Gears 5 can finally be enjoyed on Steam Deck with no anti-cheat workarounds

Get the latest Proton GE right now all up in your Gears

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What you need to know

It’s always exciting being aSteam Deckgamer and today is no exception, especially if you’re into Gears 5. Because there’s now a way to play the game without having to implement any workarounds for the EAC anti-cheat.

EAC is supported in Linux and on the Steam Deck, so this isn’t a mad hack or anything, but as spotted byGamingonLinux, the latest update toProton GE, a customized version of Valve’s own Proton, has some tasty fixes for Gears 5 on the Steam Deck.

/GearGame/Binaries/Steam/EasyAntiCheat-backup /Engine/Binaries/ThirdParty/GFSDK_Aftermath

Then verify the integrity of the game files so that it re-downloads the originals.

You will of course need to be in desktop mode to delete these folders if you’d previously been using Proton GE with Gears 5.

The Gears fixes were actually part of Proton GE 8-5 but there has since been a newer version, 8-6, pushed out with a hotfix for Final Fantasy XIV as well. Proton GE is not natively part of the Steam Deck, it’s built by long standing community member, GloriousEggroll, who by day is a Red Hat engineer.

So, how do you get it? It’s pretty easy, as it happens.

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On your Steam Deck you’ll want to flip over to desktop mode, open theDiscoverstore and search for an app calledProtonUp-Qt.Once installed, open it up and make sure that Steam is selected from the dropdown box at the top.

HitAdd versionthen make sureProton GEis selected from the top box. In the one below, choose Proton GE 8-5 or 8-6 and hitInstall.It’ll only take a minute and when it’s done you can close the app. Then quit out of Steam while you’re on the desktop to reload the compatibility list and go back to the handheld UI mode.

Now you can select Proton GE as the compatibility tool by opening thePropertiesmenu for Gears 5 in your Steam library. And away you go!

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you’ll find him steering the site’s coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon atmstdn.social/@richdevine