Here we go again. One game I was excited about was the upcoming Mecha BREAK, which currently has a playtest demo on Steam but they've added in anti-cheat.
Specifically it's using the Kernel Level "Anti-Cheat Expert (ACE)" as noted on the Steam page for the demo. On Desktop Linux the launcher can appear, but the game will not actually load at all. The Start button can be clicked in the launcher, and it acts like it's going to load but after a while it will go back to saying Start. Nothing actually loads up apart from the launcher. After getting the launcher to load once, it then wouldn't load up again after.
However, they are planning Steam Deck support where they said: "Mecha BREAK is not yet fully optimized for Steam Deck. We're actively working on improvements to ensure smoother gameplay in the future". Right now, it does actually load up on Steam Deck, go in-game and is fully playable.
Pictured - Mecha BREAK on Steam Deck
Pictured - Mecha BREAK on Steam Deck
On Steam Deck with the default settings it runs at an acceptable 30FPS out of the box and does actually feel pretty good in the combat without any tweaks needed. Numerous parts of the UI are too small though, especially the button icons, and due to the FSR the visuals can be a little on the blurry side due to the lower resolution.
Apart from that though, the gameplay is genuinely good fun. No issues going through the whole tutorial (picture above), and then playing online with others as well (pictured below).
Pictured - Mecha BREAK on Steam Deck
Back to the other side though: the desktop Linux problem seems like the same issue with Delta Force which also uses Anti-Cheat Expert (ACE). It appears to approve the Steam Deck hardware directly, which is why it works there but doesn't work on desktop Linux.
This separation of desktop Linux and Steam Deck will end up quite problematic in the long-run, if a better solution isn't found. Especially with more devices coming with SteamOS like the Lenovo Legion Go S and Valve planning a public SteamOS 3 Beta for people to try on other handhelds. Seems like we may need to add a Steam Deck only tag to our anti-cheat compatibility page if this continues.
I've emailed the developer for a statement on any planned changes.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
But man, does this feel like a mess. I would've hoped that Valve would at least throw some ideas into the room by now. But it seems like they'll leave it to the developers to figure something out.
At least the Steam Deck is still selling well. Pretty incredible considering that most major titles either don't run or barely scrape by on lowest settings. Gives me hope that we'll reach some threshold one day.
Kimyrielle 5 hours ago
The SteamDeck=1 launch command doesn't apply, because this is not a Steamworks SDK issue, it's specifically the anti-cheat checking for Steam Deck.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 24 Feb 2025 at 8:04 pm UTC
The potential amount of people who own a Steam Deck, want to play the game, willing to, and managing to cheat on the Deck must be incredibly small that it could be "worth the risk" for them.
I don't like it either, but like I said in my previous comment, if they manage to find a way to know if you're playing on a Deck, then I guess it's better than zero support on any device. And the other AC makers should get on it to replicate this concept in their own solutions, especially with that upcoming Lenovo handheld and possibly more Linux powered devices.
And who knows, maybe this starts a (very slow) dominos effect of normalising anti cheats on Linux, a long march through the institutions.
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