Playing Destiny 2 On Steam Deck Can Get You Banned, Here's Why

Following the launch of Valve's Steam Deck recently, Bungie has clarified that Destiny 2 is not supported on the machine, further stating that anyone trying to bypass approved measures for playing the game will be banned. Bungie has since further clarified its position in its latest weekly blog post.

In a post on the Bungie Help website, the developer made it clear: "Destiny 2 is not supported for play on the Steam Deck or on any system utilizing Steam Play's Proton unless Windows is installed and running."

The message goes on: "Players who attempt to launch Destiny 2 on the Steam Deck through SteamOS or Proton will be unable to enter the game and will be returned to their game library after a short time."

Further still, any player trying to bypass approved systems for Destiny 2 will be banned. "Players who attempt to bypass Destiny 2 incompatibility will be met with a game ban.

In its latest This Week At Bungie post, the studio further clarified its position around Steam Deck. It explained that "maintaining the integrity" of Destiny 2's security is part of the reason why Steam Deck is not supported.

"Our goal is to maintain a secure environment for Destiny 2, as it features both PvE and PvP combat in an evolving, dynamic world. Maintaining the integrity of our security is a complex and long-term process," Bungie said. "In some cases it means teaming with partners like BattlEye and following their recommendations, in others, it means choosing to not support platforms that could provide bad actors with ways of compromising our own Bungie developed anti-cheat security systems. Steam Deck is not a supported platform and using the device will trigger our automated security systems to see usage as a potential threat to the community."

Bungie said it hasn't written Steam Deck off entirely, but Destiny 2 is currently not supported. "While we will investigate possibilities of support for new and future platforms, we do not have any additional information at this time," Bungie said.

Destiny 2 isn't the only high-profile game not officially supported on Steam Deck. Before this, Epic Games confirmed that the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite is not natively supported on the machine due to concerns around cheating and compatibility issues.

In other news about the Steam Deck, Valve has released an update that addresses thumbstick issues after players reporting drifting problems.

For more on the Steam Deck, check out GameSpot's Steam Deck review. "What the Steam Deck excels at is being a mobile hub for your Steam games, giving you enough to work with to get the best out of a selection of games you can't go without while away from your desktop. In that regard, there simply is nothing better on the market right now," reviewer Alessandro Barbosa said.

As for Destiny 2, the game's big new Witch Queen expansion just launched. For more, check out GameSpot' Destiny 2: The Witch Queen review-in-progress.