Recently, I highlighted that Bungie gave a very clear no to Destiny 2 on Steam Deck. Seems a lot of people noticed and Bungie has issued an update — but it's still a no for now.
In their This Week At Bungie blog post, they said they would provide "additional information" and went on to reiterate they wish to keep a "secure environment for Destiny 2", going on to remind people they teamed up with BattlEye (which supports Linux / Proton):
Our goal is to maintain a secure environment for Destiny 2, as it features both PvE and PvP combat in an evolving, dynamic world. Maintaining the integrity of our security is a complex and long-term process. In some cases it means teaming with partners like BattlEye and following their recommendations, in others, it means choosing to not support platforms that could provide bad actors with ways of compromising our own Bungie developed anti-cheat security systems.
Steam Deck continues to be an unsupported platform for Destiny 2, at least with SteamOS 3 Linux which it comes with out of the box. Their wording here is interesting though. It sounds like either BattlEye recommended against it, or they at Bungie specifically chose not to as they think Linux will somehow provide a way for these "bad actors" to compromise their game.
They did say they will continue to investigate but they have no other info. So really, they've not actually explained anything extra at all. How helpful.
Direct Link
Meanwhile, although no announcement has yet been made, Apex Legends continues working just fine on Steam Deck and Linux desktops with Proton as Easy Anti-Cheat now seems to be hooked up. No one from Valve or EA / Respawn has replied to my emails on it.
in others, it means choosing to not support platforms that could provide bad actors with ways of compromising our own Bungie developed anti-cheat security systems.
This seems to read that they have some sort of anti-cheat security system outside of BattlEye.
it may be an "unsupported server" where you dont have any guarantee against cheaters, but at least you can play.
Last edited by elmapul on 4 March 2022 at 11:23 am UTC
Valve should lock Destiny 2 on the Steam Deck so you can't even launch it. It's legitimate if Bungie wants to fend off threats, but they should refrain from threatening the community on their part. The Steam Deck is also aimed at completely unsuspecting people. It is an end-user system.
They wouldn't have those problems if they just used anti-cheat on server side and strip it from client side.
This is a good read if you're at all interested.
"Oh no, we have a cheating problem on Windows, best keep those stinky Linux users out. Everyone knows they're mad haxx0rz that sit in their hoodies in the dark cheating at video games."
That stereotype is completely wrong.
I don't wear a hoodie.
[...]choosing to not support platforms that could provide bad actors with ways of compromising our own Bungie developed anti-cheat security systems.
You mean like Microsoft Windows?
Of course, if the market gets big enough, then it may become worth it for them to support the Steam Deck. Also, the effectiveness of client-side anti-cheat is debatable.
Last edited by CFWhitman on 4 March 2022 at 2:01 pm UTC
On the other hand, this news isn't all that surprising, since Bungie is really just Microsoft Game Studios. It was one of the first companies that Xbox Game Studios bought.Nope. Bungie bought themselves out in 2007. Then they went into a 10 year partnership with Activision, which they terminated early. They're currently in the process of being bought by Sony.
Maybe that would be a minor issue on the deck... assuming one uses the deck only for gaming and not for serious/sensitive stuff.
But for generic purpose linux it's way better if spyware remains off limit. The allegedly best solution (for the industry) is worse (for end users) than the issue it pretends to solve.
Im mean they are not wrong. BattlEye might work as expected but their own solution maybe needs extra work and then there are updates on the future etc. Its still a new platform to maintain. Im sure if Deck gets popular and they see there's money to be made, they will change their mind.
Hmm, they did, didn´t?
Stadia? Is Stadia Linux or not?
Stadia? Is Stadia Linux or not?
Stadia is Linux on Google's servers, not on your home machine. That makes a working anti-cheat solution much less of a concern.
Luxury, I say.
Back in the old days, we had to play against hackers all the time, and win anyway.
And we had to clean the mouse ball with alcohol. And all those skyscrapers over there were just a bunch of huts.
And you try and tell the young people of today that, and they won't believe you.
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