Bungie will ban ‘Destiny 2’ players who run the game from a Steam Deck

Don’t try to play Destiny 2 on your brand new Steam Deck — you won’t like the outcome. As Reddit users and GamesRadar have noticed, Bungie has warned it will not only kick out players who try to run the game from a Steam Deck or other SteamOS devices, but ban those players who try to circumvent that restriction. PC players have to use an active copy of Windows, Bungie said.

Bungie didn’t initially say why it forbids Steam Deck use. We’ve asked the company for comment. It shouldn’t have anything to do with Sony’s plans to acquire Bungie, however. The studio is still independent, and CEO Pete Parsons maintained that game development would continue for multiple platforms.

The decision might instead revolve around code integrity. Bungie added BattlEye anti-cheat technology to Destiny 2 in 2021, starting with the recently-ended Season of the Lost. While BattlEye worked with Valve to add support in Proton (the code that lets Windows-based Steam play on the Steam Deck and SteamOS), that doesn’t mean Bungie was satisfied with the trustworthiness of that anti-cheating implementation. Reddit user floatingatoll speculated that Linux’s open system boot approach still left opportunities for cheaters.

Whatever the reasoning, the news won’t be heartening if you’re a Destiny 2 fan. You’ll either have to install Windows on your Steam Deck (not a realistic option at present) or buy an alternative like the Aya Neo or GPD Win 3 if you insist on fighting the Darkness from a handheld PC. Still, this isn’t a complete shock. Valve made clear that not every game will run on the Steam Deck, and D2 just happens to be one of the more prominent examples.