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[nani17]

I am genuinely hyped for the new Steam Machine, but my excitement hit a major snag when I remembered its core OS: SteamOS, a Linux-based system. While Linux compatibility via Proton is amazing, it is currently blocked from playing many of the biggest multiplayer online games. This is not a failure of Linux itself, but a technical hurdle caused by kernel level anti cheat software that publishers have not yet enabled for Proton.

This is the list of major titles currently unplayable or unsupported, often due to this anti-cheat barrier:

• Grand Theft Auto V Online (Blocked due to BattlEye not enabled for Proton)
• Destiny 2
• Valorant (Blocked due to the proprietary Vanguard anti-cheat)
• Fortnite (Epic Games has not enabled EAC support for Linux)
• Call of Duty (Modern Titles) (Blocked by the kernel-level RICOCHET anti-cheat)
• Apex Legends
• Battlefield 2042/ 6 (Blocked by EA's custom anti-cheat)
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
• PUBG: Battlegrounds

This isn't meant to be an anti Linux post it's about the optics. These games have a massive following, and their anti cheat is consistent. The future versions will also be on the same anticcheat, case in point all modern Call of Duty games are blocked because RICOCHET does not work on any Linux software.
These games combined have close to 300 million estimated monthly users. Right now, three of those games are in the top 10 most played games on Steam, currently accounting for close to 820,000 concurrent players.
It is possible Valve is working hard with these developers in the background to try and pull these games over, but this anti-cheat gap is a massive risk. The Steam Machine is ready, but the biggest games are not. Valve's success might depend on these major publishers finally flipping the switch to enable their anti cheat for Proton.

You also have to think if GTA 6 lands on the PC let's say in late 2027 and you cannot play gta 6 online on your steam machine that is a huge problem. Sure just like to steam deck you'll probably be able to install Windows I still think it's a slight problem

EDIT: The specs 8gb of vram for future proofing not good at all.

 

[mayham2199]

I've been saying this for a while. Steamos will never take off without resolving this issue first.

 

[Holammer]

Install windows 11 on it. Problem solved.

 

[Kacho]

Install windows 11 on it. Problem solved.

Also a problem. He covered all bases.

Sure just like to steam deck you'll probably be able to install Windows I still think it's a slight problem

 

[ReasonBeing]

Also a problem. He covered all bases.

If one so was so inclined, what would that problem be? They didn't elaborate.

Edit: he elaborated below

 

[nani17]

Install windows 11 on it. Problem solved.

I said that in the post you could do possibly do that however this is aimed at people who want to get into PC gaming without the hassle of trying to build a PC or tinkerr the PC it's basically a console but a PC. The average person is not going to just want to buy this then go and install Windows on it.

 

[Ozzie666]

I honestly feel those things can be improved or fixed, even if Windows isn't the best option.

I'm more so concered with the previous attempt and failurie. How much faith do people have in SteamBox hardware now? Yes Valve and PC gaming is in a different space now and prices are insane. So the conditions are different. But consumer trust has impacted the likes of Sega in the past, so it's definitely a concern.

As much as people gush about the SteamDeck, it's a great product. But the market penetration isn't great, it's not a mass market machine.

 

[Durin]

Yep, that is one of the biggest problems for their platform, so if you're a competitive multiplayer fan bear that in mind.

Given how consumers don't like kernel-level anti-cheat though, along with devs having to manage kernel-mode drivers...you are starting to see movement towards server-side models, likely enhanced with AI models to detect cheating.

Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye are trending more towards server-side data and behavioral analytics, so I do think this will be a solvable problem. The question is how long?

 

[rodrigolfp]

I said that in the post you could do possibly do that however this is aimed at people who want to get into PC gaming without the hassle of trying to build a PC or tinkerr the PC it's basically a console but a PC. The average person is not going to just want to buy this then go and install Windows on it.

No as you still need to tinker the games and it's settings. The games are all the same PC games as in every other PC.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

it's about the optics.

I mean, the optics are the same as the Steam Deck.

 

[Durin]

No as you still need to tinker the games and it's settings. The games are all the same PC games as in every other PC.

It depends on how the adoption goes for this Steam Machine. There are a decent amount of Steam games that when playing on the Steam Deck, they'll have automated presets that detect your hardware, and the game is just set to run essentially a "recommended" settings that usually runs well without tinkering.

Not ubiquitous, but if it sells well devs will just build presets, and go for a compatibility label to try to net more sales.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I am not saying those are not some huge games (they totally are) but from a selfish perspective I don't play any of those games so I don't care. In fortnite's case its on epic not steam...there are plenty of EAC games that I can play on my steam deck and the steam os pc's I have built (fantasy life I for example). I don't know if the same situation applies to the other games....but then again Fortnite and Valorent are not even available on steam itself.

Also, I don't need a steam machine in any capacity whatsoever but I will still get the hardware since I generally feel Valve creates high quality hardware products. (Index, Steam Deck, Steam Deck Dock, kunckles controllers, etc.)

Not dismissing the problem, simply stating it isn't one for everybody.

 

[Quasicat]

You are absolutely correct in your assessment. This is the main reason why I kept my Series X. I can play Fortnite and the more intensive AAA games on my Xbox and play everything else on the Steam Deck. I would love to simplify my setup and just use the Steam Machine and the Switch 2 for exclusives, but I still have games that look great on the Xbox that keeps it in my rotation.

I was looking at picking up a PS5 here in a few weeks due to the possible sales, but this may have me waiting to see the final price.

 

[nani17]

Yep, that is one of the biggest problems for their platform, so if you're a competitive multiplayer fan bear that in mind.

Given how consumers don't like kernel-level anti-cheat though, along with devs having to manage kernel-mode drivers...you are starting to see movement towards server-side models, likely enhanced with AI models to detect cheating.

Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye are trending more towards server-side data and behavioral analytics, so I do think this will be a solvable problem. The question is how long?

In a perfect world having most of these games working at launch would be great but when the reviews drop and they'll tell people these certain games won't work it's not going to be good.

No as you still need to tinker the games and it's settings. The games are all the same PC games as in every other PC.

Adjusting settings is never really an issue. what I mean windows, installing graphics drivers adjusting fan curves things like that some people don't like. That's why they really love consoles it's just plug and play this is sort of catering to that group of people. It's not just them but let's be honest a good of cancer players would love one of these and I can guarantee they don't know that the game's they play online won't work for this.

I mean, the optics are the same as the Steam Deck.

Very true but how many people really picked up the steam to play multiplayer on the go versus playing single player an handhelds are single player machine it's always been my opinion

 

[Generic]

Can't run Fortnite = worthless device

 

[rodrigolfp]

It depends on how the adoption goes for this Steam Machine. There are a decent amount of Steam games that when playing on the Steam Deck, they'll have automated presets that detect your hardware, and the game is just set to run essentially a "recommended" settings that usually runs well without tinkering.

Not ubiquitous, but if it sells well devs will just build presets, and go for a compatibility label to try to net more sales.

Every game that detects your hardware and does this recommended "settings does in every PC. The only exclusive setting is that "Steam Deck" preset that 1 or 2 games have.

 

[Hookshot]

What about Minecraft and Roblox? Seems odd they would go through with this if it can't play highly popular games.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Adjusting settings is never really an issue. what I mean windows, installing graphics drivers adjusting fan curves things like that some people don't like.

Graphics drivers are automatic installed. You don't need to adjust any fan curves, wtf.

 

[pudel]

I am not saying those are not some huge games (they totally are) but from a selfish perspective I don't play any of those games so I don't care.

Yep....i dont care about these games as well....except GTA maybe. They could all just simply make it possible...but they dont and forcing me to boot into windows to play these games. Thanks....I guess!

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Very true but how many people really picked up the steam to play multiplayer on the go versus playing single player an handhelds are single player machine it's always been my opinion

Price is going to be very interesting.

Too high= an extensions of the steam ecosystem

Competitive = Playstation new challenger

 

[The_Mike]

No as you still need to tinker the games and it's settings. The games are all the same PC games as in every other PC.

If it will be like on steam deck, which it probably will, then steam has some algorithm to determine the best settings for a game.

Any game I run on my deck has the proper resolution and settings to play the game straight out the gate

You can choose to tinker, but that is fully optional as steam has already set up a config for you.

 

[rodrigolfp]

If it will be like on steam deck, which it probably will, then steam has some algorithm to determine the best settings for a game.

Any game I run on my deck has the proper resolution and settings to play the game straight out the gate

You can choose to tinker, but that is fully optional as steam has already set up a config for you.

Never even heard about that Steam algorithm and if it exists there is no reason it can't do the same for every PC just like the Nvidia app does.

 

[nani17]

Graphics drivers are automatic installed. You don't need to adjust any fan curves, wtf.

Yep graphics drivers are installed automatically but in the past graphics drivers have had issues where you need to roll back not everybody knows how to do that aMD has in the past launched drivers that did not work for brand new games so you have to roll back. I don't know about you but I've always adjusted my fan curves cause if I didn't my card would sound like a jet engine when it doesn't need to

 

[The_Mike]

Never even heard about that Steam algorithm and if it exists there is no reason it can't do the same for every PC just like the Nvidia app does.

The naming is something I made up so it would be easy to understand what I mean, but there is some certification or whatever you wanna call it.

On my steam deck there's a green arrow that shows which games runs great and everything is ready.
A yellow sign if there are some annoyances like having to use a keyboard on first boot to login or something (there's one built in in the deck of course).
And then a "no icon" if it doesn't work at all, like there's some anti cheat preventing it from working.

EVery game I've booted up runs with the native SD resolution and optimized with the right settings to get a out of the box console experience

 

[rodrigolfp]

Yep graphics drivers are installed automatically but in the past graphics drivers have had issues where you need to roll back not everybody knows how to do that aMD has in the past launched drivers that did not work for brand new games so you have to roll back. I don't know about you but I've always adjusted my fan curves cause if I didn't my card would sound like a jet engine when it doesn't need to

The same rollback may be needed on Linux and it is a much more pain to do then on Windows. If you can hear your fans it means you need a better sound system.

 

[nani17]

Price is going to be very interesting.

Too high= an extensions of the steam ecosystem

Competitive = Playstation new challenger

Well technically you will be able to play Playstation games on it

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

That's a feature not a bug.

 

[rodrigolfp]

The naming is something I made up so it would be easy to understand what I mean, but there is some certification or whatever you wanna call it.

On my steam deck there's a green arrow that shows which games runs great and everything is ready.
A yellow sign if there are some annoyances like having to use a keyboard on first boot to login or something (there's one built in in the deck of course).
And then a "no icon" if it doesn't work at all, like there's some anti cheat preventing it from working.

EVery game I've booted up runs with the native SD resolution and optimized with the right settings to get a out of the box console experience

That is Proton compatibility and it is the same for every linux distros, not only Steam OS. And it is not Steam setting up the " recommended" settings, it is the games themselves.

 

[RoboFu]

You know those things will never change unless there is a reason. Doing nothing would just make sure those things never change. I will fully support steamos as I don't play those games anyway and I want a change for the better in the long term..

 

[Mister Wolf]

So we can expect GTA 6's online to be blocked as well if nothing changes?

 

[Hero_Select]

So we can expect GTA 6's online to be blocked as well if nothing changes?

Yes

 

[pudel]

So we can expect GTA 6's online to be blocked as well if nothing changes?

Its up to Rockstar (or TakeTwo...not sure).

 

[nani17]

So we can expect GTA 6's online to be blocked as well if nothing changes?

Yes, less something is changed you will not be able to play GTA 6 online on your brand new steam Machine however on your very old PlayStation 5 Pro or you're very old xbox series x you will be able to or your PC on all of them will have more than 8gb of vram

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Yep....i dont care about these games as well....except GTA maybe. They could all just simply make it possible...but they dont and forcing me to boot into windows to play these games. Thanks....I guess!

I don't understand the Destiny 2 limitation. I played that on steam deck when it was first released then they patched OUT support for the steam deck.
Epic I understand...sorta? They want to keep you on EGS so you give them ALL the money for those two games.

It would be aweseome to see valve release the hardware with an "anniversary game bundle" of valve games. Sure Portal 2 and Half Life 2 are older games, but that would be a sizable start to someone's library that was dipping their toes into Steam gaming with this purcahse.

 

[Arsic]

8gb vram is my big concern.

 

[Durin]

Every game that detects your hardware and does this recommended "settings does in every PC. The only exclusive setting is that "Steam Deck" preset that 1 or 2 games have.

I know that, but the Steam Deck presets made by devs for some games, are distinctly better than the automated hardware detection methods.

Automated detection usually kind of sucks, and undercuts your what your hardware can do, but I've found the devs that do the Deck presets at least work most of the time.

Getting more of those presets will only happen if the hardware sells or Valve offers some incentives.

In a perfect world having most of these games working at launch would be great but when the reviews drop and they'll tell people these certain games won't work it's not going to be good.

They're going to need to improve their compatibility program, but at the very least Proton's compatibility has improved massively vs the Steam Deck's day one launch. I wish they'd include ProtonDB integration, because that site has crowd-sourced tons of games, and some fixes are literally just copy/past launch option commands.

I think if Valve ever expands selling this thing outside the Steam store, it should be after compatibility for games improves further.

 

[nani17]

8gb vram is my big concern.

That is a massive concern for machine that's going to come out in 2026 having so little vram you are not playing 4K 60 anytime soon something like cyberpunk or even the Witcher 4 when that comes out.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Yes, less something is changed you will not be able to play GTA 6 online on your brand new steam Machine however on your very old PlayStation 5 Pro or you're very old xbox series x you will be able to or your PC on all of them will have more than 8gb of vram

When you have less VRAM than the Switch 2, you know its a problem.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Well technically you will be able to play Playstation games on it

And that's an important factor. Because there is a sizable market that is immune to FOMO; a more price sensitive/casual consumer. And once someone overcomes the quirks and features of PC gaming the will be rewarded with the best feature in my opinion:

Cheaper games.

 

[nani17]

And that's an important factor. Because there is a sizable market that is immune to FOMO; a more price sensitive/casual consumer. And once someone overcomes the quirks and features of PC gaming the will be rewarded with the best feature in my opinion:

Cheaper games.

The FOMO crowd just might help with the sale numbers

When you have less VRAM than the Switch 2, you know its a problem.

Ouch less than switch 2

 

[rodrigolfp]

When you have less VRAM than the Switch 2, you know its a problem.

SW2 can only use 9GB for games and I doubt it can use 8GB only for VRAM.

 

[pudel]

I don't understand the Destiny 2 limitation. I played that on steam deck when it was first released then they patched OUT support for the steam deck.
Epic I understand...sorta? They want to keep you on EGS so you give them ALL the money for those two games.

You stay on EGS anyway. There is absolutely no difference if they would enable linux for their anticheat. Only argument would be if they really expect more cheaters this way.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

The FOMO crowd just might help with the sale numbers

Just as with the Steam Deck, and the very real actual Xbox handheld.

 

[GoldenEye98]

Never used Steam OS and was not aware of this limitation. At least for me, not being able to play COD or BF MP would be a non-starter...

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

You stay on EGS anyway. There is absolutely no difference if they would enable linux for their anticheat. Only argument would be if they really expect more cheaters this way.

They already support linux with EAC, well proton anyway.

Maybe I am wrong but Fortnite uses the same platform Easy Anti Cheat (that stupid blue bear icon) for all their games, right? There are a few games on steam that already use EAC. I guess its a different version because its running through Steam and not EGS? I dunno my nephew told me they also use BattleEye for anti cheat for fortnite...some folks have EAC and some have BE?

Just from a stats perspective I would assume you would always have less cheaters on a linux based system simply based on market share/player size.

 

[Draugoth]

Install a bigger SSD and make an extra partition with Windows 11.

Honestly, if I bought a PC/Handheld with ProtonOS I wouldn't bother installing Windows on it

 

[The_Mike]

That is Proton compatibility and it is the same for every linux distros, not only Steam OS. And it is not Steam setting up the " recommended" settings, it is the games themselves.

Steam Deck :: Deck Verified

Available now.

www.steamdeck.com

The game should support the default resolution of Steam Deck (1280x800 or 1280x720), have good default settings, and text should be legible


No matter what the hell you wanna call it, it doesn't change the fact that the games settings are already set up, ready to go on the Steam deck when you install it. You have no reason to tinker with it and you are never gonna need to go into Graphic settings.

Its not the first time I'm catching you in talking about stuff you know nothing about when it comes to pc gaming.

You don't even own a steam deck, which is fair, but as the least effort you could have googled the subject before spitting utter nonsense

 

[rodrigolfp]

Steam Deck :: Deck Verified

Available now.

www.steamdeck.com

The game should support the default resolution of Steam Deck (1280x800 or 1280x720), have good default settings, and text should be legible


No matter what the hell you wanna call it, it doesn't change the fact that the games settings are already set up, ready to go on the Steam deck when you install it. You have no reason to tinker with it and you are never gonna need to go into Graphic settings.

Its not the first time I'm catching you in talking about stuff you know nothing about when it comes to pc gaming.

You don't even own a steam deck, which is fair, but as the least effort you could have googled the subject before spitting utter nonsense

I don't thing you understand what that information means and I am pretty sure Steam doesn't set the "good default settings" for games, it's the games themselves.

About not having a Steam Deck, just wait...

 

[pudel]

They already support linux with EAC, well proton anyway.

Maybe I am wrong but Fortnite uses the same platform Easy Anti Cheat (that stupid blue bear icon) for all their games, right? There are a few games on steam that already use EAC. I guess its a different version because its running through Steam and not EGS? I dunno my nephew told me they also use BattleEye for anti cheat for fortnite...some folks have EAC and some have BE?

Just from a stats perspective I would assume you would always have less cheaters on a linux based system simply based on market share/player size.

EAC belongs basically to Epic! They made it possible for linux/proton, but will kick you in Fortnite when playing on linux! Its weird.

 

[Wolzard]

I've been saying this for a while. Steamos will never take off without resolving this issue first.

That depends solely and exclusively on the developers. There are games with anti-cheat on Linux. The issue is simply one of providing support.
If Linux's market share continues to rise, some developers will probably rethink this.