Steam Deck can now support games with Easy Anti-Cheat

eurogamer.net:

Valve has confirmed that games using anti-cheat software Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) can now be run on Steam Deck.

The update — which directly addresses developers with games on Steam — details how the team has worked in partnership with Epic to make it «simple» for PC games that use EAC to add Steam Deck support, which should, in turn, see more compatible games added to the upcoming handheld system.

«Our team has been working with Epic on Easy Anti-Cheat + Proton support over the last few months, and we're happy to announce that adding Steam Deck support to your existing EAC games is now a simple process, and doesn't require updating game binaries, SDK versions, or integration of EOS,» the update states (thanks, PCGN).

«Alongside our BattlEye updates from last year, this means that the two largest anti-cheat services are now easily supported on Proton and Steam Deck.»

Though Valve expressed plans to make EAC games compatible several months back, some developers intimated that the matter was «far more complex than first suspected» and may not have been possible ahead of Steam Deck's release. But now the issues have seemingly been rectified, it should hopefully make it easier for devs using EAC to get their games onto Steam Deck. Popular games that run Easy Anti-Cheat include Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Rainbow Six Siege, and Epic's own Fortnite.

Consequently, from Monday 24th January the team is «going to start» submitting Deck Verified test data for tested titles that use those anti-cheat systems, inviting developers to choose whether or not they want Valve to assess the current build of their PC game for Steam Deck, or submit a new one.

Steam Deck is seemingly still on track to meet it's revised February 2022 release