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Update: A fix for Proton Experimental has just been released, which should fix the issue with Apex Legends.

Respawn has just released a new update for the popular Battle Royale game, Apex Legends. Unfortunately, this update also changed their anti-cheat solution to the Epic Online Services version of Easy Anti-Cheat, the same used by Fortnite.

ApexLegendsStock21

Famously, Fortnite doesn't run natively on the Steam Deck, but that doesn't mean the Anti-Cheat solution can't run on the Steam Deck. The problem with Apex Legends has quickly been reported on the Github for Proton with users posting log files and coders looking into the cause of the issue and if a Proton fix can be made to solve the problem.

Perhaps a major difference between the two is that Apex Legends is on the Steam store whereas Fortnite is not. Apex Legends also holds a Verified status on the Steam Deck, so it'll be high on Valve's list of things to fix I'm sure.

You would hope it would also be on Respawn and EA's list of concerns, but it appears as though the Steam Deck, and Linux in general, isn't a consideration for the Apex Legends developer, otherwise, the issue would have been immediately apparent for anyone testing the build on a Linux device.

This isn't the first time Apex Legends has broken compatibility with the Steam Deck, other major updates in the past have also caused issues with the device. Hopefully this one is a quick fix...

Thanks to GamingOnLinux for bringing the news to our attention in their article.

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Oliver Stogden
Oliver began playing video games at an early age, starting with the SNES console and Commodore Amiga computer. Nowadays, his interest is in the future of portable technology, such as handheld gaming systems, portable power stations/banks, and portable monitors. And seeing just how far we can push these devices.
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