Discussions and news about gaming on the GNU/Linux family of operating systems (including the Steam Deck). Potentially a $HOME away from home for disgruntled /r/linux_gaming denizens of the redditarian demesne.
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Original /r/linux_gaming pengwing by uoou.
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I mean, it runs everything I need. But what is mainstream gaming to everyone else? Is it fortnite? Call of duty? Destiny 2? Pubg? Valorant? GTA? Battlefield? (weirdly a lot of shooters), Apex? Siege?
May not matter to people like us but they each command something to the effect of hundreds of thousands of concurrent players. Capable as Linux distros are for gaming (truly the best way to experience classic games) the anticheat situation is no less dire.
I'd argue "mainstream gaming" should mean all the most popular multiplayer titles, since they pull the biggest chunk of the total gamer base. And that means Linux is not ready for mainstream gaming. LoL, Roblox, PUBG, Valorant, Battlefield, R6S. These don't work on Linux. I think posts like these are very misleading, as some people will think that all these popular multiplayer titles will work fine on Linux.
They really need to start differentiating; between multiplayer mainstream, and singleplayer mainstream, IMO.
Yes. Next question.
I'm doing this daily so: yes
For me it's ready since 2020.
TLDR: Yes
I've been gaming on Linux for a few years now and it runs anything I've picked without issues (even bigger stuff like Baldurs Gate 3). In fact I'm surprised how smooth and trouble free the experience is.
Linux is pretty much flawless for single player gaming at this point.
Linux is pretty freaking good for a good chunk of MMO's and multiplayer games, too.. But you have to approach these games with caution and research to make sure the one you are interested in doesnt have invasive rootkit anticheats.. cause those games wont work on linux, and thats entirely because of the game dev's choices, not a linux issue.
It can run pretty much everything that I've thrown at it these days.
The only major game that I can't run that I'd like to is Command: Modern Operations. There is some anti-cheat stuff for multiplayer games that may be an issue for some other players. And some mods in some games, like Bethesda's, are more of a hassle to set up, because the Windows modding environment has more users.
I did discover, after trying for the first time the other day, that ReShade works fine in Linux (I tried it in Kenshi) using this script, which is neat. Was one of the few utilities that I wasn't sure I could get functioning in Linux.
The Bethesda modding issue is being worked on, though.
Nexus are working on a beta mod manager (only supports a small number of games atm) that actually natively supports linux. Which will make downloading and installing mods so much easier for pretty much any game that is supported by nexus by the time it gets its full release.
Most multiplayer games that use anticheat are the only kind of games Linux can't handle these days it would seem. Proton changed the game man.
Combine that with the rise of indie titles, its a good time to be a Linux gamer. Timberborn and Ostranauts have been a blast.
Well mostly Timberborn, Ostranauts kept kicking my ass.
My kid after I helped them install Windows for Fortnite: "Ugh, Windows sucks!"
Is the little Tux inviting you to play, or does it not know how to hold a gamepad?
Been maining bazzite on the gaming rig for a while over here, legit love it, and works very very well for us use case!!
yes, as long as ppl don't try to run malware masquerading as video games that is
Linux is ready for mainstream gaming right now. Mainstream gaming doesn’t like it because they see Windows users as dumb money bags, and Linux users as annoying freeloaders. That’s not true, but that’s the general sentiment in a bunch of execs. That’s why anticheat is available for Linux, but companies refuse to enable it.
🧑🚀🔫🧑🚀
In a case like SteamOS where it's custom built for the hardware, then yes. As a general set it up yourself situation on a desktop, then no.
(You guys severely underestimate the 'mainstream' gamer)
Fedora kde takes like 5 min to set up and start downloading games on steam. Not sure why you think it’s not ready.
Indeed, I've been exclusively running Fedora KDE on both my desktop and my laptop for a little over a year. It took all of maybe an hour to get it installed on both, get steam and all of the applications I wanted installed, and be ready to start downloading games on both computers.
I also have yet to find a game, aside from games with kernel level anticheat and a small handful of VR titles that isn't perfectly playable. Some have needed a little bit of tweaking to run optimally, but if you're a PC gamer that's par for the course.
An hour is less than a windows pc fresh install. After you download each driver for your mother board etc. Fedora was steam and the nvidia driver. It was like 3 commands.
I am a pc gamer but I don’t have a massive library. Chose punk, read dead, forza 5, doom, and the command and conquer package is what I mostly play. 0 issues with any of them and I didn’t have to tweak anything.
I haven’t tried vr yet, letting that one bake in but I’d like to try MS flight simulator or dcs with vr
Linux gaming and Playstation gaming is gonna be my combo in the next few years.
Playstation for demanding titles or sim racing and Steam Deck for the rest.
Then, at one point, depending on some of Sony’s decisions, Linux gaming might be the only one left.
Sim Racing is one of the reasons I am still on windows. I can play most of my games nicely with Linux, but I spend a huge chunk of time racing in the evening. And it is just very hit and miss, and hardware can be a bit of a pain.
Unfortunately it is easier to just stay in windows than reboot every time I want to play something else.
If you have lower standards, even a $10 arm pc can be "mainstream".