Hello @Lowe0 , The issue is with SteamOS as the way it's setup it won't accept any game that has an anti-cheat. For F1 24 to run on the Steam Deck either Valve would have to modify their OS or EA would have to remove the Anti-cheat from the game.
I don't really see either happening so unfortunately running F1 24 on the Steam Deck is unlikely.
@KairanD Yes, technically developers can have anti-cheats enabled for Steam Deck and Linux. However, to do that the AC isn't installed at the Kernal level which means it is easier to bypass.
While some developers may have chosen to go this route, most do not, as it doesn't make much sense to have an AC in the first place if your just going to create a vulnerability.
@KairanD I agree that kernel-level AC isn't a great solution, I certainly would prefer to avoid it where possible, but this is just where the gaming industry is right now.
While there may not be a lot of Linux players, even a few could do a good bit of damage. In particular I'm thinking of the Time Trial leaderboards, even if only 100 people cheat then its forever impossible for anyone playing fairly to set a top 100 time. It's a bit different for head-to-head games like EA FC or Madden where you run into a cheater, get beat, report them, and move on with your life. A good number of people care about the TT leaderboards so constantly having to reset them because a new wave of cheats came through isn't really great either.
I think there's also an optics component to the discussion as well. While I think you and I are probably on the same page regarding the downsides of kernel level AC, a lot of people like the idea that there's something preventing/ dealing with cheaters. It was a very frequent complaint the past two years, you'd be surprised how many people were asking for an AC to be added. Obviously would be better if it was server side like you mentioned but... of course that costs money.
Community Manager
