Linux gaming has come a long way in the last decade, and for seasoned Linux users, that’s a good thing. There are fewer reasons than ever to keep a Windows boot drive in our systems, and the experience only gets better with each passing month. That said, I want Linux gaming to grow as much as anyone, but it still has the potential to break in a way that will cause those unfamiliar with the pitfalls of Linux to flee straight to Windows. There’s more promise than ever around the platform, but the lack of polish on the technical side is proof that we’re still a long way from mainstream adoption.
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Proton has done wonders for Linux gaming
The bar has never been lower
Before we get into what causes the static between PC and Linux casual gamers, Valve deserves real credit for getting Linux to where it is today. Proton is some of the most impressive software to come out of PC gaming, and thanks to Valve, it can take almost any Windows game that was never designed for other operating systems and make it playable on Linux, often with performance to match. ProtonDB, a community-run database that tracks games that perform well through Proton, is proof of this. A quick scroll will show you that very few titles are outright incompatible. These titles don’t work due to DRM or a deliberate decision by the developers, but that’s something Proton can’t get around.
This renaissance is largely due to the Steam Deck. Valve had a business reason to make Linux games viable for non-technical users, and SteamOS pushed Proton from an interesting hobbyist project to something that should work for millions of handheld owners who have never opened a terminal. Proton is also not locked to SteamOS, which has opened the door to virtually any viable distribution for gaming, provided the appropriate packages are installed.
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Gaming on Linux is still not smooth
There are still problems, even if some say it is transparent
Despite all the great work Valve has done, gaming on Linux still has some rough edges. There are plenty of Linux diehards who turn their noses up at anyone who dares to insinuate that this is the case, but it’s the truth, and a quick glance at online forums proves it.
Even from my own experience, I ran into issues that I couldn’t resolve, both with games played through Proton and native Linux titles. In the case of the latter, War Thunder was a game in which I had to deal with numerous crashes, across multiple GPUs on different systems. The game ran fine for a while, but crashed mid-match, and this was the case with Radeon and Nvidia GPUs. Distro doesn’t seem to make a difference here either.
Then there’s anti-cheating, which is less of a technical issue than a political one. A significant portion of modern multiplayer gaming runs on kernel-level anti-cheat systems that either don’t support Linux at all or require the publisher to adhere to Proton compatibility. Escape from Tarkova game that frequent readers of my articles here on XDA know I really enjoy, has a BattlEye anti-cheat that doesn’t work on Linux. All it would take to make this work would be a simple software toggle. In other titles, anti-cheat was never intended for Linux from the start, making the likelihood of Linux support extremely slim.
Finally, there are some performance quirks, and these appear very differently depending on the configuration. Most games that work run fine, but there are situations where performance is poor and the cause is very difficult to pinpoint. If this is caused by something in your setup, troubleshooting may take some time, but some games just don’t work well, and I’ve experienced this on different distributions with different window managers.
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This is exactly the kind of problem that normal people don’t want to talk about
Not everyone is capable of spending days solving problems
For the Linux novice, these things, as small as they may be for a seasoned Linux veteran, are simply too much to handle, and returning to Windows is a much more appealing prospect.
Many die-hard Linux users think the experience is ready for the masses, but that’s simply not the case. A Windows user experiencing a framerate issue updates their GPU driver, changes some game settings, and moves on. A Linux user diagnosing the same problem might end up reading about kernel settings, switching Proton versions per game, changing launch options, checking if their distribution is on Wayland or None of this is difficult if you like this stuff, but it’s just not something normal people want to do, and that’s the hard truth.
And it doesn’t just come down to performance or compatibility issues. There is a known bug with Bazzite, the most popular gaming distribution, that I encountered recently, where using the “switch account” feature on Steam completely crashes your Steam installation. Yes, there is a fix, but you have to consult the documentation and write commands on the terminal. That this was happening on the fastest growing game distribution was surprising, and while performing the patch I couldn’t help but think, “This is the last thing a newbie would want to do.”
I installed Bazzite on the Steam Deck, and I regret it
I tried it, so it’s not necessary.
These problems are becoming less common
Distributions help solve common problems
That said, the trajectory Linux gaming is on is real and cannot be ignored. These little technical quirks, while numerous, will gradually be ironed out as the user base grows. Proton continues to mature alongside gaming-specific distros like Bazzite, making the plug-and-play dream more realistic than it was just a few years ago. The growth Linux has seen has forced developers to take note, and I think it’s only a matter of time before it really becomes viable for “normal” people.
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Linux is a completely different beast than it was ten years ago.
Linux games are great, but it’s not common
However, Linux just isn’t there yet. I support it and can’t wait to write about how it’s finally ready for your non-techie friends to jump in with both feet, but the truth is that it’s just not refined enough. Proton and Bazzite have done wonders to close the gap, but that gap still exists, and it’s full of problems that normal people don’t want to bother solving, and I can’t blame them. Until the experience is truly plug-and-play, it will be reserved for those willing to put up with the quirks.