The Steam Machine could well rank among the most exciting hardware launches of the year, yet whether it quickly replaces your current console or desktop setup depends largely on the games you like to play. For many players, that swap may not be immediate, largely because it can’t run several of the most important releases on the market.
This drawback doesn’t come from the device’s underlying performance. In fact, the Steam Machine is capable of running many of those games without trouble—the limiting factor is a fairly straightforward software restriction.
Just like Valve’s Steam Deck, the Steam Machine runs on a customized Linux distribution. Valve calls this system SteamOS, and while it’s improved the prospects for gaming on Linux, there remains one major obstacle: anti-cheat.
That issue, in particular, stems from the anti-cheat components that launch with the game. In most cases—regardless of who built the anti-cheat—those tools simply aren’t designed to work on Linux.
A deeper explanation of why this happens could fill pages, but the core point is hard to deny: when a title includes any sort of anti-cheat, it’s unlikely to run on Linux—and by extension, it won’t run on the Steam Machine. Today, a large number of games include anti-cheat measures, and although a few studios have figured out how to support Linux, most haven’t. Unfortunately, that larger group includes several major, much-loved franchises.
It’s also worth noting that even titles with offline modes or single-player content still won’t be playable if the game demands an anti-cheat verification step. There are ways around it by switching to Windows, but doing so undermines the very idea behind a console-like device.
Below are the games that, as of the time of writing, are not available on the Steam Machine.
Destiny 2
Even though it has only just received its latest update, Destiny 2 remains one of the most popular games on Steam. While Bungie hasn’t outlined plans for more support, the looter-shooter RPG has still managed to pull in hundreds of thousands of players to honor its history and say goodbye.
The Destiny 2 servers will continue running, and it could be a great time to jump back in—especially since there’s plenty to explore without the pressure to level up a character ahead of a brand-new raid. On top of that, Destiny 2 is well optimized, so it should run extremely smoothly on the Steam Machine.
Still, Bungie has repeatedly turned down the idea of supporting Steam Deck – the more modest, less powerful offshoot of a Steam Machine – because of complications tied to the game’s anti-cheat software. Now that the studio has essentially wrapped up its work on the title, it seems even less likely that any development time will be spent revisiting it.
Fortnite
The reach and popularity of Epic Games’ Fortnite hardly need an introduction, and although it isn’t listed on Steam, it’s still among the biggest PC games around.
Fortnite can’t run on SteamOS because, as you might expect, its anti-cheat blocks it from working on Linux-based systems. Even if you manage to get the Epic Games Store running on your Steam Machine, Fortnite still won’t be one of the games you can play.
Epic has stayed firm in its stance against enabling Linux support for the game. The company essentially doesn’t believe platform support is worth the added risk of making it easier for cheaters to interfere with gameplay. Unlike Windows, Linux is a more open environment and doesn’t include many of the security protections that several anti-cheat systems rely on to do their job effectively.
Even so, Fortnite is playable on many non-Windows devices, which leaves room for the possibility that Epic could eventually come up with a solution for Linux—even if the game never appears in the Steam store.
Battlefield 6
Among the standout Battlefield entries in recent memory, Battlefield 6 broke records for the franchise. Its success was so strong that it became the best-selling game of 2025 in the US, beating Call of Duty in an uncommon repeat.
Battlefield 6 shipped with a brand-new, internally developed anti-cheat system built by Battlefield Studios for Windows PCs. In fact, before you can even launch the game, you must make sure that specific system-level settings are enabled, and that your motherboard’s BIOS supports certain security features.
This is the first time the series has used kernel-level anti-cheat—an anti-cheat approach tightly woven into the overall system, one that requires root access on your PC. It works by relying on a collection of security layers, all of which must be turned on for the game to start successfully. More and more titles are leaning on this type of anti-cheat, and it should be no surprise that it isn’t practical on Linux—there simply isn’t enough restriction for that—so it also isn’t realistic on SteamOS, at least not without a substantial amount of engineering work.
Getting Battlefield 6 running on Linux would take time, and unfortunately, the same limitation applies across today’s modern Battlefield lineup as well. That includes Battlefield 2042, Battlefield 5, and Battlefield 1. Those games are protected by the same anti-cheat system, which is why they remain unavailable.
Apex Legends
This could be among the most troubling examples. Apex Legends, the well-liked battle royale shooter from Respawn, once even supported SteamOS; yet the studio eventually got tired of cheaters exploiting the game on Linux, so Steam Deck support was dropped. At the moment, the title requires Windows.
Apex Legends may feel a bit older and it doesn’t command attention like it used to, but it still ranks consistently among Steam’s most popular free-to-play games. Each new seasonal update helps lift it back up the charts, and it continues to bring in millions of players.
Apex Legends stands out not only as the leading battle royale shooter built around hero-based characters, but also because of its sci-fi world, which strays from the usual military-style atmosphere. Because of all that, it’s frustrating that you can’t play it on your Steam Machine—especially when it’s already hard to find any battle royale title you can run.
GTA Online
GTA Online is the multiplayer side of GTA 5. It’s still one of the most in-demand online shooters around, and it has helped drive steady, year-over-year sales growth for GTA 5. On PC, GTA Online is particularly important for players who take part in role-playing servers. Unfortunately, that whole ecosystem is locked to Windows, thanks to the game’s anti-cheat safeguards.
When it first arrived, GTA 5 worked on Steam Deck and could have been available on Steam Machine as well. However, Rockstar later updated the game so it requires an account login and an online check—changes that ultimately removed it from the list of supported titles. Even if your goal is simply to play the campaign, you’re still out of luck unless you’re willing to rely on heavy modding.
While some inventive players have managed to bypass a few of those login hurdles to get it running on Steam Deck (and, by extension, Steam Machine), that’s not the kind of workaround most people would try—particularly when they bought the device specifically for its simple, console-like approach.
Considering that both GTA 5 and GTA Online have been improved through the Enhanced Edition, and that Rockstar is currently offering free upgrades, the lack of Steam Machine support is a major letdown.
EA Sports FC
It’s hard not to feel let down here. With a World Cup happening right now—and with EA’s football franchise still being an easy match for relaxing evenings on the couch—you can’t play it on your Steam Machine.
SteamOS support disappeared starting with EA Sports FC 24, when the series switched names, and the problem has continued through the latest releases. This restriction is mostly driven by anti-cheat requirements, since modern EA Sports games use systems that aren’t compatible with Linux or SteamOS. As a result, the impact reaches every player regardless of which mode they prefer, meaning you can’t even fall back on offline play.
The most recent EA football title that still works consistently is FIFA 22, assuming you’re okay revisiting an older release.
Call of Duty (2019 onwards)
For Steam Machine owners, the major shooter series Call of Duty is essentially off-limits. Many older entries in the franchise run normally, but anything from the current era—2019 and later—simply won’t start on your system.
Call of Duty has dealt with cheaters on PC for a long time, especially after the launch of the free-to-play battle royale mode, Warzone. Since then, Activision developers have tried a range of approaches to reduce cheat-related problems, with their biggest step being an internally built kernel-level anti-cheat solution.
Even before Secure Boot was required, the Call of Duty anti-cheat framework still wasn’t designed with Linux or SteamOS in mind. In other words, if you want to play a modern Call of Duty release, Windows is your only real option.
Titles you can’t play include: Modern Warfare (2019), Black Ops Cold War, Vanguard, Modern Warfare 2 (2022), Modern Warfare 3 (2023), Black Ops 6, Black Ops 7, and most likely the upcoming Modern Warfare 4.
Riot Games (League of Legends, Valorant, 2XKO)
None of Riot Games’ titles work with Steam Machine. More than that, the company doesn’t offer its games on Steam at all. Even if you attempted to manually install the Riot Launcher, none of the games would run.
And before you point out that playing a MOBA like League of Legends on anything other than a keyboard & mouse is awkward, the Steam Controller could make it more realistic. Still, even if you managed to use a controller for a MOBA, League of Legends on Steam Machine wouldn’t be part of the available options.
The same applies to Riot’s free-to-play hero shooter Valorant, as well as the free-to-play fighter 2XKO. They may belong to different genres, but each one is protected by the same Vanguard anti-cheat technology.
While it’s disappointing to see such a long list of major games not supported on Steam Machine, there is reason to stay hopeful. Many newer releases rely on anti-cheat tools built by independent providers, and in some cases, those companies have made their software compatible with Linux. If the game studios are open to it, they could choose to turn on that compatibility—opening the door for the games to run on Steam Machine.
Frustratingly, Valve’s choices here are fairly restricted. When Steam Machine launched, Valve said it hoped more developers would enable anti-cheat support for Steam Machine than for Steam Deck, largely because its potential audience could be larger, and because many people might use it for online multiplayer in a way similar to a console.
Still, considering the cost of Steam Machine and the expectation that supplies would be limited, it’s fair to wonder whether that possible player base will ever grow enough to justify revisiting the decision.