Steam Machine: Valve's anti-cheat problem remains a risk for multiplayer fans
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Valve says it is continuing to work on anti-cheat support for SteamOS. With Easy Anti-Cheat, however, the company sees the decision mainly as one for developers.
Anti-cheat remains one of the biggest unresolved questions for the Steam Machine. Valve wants SteamOS to provide convenient access to the Steam library, but competitive multiplayer games in particular often do not depend purely on hardware performance. Instead, they rely on Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye or more tightly locked-down kernel-level solutions. In an interview with PCGH, Valve now points to progress, while also naming the limits of its own control.
Asked about anti-cheat on the Steam Machine, Valve says it is continuing to work with the major providers, including Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye. For developers who want to support Linux and Proton, solutions already exist, but developers also have to actively enable them. That means EAC on SteamOS is not fundamentally ruled out, but neither is it automatically solved. The situation remains more difficult with kernel-level anti-cheat, because such solutions are much harder to implement on Linux.
"There are solutions for developers who wish to implement it on Linux, and it really is up to the developer to turn that on."
- Yazan Aldehayyat (Ingenieur) und Lawrence Yang (Designer)
Valve's position is therefore clear: the technical basis is meant to be there, but the actual approval lies with developers and publishers. That is understandable at first. Valve cannot simply activate Easy Anti-Cheat or BattlEye for third-party games if those responsible for a title do not want to support Linux and Proton.
That does not let Valve off the hook entirely, however. The company is not only the developer of SteamOS and Proton, but also the operator of the largest PC gaming platform. In addition, with the Steam Deck and Steam Machine, Valve sells its own hardware, whose practical value depends directly on how reliably the Steam library works under SteamOS. If a game is prominently sold on Steam but cannot be used normally on the Steam Machine because of anti-cheat, buyers face a practical problem, even if technical responsibility formally lies with the respective publisher.
"We know there are a lot of games that people would like to play on Steam Deck and on Steam Machine."
- Yazan Aldehayyat (Ingenieur) und Lawrence Yang (Designer)
Valve does have leverage here. The company could label anti-cheat restrictions more clearly in the Steam store, for example directly on the store page or as part of Steam Machine compatibility. A stricter Verified system would also be conceivable: a multiplayer game whose online mode does not work under SteamOS because of anti-cheat should not merely be listed as generally limited. It should clearly state which part of the game is affected. For users, that would be far more helpful than a general note that Proton compatibility depends on the individual case.
Valve could also put more pressure on major publishers. Forcing Linux support would hardly be realistic, especially since anti-cheat also involves security-related and commercial questions. But for major live-service games that gain substantial reach through Steam, Valve would certainly have negotiating power. The company could offer technical support, simplify testing processes, make compatibility more visibly rewarding or highlight missing SteamOS approval more prominently. Visibility in the store alone would be an effective tool, because it directly affects how a game is perceived by SteamOS users.
This matters especially because the Steam Machine itself is not aimed at traditional Linux users, but at those who do not want to tinker, as Valve itself has made clear. Users should therefore not be expected to check in advance whether their games can actually be played on the Steam Machine.
"It is a PC without having to worry about all the fiddly things that come with a PC."
- Yazan Aldehayyat (Ingenieur) und Lawrence Yang (Designer)
That is particularly true because anti-cheat compatibility under SteamOS is not a static property, but can disappear at any time through a publisher's decision. Apex Legends is likely a good example of such a situation. The title can no longer be played normally under SteamOS after EA and Respawn blocked Linux and Steam Deck. The move was justified with cheat and exploit risks.
