cross-posted from: lemmy.nz/post/29912814
Just made the switch, surprised how smooth the transition went so far.
Nearly 90% of Windows Games now run on Linux, latest data shows — as Windows 10 dies, gaming on Linux is more viable than ever
Submitted 3 weeks ago by fin@sh.itjust.works to games@lemmy.world
Comments
knatschus@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
HollowNaught@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ooooh, what distro did you go with?
bonusss@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
I went full AMD and Fedora. Can’t be happier. All games I’ve tested work. It’s been a while since I’ve had a gaming pc so I don’t have a reference point, but everything is as smooth as I’d want to. Some games may need a library or so as stated in protonDB but, I’m so impressed. Now I have desktop running KDE, steam deck has KDE too and my laptop also with fedora.
knatschus@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
Mint, I need my emotional support windows xp.
criss_cross@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
For a while I never made the switch because of gaming. I did 3 years ago and never looked back. Proton is a game changer
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
The only ones that wouldn’t work are probably the ones with kernel level anti cheat. Maybe if I would be much younger, I might have had different opinion, but, as of today, I believe that all these games that wont run on Linux due to anti-cheat are cancer anyway.
Jeffool@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Kernel level anti-cheat is what’s probably going to keep me on Windows for a while. I get those games aren’t for everyone, but I like them well enough, and that’s what my friend group plays. Warzone, DMZ, and going to try RedSec tomorrow. Kind of a shame. Otherwise I’d love to make the jump. As it is I’ll probably see about dual booting when I get my next PC in a year or two.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
You have thousand of other games you can play that don’t require kernel level anti cheat, don’t be a fool
Rekorse@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
You can run them alternative ways usually. Fortnite works with mouse and keyboard through gamepads, although gamepads is a shit deal just for fortnite.
I know a lot of people dual boot or us a virtual machine with windows on it too.
Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Fortnite works with mouse and keyboard through gamepass
Only local streaming from an Xbox. Streaming from their website requires a controller and I’ve never been able to get a controller to work with a browser on Linux. Well, on Bazzite at least.
Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
In my experience AAA games from around 2000s and early 2010s often have problems running in Linux, especially if they have DRM.
In some cases a pirated version will run just fine whilst the official one won’t.
desertdruid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
in my experience it’s the exact same situation on Windows
Invisius@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
2026 will be the year of the Linux desktop!
j_0t@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
The time is near
fin@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Every year
ampy@discuss.online 3 weeks ago
I am a PC gamer and I exclusively use Linux. It’s completely viable for gaming, I can say for a fact.
REDACTED@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
How is device support? Direct drive steering wheels, gamepad, VR, status LED or info displays (ie. Making your keyboard glow red on low health) and bunch of other things like my Sound Blaster X6
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Hit and miss since those tend to not have actual standards and generally do their own thing. If it’s popular, there’s a decent chance someone has reverse engineered it and there’s at least partial support (mostly applies to simpler things like steering wheels), but there will be concessions to make until device manufacturers officially support Linux.
If you’re willing to replace equipment, there’s something that works for most of those categories, if not all.
domi@lemmy.secnd.me 3 weeks ago
Direct drive steering wheels
Which one? Support varies wildly depending on manufacturer.
gamepad
I have never seen a gamepad that doesn’t work on Linux. You may not be able to update their firmware if they only provide a Windows tool but they work perfectly fine.
VR
Valve Index and HTC Vive work out of the box. SteamVR is pretty rough in Linux and plagued by issues but it works.
For any other headset you will have to depend on community support. Some work, some don’t.
There’s lots of info on vronlinux.org
status LED or info displays
Which ones? They usually use completely proprietary protocols.
Sound Blaster G6
It will work like any other bog-standard sound card has for years. You will lose any features that are custom to the sound card (dialogue mode, virtual surround, equalizer, …) but those are rarely necessary because there is lots of other software that achieves this for every sound card.
I recommend you boot Linux from USB and take a look. No need to install anything, just boot from USB and take a look if your hardware works.
ampy@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
I can’t say for certain if steering wheels or LEDs work, but I know gamepads work better than on Windows, especially Sony ones. DuelSense works perfect. It only works if plugged in but as far as I’m aware that’s how it works on Windows.
nightlily@leminal.space 3 weeks ago
Status LEDs/displays likely won’t work unless the manufacturer makes a Linux driver, publishes driver documentation, or it’s a super popular device. Reverse engineering USB is possible but very much a passion project. Most gamer hardware hasn’t had to care about Linux users till the last few years. Input devices at least are usually normal HID devices which are standardised.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Me since 2017 when I stopped dual booting. Never looked back thank goodness
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I have you beat by a few years.
ragas@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I kept a dual boot windows 7 around for a loooong time. I booted it up like once every 2 years or something.
Mwa@thelemmy.club 3 weeks ago
me since dec 2024, i usually use Linux for gaming(thank you Valve for Proton) but i may still spin up a Windows VM to flash roms to my Samsung Phone(grimlers fork sucks).
apps are also pretty alright on Linux but would love this area see some improvement.
themagzuz@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
i wonder how these numbers change if you weight by active players. like sure, Shooty Guns 2 (2008) running on linux is a good thing, but if it has a grand total of 5 people in the world playing it, it won’t really do much for linux adoption as long as games like league of legends, apex legends and fortnite still don’t work
(for the record i don’t play any of those games and i’ve been happily daily-driving linux with no windows intervention for the last 4 year)
DupaCycki@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Very fair argument. This way the statistics would most likely be considerably worse. Though personally, I couldn’t care less about games like League, Fortnite or FIFA. A case could be made thay they’re almost always harmful, so them being unavailable isn’t an issue.
Gonzako@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I seem unable to find this Shooty Guns 2 (2008) you speak of.
Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
It’s the sequel to Shooty Guns (1992), one of the first games to come in two deparate floppy disks.
Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I’m pretty sure that’s a mock-buster title so they don’t piss any fandom off.
sunbytes@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’ve yet to find a game that I couldn’t play (though knowing me I probably forgot one or two). It’s mainly mods that I’ve not been able to implement, as some of them require running an exe file.
However I’ve had very helpful people tell me I can do all that in a wine instance or something similar so mainly it’s just my own laziness (and lack of understanding about how to “do it in a wine instance”) that’s holding me back from installing fancy modpacks or playing the latest Stalker gamma version.
Also i don’t play multiplayer stuff so the anti-cheat thing issues don’t usually apply to me. So there’s that.
themusicman@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Lutris for mods. You can point it at the game exe downloaded by steam in many cases (not all), and then run arbitrary exes inside the same wine prefix.
termaxima@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
In my personal experience, the only games that don’t work are those that explicitly choose not to :
- Fortnite
- PUBG
- Roblox
- Valorant
I’m not much into competitive games myself, so the only one that’s inconvenient in this list to me is Roblox. There are a few really fun games on their platform that I wish I could play on Steam Deck, as used to be possible.
usernameusername@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Zink@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Sober is awesome, and I can actually have Roblox LAN parties with my son thanks to it.
chaogomu@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I play a lot of Space Engineers, and it randomly crashes… No idea what’s causing it.
And Space Engineers 2 just doesn’t launch for me.
There’s likely a config option that could fix things, but I don’t know it.
Every other game I play is fine.
Baggie@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
You know about protondb already? Gives a good list of potential fixes if you come across issues, it’s been a godsend on the rare occasions something doesn’t work first try
HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Have you changed which version of proton it uses? It’s in the compatibility options for the game, sometimes going to an older version solves some issues.
yessikg@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
Check the Lutris website, there may be a custom install script there
Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 2 weeks ago
That’s because of the awful spaghetti code that is the basis of Space Engineers. I gave up on that game years ago, because those devs were vibe coding before it was cool, and it shows.
AliasAKA@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I believe Destiny 2 also doesn’t work. I just don’t play it anymore lol
Dicska@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Not too surprisingly, you can add League of Legends (another Riot games title) to the list. While I’m not a fan of kernel level anticheat, I do love most of these games, and it’s really frustrating how I don’t see any change in the future. After more than a year of struggling, I finally managed to get my Mint working (turns out my old mobo was faulty), but it looks like I will still have to keep Windows for basically all multiplayer titles I play.
yardratianSoma@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
really sucks that League doesn’t work . . . I know some people who play and the fact that it used to work just sours the pain.
I guess, at least Dota 2 works? I know they are very different, but I’d say similar enough and worth a shot so long as one isn’t too tied to LoL.
kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Rocket League as well; it’s the only reason I haven’t gone full Linux for gaming.
…you’d think after 8+ years of playing I’d be bored, but it’s just fun.
Muffi@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Rocket League works on linux? Unless something changed recently, because I used to play it on my Steam Deck all the time.
philipsdirk@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
I played Rocket League yesterday on Bazzite through Steam without issues
KneeTitts@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Try wine bottles, Im using that for games on Linux Mint, havent found any issues yet. You may also need flat seal to make it accessible outside the flatpak environment.
termaxima@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
I would have thought that, as I have played closer to 8 hours, and I am bored with it 😂 glad it’s still fun for you though 😊
preludeofme@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The distro really matters as far as Roblox goes. I tried Arch, Manjaro, Garuda and couldn’t get it working. Ended up back at Ubuntu and it works fine now
KneeTitts@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
For Roblox you have to use Sober
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Linux doesnt have games that install spyware, yes
ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Breaking News:
This just in new Linux game requires sudoers access to play!
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
What’s hilarious is that is par the course on windows to run Steam as an admin. In fact that fixes a ton of bugs for people, so any executable the steam process spawns, like game executables, has admin rights as well.
Colonel_Panic@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You are not in the sudoers file, this incident WILL BE REPORTED. ಠ_ಠ
ragas@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
I mean companies could probably already create perfectly good kernel level anticheat on Linux if they really wanted to through eBPF programs.
That would not require permanent changes to the Kernel and games would only need root rights at install time. (Like most software already does)
I wouldn’t even have a problem with that kind if a solution.
atcorebcor@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I’m confused, first you say that Linux doesn’t have anti-cheat, and then you say you should stay away from Linux if you want anti cheat.
Sturgist@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Kernel level anticheat. There’s very effective anticheat that is not kernel level and therefore works fine on Linux.
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Linux doesn’t have kernel level anti cheat and I hope it remains that way, but I fear my opinion will be in the minority soon if not already.
Dojan@pawb.social 3 weeks ago
No I think you got the message of what they were saying correct. Linux doesn’t have kernel level anti-cheat at the moment, and they’re saying that if you are a proponent of it, then don’t use Linux because it’s something we’d like to continue not having.
There are layers of abstraction between the kernel and the userspace, and few applications need kernel level access. Anti-cheat poking around in the kernel is very invasive. I know plenty of people who equate it to spyware, myself included.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
trying to force AI into windows 11 isnt helping MS.
Aggravationstation@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
I can not understand why they made that decision.
JPSound@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m installing Mint for the first time at this very moment. So far, it’s easier than I anticipated. Fuck You Microsoft.
Xylian@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
flathub.org/en/apps/com.protonvpn.www You are welcome :)
yukichigai@lemmy.sdf.org 2 weeks ago
It’s honestly surprising how bloated Windows has become, and for no clear reason either. Even with all of the obvious bloat disabled and resource-intensive features turned off there’s still a significant overhead, it’s just so constant that you don’t notice it. Then you load up Linux on the same hardware and realize what you’ve been missing.
Zink@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
This is just how I felt when I first switched, also to Mint. I’ve experienced it a couple other times too when switching from some proprietary application to the FOSS option.
I like to describe it as feeling the different priorities of the teams working on each project. When one is made by passionate users who care about it being good software for its purpose, and the other is designed by a committee to hit as many different corporate metrics as possible, it shows.
BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Windows 10 did that to us. My work workstation and my wife’s laptop suffered with W10, so I searched alternate OS and found Linux. Luckily our CAD software had a Linux version and I got productivity back.
My wife’s 2010 laptop on w10 was not usable. Its super fast with Linux. Faster than my work issued brand-new Lenovo laptop with W11. The only performance problem would be rendering video or other hardcore tasks.
poke@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Protonvpn has a flatpack. Check your distro’s app store for it.
ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
BASH will be your best friend for any Linux distro.
AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
One of the most frequently suggested beginner distros is Linux mint. It’s great, it’s stable, it’s what I use and while it’s not exactly cutting edge, or necessary the prettiest distro, it’s great for beginners and will feel pretty familiar coming from windows.
Pop_os! And bazzite are more “gaming focused” if that’s more your style, but I’ve never had an issue gaming with Linux mint.
Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter terribly much. Pick one, install it to a new drive and try it out. If you don’t like it, pick another one.
racemaniac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
And how many run on linux via a well documented way?
I’ve been playing around with bazzite a bit, and for sure, i can run a lot of games on it, but you often end up googling which launcher to use, which settings to use, … And then even if you find something, it doesn’t always work.
Linux is making good progress in this regard, but this title feels a bit over optimistic (or at least, users who take it at face value will quickly be disappointed when they can’t get 90% of their games to work).
vga@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Meanwhile nearly 60% of Windows Gmaes now run on Windows.
avatar@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
But what percentage of games that use anticheat?
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I’m not going to throw doubt on the 90% number. Statistics are made up and generally don’t mean anything. “90% of games” … In what context? Games on steam? Games ever made? I don’t think I’m going to be playing sierra titles from the 90s… What about Flash based games that used to run in a browser? Do they count?
I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.
The only thing I want to say is that the “10%” that don’t work are usually pretty popular.
I’d like to see this metric based on average player counts. What percentage of gamers, playing games right now, could play on Linux.
IMO, that would give a much more relevant indication of how viable it is for most gamers to switch to Linux.
I’m still using Windows 10 and no, I didn’t buy their extended bullshit. I don’t even run the latest version of Windows 10. I also have an update server setup so I don’t usually get updates often because I need to go approve them. But I also work in IT and I’ve seen every social engineering attack type that’s been used since the 90s and I know when to not click on something. I haven’t needed an anti virus on my personal system in 20 years.
To say I’m not worried about it is an understatement.
Thoven@lemdro.id 3 weeks ago
I made the switch almost a year ago when they started announcing all the spyware coming to win11. The distro you choose matters a LOT. After several that were buggy and frustrating I landed on Garuda dragonized. Setup was easy with their assistant finding the drivers I needed and I have yet to have any system breaking updates. Better track record than windows TBH. Performance is great, and steam integrates so well with proton that my experience is honestly just as good as windows native. I should probably go make a donation to the Garuda project, now that I’m thinking about it.
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Well, I’m 90% proud of Linux!
julysfire@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Linux Mint here. I have had only 1 issue with a game on Linux and honestly, it was an easier fix then getting some games working on Windows which I have experienced plenty of as well. Linux really is just as easy as “Install from Steam, play”.
Drivers are easy now today too, just like Windows. Honestly, if you gamed on Windows, you have all you need to game on Linux.
reksas@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
if i cant run something at linux i’ll just do without it. Might try virtual machine if its something really crucial but might not care to even bother.
j_0t@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
In my opinion this the unique milestone linux has to achive to be declared as a total winner vs windows, in the near future I would like to see non tech industries using linux instead of microsoft spyware.
Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Tech-idiot, here, but Linux-curious and running Windows 10 with an ardent refusal to change it to 11.
I know there are a ton of different versions of Linux, ‘Ubuntu’ and such, but I don’t know jack about any of them… which would you recommend that’s best suited to someone who’s only ever used Windows? Looking for the most idiot-proof option. Gaming and office style work are primary use.
Emphasis on the idiot proof. I am really anxious about switching from fear of jacking up my computer, but am so sick of Window’s bullshit… probably as good a time to dive in now than any point going forward.
deczzz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
While this is awesome we still need to have the same performance on Windows. Yes, some games run better through proton for some reason, but that’s the minority. Hopefully, proton will not be needed for new games in the future and we get native builds like CS2.
drmoose@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’ve converted all my gaming to linux including vr and couldn’t be happier! Even hardware works flawlessly these days with the exception of VR. I’m still struggling to get No Man’s Sky to work on my quest 3 and linux VR and thats really the only thing I’m missing but it seems close to working just needs more fiddling.
Echo5@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Had no major issues with Steam games so far on Linux mint, but I like owning my games, so I buy as much as I can from GOG, and Lutris and Heroic both have not given me exactly easy experiences :L
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Tried switching to Mint yesterday, it’s a struggle as the guide kinda failed to mention some detail that i have to google a bit, and the result is it fail to boot(not a bootable drive error). Might try again tonight or this weekend. Honestly i can’t see mass adoption if it’s this PITA to get it working(not plug and play like windows), unless it’s provided by the manufacturer.
PurpleClouds@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
A bit sceptical of this number. Most popular games have some form of anti cheat which the game not run on Linux. Some other games sometimes have weird bugs that do not occur on windows. - source: I am on Linux 😩
spirinolas@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
There are still lots of reasons that stop people from jumping 100% into Linux. Gaming is less and less one of them.
Poxlox@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I have a 3090 and heard nvidia gpus dont do very well for Linux gaming if anyone wants to quell my fears and get me off Windows
BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Good, gaming was the last thing keeping me on windows, once I find a distro that’s compatible with my laptop hardware I’ll move to Linux completely
FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I love to hear it, but only about 70% of mine work on Linux, so I’m stuck with a dual boot. 99% Linux is better than no Linux, at least.
riskable@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
FYI: That’s more Windows games than run in Windows!
WTF? Why? Because a lot of older games don’t run in newer versions of Windows than when they were made! They still run great in Linux though 👍
thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
There is like a good chunk of an entire decade’s worth of games that can’t be played on PC legitimately due to either expired licenses for music (e.g. EA Trax) or lack of support for older, disc-based DRM (SecuROM etc.).
That’s before factoring older titles that no longer work due to arbitrary changes to DirectX and the Windows kernel, which break backwards compatibility.
Cybersteel@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Huh wonder whether shadows of destiny pc port works on proton.
Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Might be worth checking ProtonDB, or WineDB if it’s not on steam.