Bilawal Bashir 
2XKO likely won’t work on Steam Deck at launch, but there’s some cause for hope regarding this down the road.
Valve’s portable gaming handheld is incredibly popular. Its portable size makes it perfect for PC gamers on the go. The company did a slight refresh that included a brilliant OLED screen and better battery optimizations, making it even more desirable.
But one of its most unique selling points, the SteamOS directly integrated to Steam, is also one of its weakest points. That’s because SteamOS, which is based on Linux, is incompatible with many non-VAC anti-cheat engines. This has left games like Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG: Battlegrounds unplayable on the handheld PC.
Riot Games is known for making League of Legends and Valorant, both of which are unplayable on the Steam Deck. While playing a handheld MOBA or competitive shooter can be tricky, a fighting game like 2KXO should work well with the Steam Deck’s controller. Unfortunately, according to the reports, 2XKO won’t work on the Steam Deck.
Can I play 2XKO on Steam Deck
2XKO will not be playable on Steam Deck due to Riot Games’ anti-cheat software, Vanguard, being incompatible with SteamOS.
Without Vanguard running on the machine, 2XKO won’t run on the Steam Deck. From Riot Games’ perspective, it’s preferable to lock out an entire market rather than allow potential cheating. Vanguard has long been controversial due to privacy concerns and reports of it bricking PCs.
Riot Games hasn’t announced any plans to make Vanguard compatible with Linux-based systems. Until that changes, League of Legends, Valorant, and 2KXO won’t be able to run on a Steam Deck. While Riot hasn’t announced this, there are signs that it could happen.
Will 2XKO ever be able to run on Steam Deck?
2XKO could become playable on Steam Deck in the future.
A data mine of Valorant uncovered unused code related Valorant on mobile, consoles, MacOS, and Linux. Valorant Mobile was already announced and had run public tests in China, but console versions hadn’t yet been announced. A console beta for Valorant was opened in June 2024.
If a Linux version of Valorant is coming, that would likely mean that Riot Games has resolved the issues with Vanguard compatibility. If so, it could open the door for 2XKO becoming playable on Steam Deck.
Until then, the only way to run 2XKO on Steam Deck will be installing Windows on the portable handheld and run Vanguard on it.
Vanguard was first implemented on Valorant in 2020 and then made its way to League of Legends. While it did help with hacking and cheating in the games, gamers heavily criticized its kernel-level intrusiveness.
A kernel-level anti-cheat software is great at stopping cheats that read the game state, inputs, or modified game files. However, it also raises questions about user privacy. Riot Games maintains that its anti-cheat doesn’t collect any data. Unfortunately for Linux gamers, the anti-cheat uses a Ring 0 driver, which can’t be installed in WINE. For now, fighting game fans will have to use Windows or consoles for 2XKO.
