Rockstar Games recently released GTA V Enhanced, an upgraded version of the original Grand Theft Auto V that brings highly requested features previously exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. This includes visual upgrades such as ray tracing, ray-traced shadows, and reflections, along with additional in-game content like new vehicles, challenges, subscriptions, and more.

Despite introducing these demanding features, GTA V Enhanced appears to offer even better performance than the original GTA V (now called GTA V Legacy). In fact, even Steam Deck owners can enjoy the game at all presets, whether using upscaling, high graphics settings, or even high ray tracing. However, while the majority of players are having a blast, some are encountering problems when trying to launch the Rockstar Games Launcher version on the Valve handheld.

Can’t launch the game on Steam Deck? Use this launch option

This comes from Reddit, where users are reporting issues when trying to run the Rockstar Games Launcher version of the game on their Steam Deck. Fortunately, there are a few workarounds that users have suggested to try, with one being to put the “-onSteamDeck” command in the Rockstar Launcher itself; this is located in game launch options.

If the game still crashes after this, another fix is to disable AMD FSR 3, as some believe that is what’s causing the crashes in the first place. Now, this either seems to be a weird bug with FSR 3 or an issue with the game itself, so fingers crossed for a patch from Rockstar Games to address this soon.

Runs like a charm on the Steam Deck

Once you manage to run the game using these workarounds, the rest of the experience is pretty solid, especially for Steam Deck users who, after seeing the poor optimization and demanding nature of the recently launched Monster Hunter Wilds, were having a rough time.

As we said before, even with ray tracing effects set to high, the game still manages to deliver a more than playable experience, averaging 35-40 FPS with no drops below 30, even in intense situations like explosions, gunfights, car chases, and more. This is according to Deck Wizard on YouTube, who has been testing the game following its Enhanced upgrade.

However, before actually getting the coveted ‘Verified’ badge, you need to remember that GTA Online still doesn’t work on the Deck (or other Linux machines) as a result of the BattlEye anti-cheat being introduced to the game around six months ago. This essentially cut support for GTA:O on the Steam Deck, causing player numbers on the handheld to plummet. Luckily, you can still play singleplayer.

About the Author

Hassam Nasir

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.