Valve’s Steam Deck is easily the most popular handheld for PC gaming, delivering a tailored (almost console-like) experience with its Linux-based SteamOS. Its development alongside Proton has helped revolutionize Linux for gaming, but the operating system isn’t without its drawbacks. Anti-cheat support is one major issue, but that doesn’t stop you from playing the classics.

The lack of native anti-cheat support remains a barrier to entry in popular multiplayer titles, including the likes of Fortnite and any modern Call of Duty title using Activision’s Ricochet AC. Thankfully, older ‘Golden Age’ CoDs are still available to play on Linux, and ‘DeckOps’ automates and streamlines the Steam Deck installation of titles ranging from CoD 4 (MW) to Black Ops II.

How to (safely) play older Call of Duty games on the Steam Deck

DeckOps is available to download on GitHub and is designed to automate installation for several older Call of Duty titles. These days, communities have turned to alternative clients to avoid ‘dead’ official servers and bypass Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerabilities. So, if you’re looking for legitimate players, you should be playing on one of these community clients rather than just booting up the game as normal as you would ~15 years ago.

Multiplayer clients include CoD4x, iw4x, and Plutonium, and give you access to community-run servers. DeckOps installs these clients and makes them launchable directly through your Steam library. Single-player and multiplayer modes are playable.

Below you can find a full list of the supported games; for further specifics, we recommend checking out this Reddit post. We’ve also included the release year, since the franchise has a handful of remakes and reused titles at this point. One thing we should note, however, is that Plutonium lacks support for LCD Steam Decks in online play, though LAN mode is available. This means LCD owners may only access online play in MW1 and MW2, while OLED Steam Deck owners have full access to all titles below.

• Modern Warfare (2007)
• World at War (2008)
• Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
• Black Ops (2010)
• Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
• Black Ops II (2012)

With the Steam Spring Sale still on for a couple of more days, now’s a good time to pick up some of these ‘Golden Age’ Call of Duty games if you’re looking to enjoy some classic CoD action on your Steam Deck. While we would like to see Activision make an effort to support Linux with its modern anti-cheat solution, there’s no sign of that happening just now. However, devs and publishers are warming to the idea of support lately, with even EA reportedly working on Linux support for its Javelin anti-cheat.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.