Do it, just don’t play the games that don’t work on Linux. I switched 15 years ago and didn’t look back. There are so many games at this point why bother with the ones that only work on Windows?
The only game I actively played that didn’t work on Linux was destiny 2, and switching to cachyOS has really helped me kick that toxic game out for good.
It comes down to how much the publishers care about their own product. Devs shoveling third party kernel anti-cheat into their product often cause those games to be Linux incompatible. Devs bundling their own unnecessary launcher with the game and requiring it to run the launcher in order to run the game sometimes cause those games to be Linux incompatible. It often isn’t even the devs themselves making this decision, which is why I blame the publisher more than the developers in most cases.
But with how robust Proton has become these days there isn’t a whole lot outside of those two cases that will make a game not run on Linux. It’s pretty intentional at this point.
Outside of a handful of multiplayer games pretty much any game will work under proton, new or old. Stalker 2 worked out the box on release day, early awkward 3D games like Gothic runs just fine, and your early point and click games will likely run just fine. Out of my 460 games*, only EA WRC doesn’t work because they introduced kernel level anti cheat after release.
*Edit: Just to clarify i haven’t tested all my games, but I have played a good number of them. Also another game that doesn’t run is Ground Control 2, but that doesn’t work on Windows since about 7 or 10, so it doesn’t count! ^^
This isn’t really true. At least on the steam deck. Of the 156 games I have in my library, 52 of the are “great on deck”. Id say twenty of the other ones work great anyways.
I don’t play multiplayer games, but the one I do have are in the works great category. The vast majority are single player games. (Just checked, i have 15 games that not compatible at all)
Definitely double check your games before making the switch.
A lot of the “unsupported” or “unknown” games also work fine. Some may require switching to a specific Proton version (check protondb.com), but many work fine.
I easily game +6 hours a day on Linux though. PoE 1-2, D2, modded d2, Cyberpunk, witcher3, ffxiv, Monster hunter world-ride-wilds, HotS (year the blizzard client works and with it all blizzard games without anticheat)… To name a few.
Do it, just don’t play the games that don’t work on Linux. I switched 15 years ago and didn’t look back. There are so many games at this point why bother with the ones that only work on Windows?
The only game I actively played that didn’t work on Linux was destiny 2, and switching to cachyOS has really helped me kick that toxic game out for good.
I got that game for free and I overpaid.
For some reason it seems to me like toxic games are less likely to run on Linux compared to the average
It comes down to how much the publishers care about their own product. Devs shoveling third party kernel anti-cheat into their product often cause those games to be Linux incompatible. Devs bundling their own unnecessary launcher with the game and requiring it to run the launcher in order to run the game sometimes cause those games to be Linux incompatible. It often isn’t even the devs themselves making this decision, which is why I blame the publisher more than the developers in most cases.
But with how robust Proton has become these days there isn’t a whole lot outside of those two cases that will make a game not run on Linux. It’s pretty intentional at this point.
The whole reason I have a computer is to game on it though! :P
Outside of a handful of multiplayer games pretty much any game will work under proton, new or old. Stalker 2 worked out the box on release day, early awkward 3D games like Gothic runs just fine, and your early point and click games will likely run just fine. Out of my 460 games*, only EA WRC doesn’t work because they introduced kernel level anti cheat after release.
*Edit: Just to clarify i haven’t tested all my games, but I have played a good number of them. Also another game that doesn’t run is Ground Control 2, but that doesn’t work on Windows since about 7 or 10, so it doesn’t count! ^^
This isn’t really true. At least on the steam deck. Of the 156 games I have in my library, 52 of the are “great on deck”. Id say twenty of the other ones work great anyways.
I don’t play multiplayer games, but the one I do have are in the works great category. The vast majority are single player games. (Just checked, i have 15 games that not compatible at all)
Definitely double check your games before making the switch.
“great on deck” is a lot more than Linux support. It also means the text is readable on a small screen and the game has 100% controller support.
Yes
A lot of the “unsupported” or “unknown” games also work fine. Some may require switching to a specific Proton version (check protondb.com), but many work fine.
Yes
I already don’t have time to play all the games I want to play. Narrowing that list somewhat isn’t going to change that for me, so why not Linux?
I easily game +6 hours a day on Linux though. PoE 1-2, D2, modded d2, Cyberpunk, witcher3, ffxiv, Monster hunter world-ride-wilds, HotS (year the blizzard client works and with it all blizzard games without anticheat)… To name a few.