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Update 15/03/22 - It's now fixed, with no word again from anyone. The EAC file was just put back nearly ~9 hours later.


Even though Apex Legends was marked officially Steam Deck Verified by Valve on March 9, that we covered in an article, it's now been updated and it's broken on Steam Deck and Linux desktops.

It's still not really clear what's going on. No announcement was made previously from any party. Valve didn't say anything, Respawn (the developer) didn't and EA (the publisher) also stayed silent. It just seemed to go through Deck Verified, and showed the whole world it worked as it was properly live on the Steam store and in your Steam Library on Deck. Now, a patch came in and it has removed the Linux Easy Anti-Cheat file so the game will boot you out telling you it's not working.

This is pretty frustrating. We've talked a couple of times now across articles and videos on issues with Deck Verified, and this certainly doesn't help. There's always going to be teething issues with a new platform of course but this isn't even a Top 100 title, Apex is constantly in the Top 10 on Steam. To have it break like this even though it's Deck Verified? What the heck is going on?

It does bring up other questions now too like: how long is the lag between a major game getting an upgrade, and it going through Deck Verified again to check it works? What about smaller games, do they have to wait longer? The list of questions goes on.

Such a shame, as it became an instant favourite of mine and worked so nicely on Deck:

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Spyker Mar 14, 2022
Hopefully it's just a mistake from the guy in charge of the publication who forgot the Linux files and it will be fixed promptly.
const Mar 14, 2022
My guess is they messed up their build pipeline. Things like that can happen when distribution of a package changes (like adding a library). We will see if they care and timely fix this. Wouldn't panic just yet.


Last edited by const on 14 March 2022 at 6:03 pm UTC
Mohandevir Mar 14, 2022
Aaaah! Come on! What is that!? The EAC file was added by accident or removed by accident? Proton even got bug corrections for that particular game... It doesn't make sense!


Last edited by Mohandevir on 14 March 2022 at 6:06 pm UTC
Rasea Mar 14, 2022
I'm not surprised, I'm just disappointed.
https://steamdb.info/app/1172470/patchnotes/
pete910 Mar 14, 2022
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And this is why I don't like this relyance we are heading for on wine/proton !

Native FTW !
Liam Dawe Mar 14, 2022
Quoting: pete910And this is why I don't like this relyance we are heading for on wine/proton !

Native FTW !
Native games aren't invulnerable to breaking, I've written my fair share of articles on exactly that.
mindedie Mar 14, 2022
Why some people so obsessed with multiplayer always online (specially FPS/TPS) games/slot machines? Deck fully capable of running them, but you'll never be "competitive" on controller and less so on small screen and wireless... Or just loudest bunch...


Last edited by mindedie on 14 March 2022 at 6:34 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Mar 14, 2022
Quoting: mindedieWhy some people so obsessed with multiplayer always online (specially FPS/TPS) games/slot machines? Deck fully capable of running them, but you'll never be "competitive" on controller and less so on small screen and wireless...
It's amazing that this needs to be explained at all. As the article said, it's in the top 10 games on Steam. That alone should give you the only real reason you actually need. That, plus a Steam Deck can be hooked up to any screen and you can plug in a mouse and keyboard too. I've been playing it 99% of the time on Deck this way, and it has until now worked very well.
Valeth Mar 14, 2022
I did back up the easyanticheat so file before updating, and when you copy it back where it should be it does seem to load up EAC just fine as before.

So maybe it was just an accidental removal, because (correct me if I'm wrong here) you probably need build EAC with Linux/Proton support to have it find the library. Still wouldn't recommend running it this way until we got confirmation on what's going on.

Would be sad if they removed it on purpose, had a lot of fun when playing it with friends.


Last edited by Valeth on 14 March 2022 at 6:46 pm UTC
quot Mar 14, 2022
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I wonder if dropping in that missing `easyanticheat_x64.so` file would fix the issue. The removal seems accidental, so I'm assuming the main binary is still compatible. Of course, you're risking a ban if you try that, but I am curious.
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