why Destiny 2 cannot be played on the device, but there are likely a few culprits. First, although Windows can be installed on the Steam Deck, it reportedly does not run properly. The needed Windows graphics driver is simply not available yet. It is probably safe to surmise that the overwhelming majority will stick with SteamOS and Proton.
Second, video games with certain anti-cheat software are concerned that these mechanisms will not work well on the Steam Deck. The device relies upon “Proton” which is a “compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Linux.” Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, recently noted that Fortnite will not be available on the Steam Deck, at least for the time being. Fortnite specifically uses BattlEye to take down cheaters. He commented on Twitter, “We don’t have the confidence that we’d be able to combat cheating at scale under a wide array of kernel configurations, including custom ones.” Bungie also added BattlEye anti-cheat software to Destiny 2 this past August and may therefore be facing similar issues to Epic Games.
Sweeney did note that there is currently a “big effort underway” to make Easy Anti-Cheat software compatible with Steam Deck. This would allow gamers to play games such as Black Desert Online, For Honor, Halo Infinite, and Elden Ring. However, it is unlikely that any game that uses BattlEye, including Destiny 2, will be playable on the Steam Deck any time soon.
Images courtesy of Valve and Bungie/Sony
Bungie stated, “Destiny 2 is not supported for play on the Steam Deck or on any system utilizing Steam Play's Proton unless Windows is installed and running. Players who attempt to launch Destiny 2 on the Steam Deck through SteamOS or Proton will be unable to enter the game and will be returned to their game library after a short time.” The help page further noted that those who attempt to bypass the incompatibility issues and play Destiny 2 on their Steam Deck anyway risked being banned. Seriously.
Bungie did not explain why Destiny 2 cannot be played on the device, but there are likely a few culprits. First, although Windows can be installed on the Steam Deck, it reportedly does not run properly. The needed Windows graphics driver is simply not available yet. It is probably safe to surmise that the overwhelming majority will stick with SteamOS and Proton.
Sweeney did note that there is currently a “big effort underway” to make Easy Anti-Cheat software compatible with Steam Deck. This would allow gamers to play games such as Black Desert Online, For Honor, Halo Infinite, and Elden Ring. However, it is unlikely that any game that uses BattlEye, including Destiny 2, will be playable on the Steam Deck any time soon.
Images courtesy of Valve and Bungie/Sony
