Grand Theft Auto V was one of the top ten most played games on Valve’s Steam Deck handheld this past week. It’s been in the top twenty for at least two years. But as of today, Valve now lists the game as “unsupported” — because developer Rockstar mysteriously broke compatibility with Valve’s handheld for its online modes.

Grand Left Steam Deck 5.

GTA V has consistently ranked among the top 20 most-played games on the Steam Deck for at least two years, and it even remained in the

GTA Online has been given BattlEye anti-cheat software a decade after it initially launched on PC, and as a result, players can no longer play on their Steam Decks.

Simply put, BattlEye aims to keep people in online games from doing things they're not supposed to. That's been an ongoing problem in GTA Online for many years, and a real challenge for Rockstar: Cheaters suck and GTAO is often a goat rodeo, but roleplaying servers enabled by mods are also a big part of what makes GTA Online so popular.

The addition of BattlEye anti-cheat to GTA has made the game incompatible with the Steam Deck. Steam Deck players can no longer access the GTA Online portion of the game. Rockstar is blaming Valve, despite other BattlEye games being compatible with the platform.

Thanks to a recent update, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online can't be played on the Steam Deck.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox

You may have noticed that Grand Theft Auto V is no longer verified on Steam Deck. That's seemingly because of the BattlEye new anti-cheat software for GTA Online, which rolled out earlier this week. As Rockstar explains in its official FAQ,