Why Call of Duty: Warzone is not on Steam Deck?

Valve's revolutionary handheld gaming device, Steam Deck, has finally been released. This made some Call of Duty fans wonder if Warzone will be released for the device or not. After looking deeply into the matter, it can be said that the game won't be available for the device, at least any time soon.

Fans might be disappointed, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that Valve's new handheld device runs on Steam OS 3.0, based on Arch Linux architecture. It is a custom build of Linux made out of Wine and Proton and does not support anti-cheats that run at the kernel level.

---

What limitations are denying games like Warzone from running on Steam Deck?

Steam Deck is the latest innovation from Valve in the hardware department. It is a handheld gaming device that is priced and rocks configuration very similar to consoles. Despite having the ability to run most of the 'whitelisted' games that are available on Steam, there are certain limitations on the device that prevent it from running games like Warzone.

This new device runs on Steam OS 3.0, based on Arch Linux architecture. It's a custom build of Linux made out of Wine and Proton. Proton is a new tool released by Valve Software that has been integrated with the Steam Deck to make Windows games playable on Linux.

The most notable limitation with this architecture is that it doesn't allow kernel-level anti-cheats from running on it. Valorant's "Vanguard" and Warzone's "Ricochet" anti-cheats are Kernel-level software. This kernel-level anti-cheat monitors any other applications that may be running in the background at the same time as the game.

This, in turn, helps to figure out if a player uses unauthorized software to gain an advantage in competitive multiplayer games. Another factor that does not allow Warzone to run on this device is because Ricochet is a first-party kernel-level anti-cheat.

As a result, Warzone is not playable on the device even if players want to hop on the Battle Royale game on the go. However, specific games that use a third-party kernel anti-cheat like Easy Anticheat are playable on the Steam Deck.

Elden Ring, the newly released Soul-like game, was recently tested on this device and was rendered playable by most users. Elden Ring uses Easy Anticheat software. As mentioned before, it can be played on this handheld device.

Some users might think that this new device has enough horsepower to install Windows and run these games simultaneously. However, that is not the case. Windows uses many more resources in comparison to Linux and users won't be able to enjoy the compatible games at decent frame rates, let alone Warzone.

The pre-booking for the Steam Deck started way back in July 2021, for select regions only, where players could reserve their device by paying $5. As of February 28, 2022, those who pre-booked their Deck will finally get a chance to pre-order it and get it delivered at their doorsteps.