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Is Linux gaming on Steam actually competitive in performance and availability to what you'll get on Windows? I'm looking into building a gaming computer I'm su

Is Linux gaming on Steam actually competitive in performance and availability to what you'll get on Windows? I'm looking into building a gaming computer I'm surprised to hear I could roll with Linux for it.

ticoombs 1y ago
Yes. Nearly every game is compatible. Checkout protondb.com and check the games you play. Anything that has a kernel level anti check (Valorant) will always be a resounding No. But besides from that, everything is pretty damn nice.
- akimbostrawman 1y ago
  >Anything that has a kernel level anti check (Valorant) will always be a resounding No. Please stop repeating this long outdated information. The two most widely used kernel anti cheat provider easyanticheat and battle eye support linux with a user space component which needs to be enabled by the developer and has been in many games. https://areweanticheatyet.com/breakdown https://areweanticheatyet.com/breakdown
  - Mindwipe 1y ago
    That is... a bit of an oversimplifciation. Tools like Battle eye and EAC are not just one tool that gives a binary answer, they are tools that detect a huge range of heuristics about the device and how easy it is to interfere with the memory. While they have been ported to Linux, an awful lot of those bits of telemetry simply don't give the desired answer, or even any answer at all, because that is very hard to so when there aren't proprietary drivers signed down to the hardware root of trust by a third party (and certainly the average Linux user on HN wouldn't want there to be!). It's really not a matter of "enabled by the developer", it's entirely dependent on what your threat model is.
    - akimbostrawman 1y ago
      None of this is relevant to the original point of "kernel anti cheats don't work" when yes the two most widely used ACs do work despite being kernel level. >It's really not a matter of "enabled by the developer", it's entirely dependent on what your threat model is. Again irrelevant to the original point
      - Mindwipe 1y ago
        Pretty much none of the kernel level features work.
        akimbostrawman 1y ago
        Irrelevant. They work so you can play a game and it's supported by the devs despite it using kernel level anti cheat.
romanovcode 1y ago
Yes, it works great, actually. But you have to have specific hardware, for example AMD gpu instead of Nvidia. Also, nearly anything with anti-cheat (many online games, esp shooters) won't work.
- Filligree 1y ago
  Nvidia works great, and has since this summer. So long as you’re on a recent release you shouldn’t have issues. Nvidia on a machine with an AMD iGPU requires you to blacklist the amdgpu module.
  - ambentzen 1y ago
    Nobody tell my machine that. I have a 5080 paired with an 9800X3D, no blacklisting of kernel modules necessary (for me at least).
    - Filligree 1y ago
      I should have added “sometimes”. It worked fine that way with most games (I have the same CPU), but Cyberpunk 2099 in particular really doesn’t like that configuration.
yxhuvud 1y ago
Essentially, the only games that doesn't work nowadays are the ones that intentionally break it by adding Linux-incompatible anti-cheat. This is common among the big AAA-games that are multiplayer (think Fortnite).
- hparadiz 1y ago
  Riot games did this on purpose too. League worked perfectly fine on Linux for years until they decided that kernel level spying on users was absolutely necessary to play a moba. For some reason my one friend thinks I'll run windows just for one game.
  - willis936 1y ago
    I'd sooner get a console, personally. The only legitimate use case I have for a console (nintendo notwithstanding) is to sandbox invasive anticheat in multiplayer games. I don't really have a ton of free time or friend group into multiplayer video games, so it's not happening for me. Smart console makers would lean into this.
    - askonomm 1y ago
      Yup, I've also gone with a console for all my gaming needs, and keep my computer as just a productivity machine. As a result I don't need nearly as beefy machine and don't need to grind my teeth in bitterness using Windows.
- p_ing 1y ago
  > ones that intentionally break it by adding Linux-incompatible anti-cheat. That's an interesting way to phrase it. It's like you're implying the company intentionally did not want to run it on anything but Windows (aka software is incompatible with non-Windows OSes) rather than trying to implement an effective anti-cheat (arguable) that works for their customers. Pre-Wine, would you have argued that a software vendor is intentionally preventing their software from running on any non-Windows OS? Or was it just that their audience wasn't on said non-Windows OS?
heeen2 1y ago
Depends on what you like to play. Some games are heavily encumbered with either copy protection like denuvo or anti-cheat and those either don't support linux or flat out try to sniff out linux and refuse to run on anything but windows. Otherwise its great, you can check protondb and winehq for reports of compatibilty.
bargainbin 1y ago
I’m using Bazzite now for about 8 months, and I have a dual boot Windows drive. I haven’t used the Windows drive once. Windows was my daily driver for 3 decades. Performance wise, there’s no degradation. I can run games at 4k or bonkers FPS just like I did on Windows, no input lag, etc. Bazzite also has a very active discord for support with issues. I highly recommend.
- gattilorenz 1y ago
  It's unbelievable just how unclear Bazzite's website is. They don't spell out clearly what Bazzite is. Is it a distro? A layer on top of Steam? Something else? No idea from the first page. Still on par with Linux UX, I'm afraid :(
  - amiga386 1y ago
    Bazzite -> Community & Docs -> FAQ https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#what-is-the-difference-between-steamos-and-bazzite https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#what-is-the-difference-... > Bazzite originally was developed for the Steam Deck targeting users who used their Steam Deck as their primary PC. Bazzite is a collection of custom Fedora Atomic Desktop images built with Universal Blue's tooling (with the power of OCI) as opposed to using an Arch Linux base with A/B updates utilizing RAUC. The main advantages of Bazzite versus SteamOS is receiving system packages in updates at a much faster rate and a choice of an alternative desktop environment. It is a Linux distribution, that aims to compete with Valve's SteamOS Linux distribution supplied with the Steam Deck (which itself is based on Arch Linux). Like SteamOS, it can be used on a regular desktop PC as well... but they are mainly aiming to run on the Steam Deck: https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#is-this-another-fringe-linux-distribution https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#is-this-another-fringe-... > The purpose of Bazzite is to be Fedora Linux, but provide a great gaming experience out of the box while also being an alternative operating system for the Steam Deck and other handheld devices. Effectively they have taken Fedora Linux, and added to it the same sort of setup and programs that you get out-of-the-box with SteamOS as well. For the most part, it is not the people offering Bazzite that are doing the hard job of providing security updates, etc., they are hoping that being based on Fedora will provide that assurance. They merely supply and configure some extras on top (e.g. the Steam client software)
cheald 1y ago
Not only is it competitive, it's actually superior in many instances. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/06/games-run-faster-on-steamos-than-windows-11-ars-testing-finds/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/06/games-run-faster-on-s... Basically the only games that don't work are those which include anticheat which intentionally borks Linux. Check https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ for any game you're interested in to see if it'll run or not.

ticoombs 1y ago

Yes. Nearly every game is compatible. Checkout protondb.com and check the games you play. Anything that has a kernel level anti check (Valorant) will always be a resounding No. But besides from that, everything is pretty damn nice.

akimbostrawman 1y ago
>Anything that has a kernel level anti check (Valorant) will always be a resounding No. Please stop repeating this long outdated information. The two most widely used kernel anti cheat provider easyanticheat and battle eye support linux with a user space component which needs to be enabled by the developer and has been in many games. https://areweanticheatyet.com/breakdown https://areweanticheatyet.com/breakdown
- Mindwipe 1y ago
  That is... a bit of an oversimplifciation. Tools like Battle eye and EAC are not just one tool that gives a binary answer, they are tools that detect a huge range of heuristics about the device and how easy it is to interfere with the memory. While they have been ported to Linux, an awful lot of those bits of telemetry simply don't give the desired answer, or even any answer at all, because that is very hard to so when there aren't proprietary drivers signed down to the hardware root of trust by a third party (and certainly the average Linux user on HN wouldn't want there to be!). It's really not a matter of "enabled by the developer", it's entirely dependent on what your threat model is.
  - akimbostrawman 1y ago
    None of this is relevant to the original point of "kernel anti cheats don't work" when yes the two most widely used ACs do work despite being kernel level. >It's really not a matter of "enabled by the developer", it's entirely dependent on what your threat model is. Again irrelevant to the original point
    - Mindwipe 1y ago
      Pretty much none of the kernel level features work.
      - akimbostrawman 1y ago
        Irrelevant. They work so you can play a game and it's supported by the devs despite it using kernel level anti cheat.

romanovcode 1y ago

Yes, it works great, actually. But you have to have specific hardware, for example AMD gpu instead of Nvidia. Also, nearly anything with anti-cheat (many online games, esp shooters) won't work.

Filligree 1y ago
Nvidia works great, and has since this summer. So long as you’re on a recent release you shouldn’t have issues. Nvidia on a machine with an AMD iGPU requires you to blacklist the amdgpu module.
- ambentzen 1y ago
  Nobody tell my machine that. I have a 5080 paired with an 9800X3D, no blacklisting of kernel modules necessary (for me at least).
  - Filligree 1y ago
    I should have added “sometimes”. It worked fine that way with most games (I have the same CPU), but Cyberpunk 2099 in particular really doesn’t like that configuration.

yxhuvud 1y ago

Essentially, the only games that doesn't work nowadays are the ones that intentionally break it by adding Linux-incompatible anti-cheat. This is common among the big AAA-games that are multiplayer (think Fortnite).

hparadiz 1y ago
Riot games did this on purpose too. League worked perfectly fine on Linux for years until they decided that kernel level spying on users was absolutely necessary to play a moba. For some reason my one friend thinks I'll run windows just for one game.
- willis936 1y ago
  I'd sooner get a console, personally. The only legitimate use case I have for a console (nintendo notwithstanding) is to sandbox invasive anticheat in multiplayer games. I don't really have a ton of free time or friend group into multiplayer video games, so it's not happening for me. Smart console makers would lean into this.
  - askonomm 1y ago
    Yup, I've also gone with a console for all my gaming needs, and keep my computer as just a productivity machine. As a result I don't need nearly as beefy machine and don't need to grind my teeth in bitterness using Windows.
p_ing 1y ago
> ones that intentionally break it by adding Linux-incompatible anti-cheat. That's an interesting way to phrase it. It's like you're implying the company intentionally did not want to run it on anything but Windows (aka software is incompatible with non-Windows OSes) rather than trying to implement an effective anti-cheat (arguable) that works for their customers. Pre-Wine, would you have argued that a software vendor is intentionally preventing their software from running on any non-Windows OS? Or was it just that their audience wasn't on said non-Windows OS?

heeen2 1y ago

Depends on what you like to play. Some games are heavily encumbered with either copy protection like denuvo or anti-cheat and those either don't support linux or flat out try to sniff out linux and refuse to run on anything but windows. Otherwise its great, you can check protondb and winehq for reports of compatibilty.

bargainbin 1y ago

I’m using Bazzite now for about 8 months, and I have a dual boot Windows drive. I haven’t used the Windows drive once. Windows was my daily driver for 3 decades. Performance wise, there’s no degradation. I can run games at 4k or bonkers FPS just like I did on Windows, no input lag, etc. Bazzite also has a very active discord for support with issues. I highly recommend.

gattilorenz 1y ago
It's unbelievable just how unclear Bazzite's website is. They don't spell out clearly what Bazzite is. Is it a distro? A layer on top of Steam? Something else? No idea from the first page. Still on par with Linux UX, I'm afraid :(
- amiga386 1y ago
  Bazzite -> Community & Docs -> FAQ https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#what-is-the-difference-between-steamos-and-bazzite https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#what-is-the-difference-... > Bazzite originally was developed for the Steam Deck targeting users who used their Steam Deck as their primary PC. Bazzite is a collection of custom Fedora Atomic Desktop images built with Universal Blue's tooling (with the power of OCI) as opposed to using an Arch Linux base with A/B updates utilizing RAUC. The main advantages of Bazzite versus SteamOS is receiving system packages in updates at a much faster rate and a choice of an alternative desktop environment. It is a Linux distribution, that aims to compete with Valve's SteamOS Linux distribution supplied with the Steam Deck (which itself is based on Arch Linux). Like SteamOS, it can be used on a regular desktop PC as well... but they are mainly aiming to run on the Steam Deck: https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#is-this-another-fringe-linux-distribution https://docs.bazzite.gg/General/FAQ/#is-this-another-fringe-... > The purpose of Bazzite is to be Fedora Linux, but provide a great gaming experience out of the box while also being an alternative operating system for the Steam Deck and other handheld devices. Effectively they have taken Fedora Linux, and added to it the same sort of setup and programs that you get out-of-the-box with SteamOS as well. For the most part, it is not the people offering Bazzite that are doing the hard job of providing security updates, etc., they are hoping that being based on Fedora will provide that assurance. They merely supply and configure some extras on top (e.g. the Steam client software)

cheald 1y ago

Not only is it competitive, it's actually superior in many instances. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/06/games-run-faster-on-steamos-than-windows-11-ars-testing-finds/ https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/06/games-run-faster-on-s... Basically the only games that don't work are those which include anticheat which intentionally borks Linux. Check https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ for any game you're interested in to see if it'll run or not.