Linux vs Windows tested in 10 games - Linux 17% faster on Average

Fortunately majority of games work on linux. The major pain point now is the anticheat used by multiplayer games. Single player games more or less work out of the box

To add on here, you can use the Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? site to track which games are not working due to anti-cheat. In my experience it's extremely rare for "Linux" (aka Wine/DXVK/VKD3D/et al) to not support arbitrary games. If a game is not working on Linux it's almost certainly because of an anti-cheat or some bloated/obscure DRM telling Linux "no you cannot run this".
- Sadly anti cheat is much cheaper for devs than fast manual moderation. And a cheater infested game dies off much faster.
  
  And client-side anticheat solutions aren’t great at preventing cheating, anyways. Anticheats are still bypassed by smart software design or by using third-party devices, like the Cronus. COD’s intrusive newer anticheat didn’t stop hacking in ranked play this past year, for instance.
  I recommend this video from Serious, who has experience with modded clients and developed a patch to secure BO3 when it was unsafe to play.
  
  Just making it harder to cheat and having a way to patch it and instantly get a wave of bans does discourage cheating quite a bit. Especially in paid games. You will never get rid of cheating completely, but cutting down on it and discouraging it is the name of the game.
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  this video from Serious
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
I really want to switch to Linux, but I’ve been told this before and then ended up spending hours trying to get everything to work, and usually give up … but it’s been a couple of years since I tried the last time, so is this the right time?
I have zero interest in the technical parts of Linux or setting things up. I want things to work out if the box. I may have to dual boot because of WoW and MS Flight Sim, but if everything else works it may be worth it.
Edit: wow thanks for the answers. You may have convinced me to try again.
- Check out protondb to see how your game collection fares on linux. I personally just buy games without checking these days and play on linux but then again I buy older games. Although AAA games also tend to work these days within days of release
  
  Although AAA games also tend to work these days within days of release
  And TBF, Far too many AAA games tend to not work well on Windows within the first few days of release either. Even a few like elden ring that worked better on Linux before Windows. Though I still avoid getting games on their release date. You are generally going to have a far better experience on either system by waiting a bit and seeing what others say about it.
- It greatly depends on the type of games you play, the vast majority of things I play I just hit play on Steam and that's it. Sure I had to do some setup, i.e. install Proton-GE and set Steam to use it as default for all games, otherwise only some games that Valve tested are available, but all in all it's almost 0 setup.
  That being said that's been true for years, so I doubt that if you had a bad experience in 2021 it's going to be much different now. Also you need to realise that not even Windows is out of the box, you had to install drivers and programs, PCs are not consoles and with customisability comes the need to setup. And even though you don't have interest in the technical part of Linux you'll need to learn some of it, just like you did for Windows, and most importantly you'll need to forget the technical parts you know of windows that are different on Linux, that's usually one of the biggest problems I see, people trying to use Linux as if it were Windows and having a bad time.
  
  You’re right - but I’d say things on newer windows versions are pretty much out of the box. It may ask for driver installs, but that’s often just pressing a confirmation box.
  It’s not that I’m afraid of the technical stuff - I am a windows sys admin and software developer. I just have bad memories of hours of getting drivers to work on Linux. I’m sure, that if I make the change and are happy, eventually I’ll take a deeper dive. But it takes a good first time impression to get there.
  
  You’re right - but I’d say things on newer windows versions are pretty much out of the box.
  Well the game is purposefully built for windows. It is not a surprise that it is out of the box. What is pleasantly surprising is that this is also true for linux - a platform which most of these games do not support
  
  Maybe i am getting old, but if someone says they used something a couple years ago, then i dont assume its two years ago. more like 10 years or so. Dont have a problem with the rest of your comment
- If you have AMD, for most titles it is as simple as installing a distro and then installing Steam. Then on Steam you will have to enable the compatibility tools, that is it. For Nvidia, setting up the drivers is a bit more finicky, however some distros will preconfigure it for you (such as Nobara, although personally I had a couple issues with this distro, YMMV)
  You can search for games status on Linux via ProtonDB. In my experience they just work.
  For WoW you might need to look up a YT tutorial to figure out the file paths, but the tldr is you need to install Battle.Net as a Non-Steam game, then launch it through Steam. This is generally a good, easy method for most non-steam titles, just installing it and adding it as a non-steam game.
  According to ProtonDB flight sim should work, I habe no personal experience here.
  
  Thanks for the answer - I’ve usually just gone with Ubuntu. Would that still be the recommended distro for gaming?
  
  If you're unsure and just want something easy, my recommendation is Pop OS. I think it has replaced Ubuntu as the generally recommended works-out-of-the-box distro.
  Pop is Ubuntu based and inherits most of its good qualities. I consider it mostly an improvement, especially for gaming.
  
  It doesn't really matter which distro you use for gaming, just get one that is popular and well-supported such as Kubuntu or Fedora or Pop!_OS or whatever. Ones like Arch and Gentoo would be pretty complicated so I wouldn't recommend those until you feel comfortable.
  
  Ubuntu was kind of dethroned in the last several years (Canonical has shit the bed a bit). For a gaming focus, I'd rather suggest Bazzite (SteamOS alternative), or ChimeraOS.
  If you want something a bit less gaming focused and traditional: Try Pop! Os
  
  Pop! OS lets you try out a tiling windows manager as well without having to fully comit to it right away. Once I got used to it I loved it, so much easier to set up an efficient usable display layout.
  
  Ubuntu is the best bet for a distro to just work well out of the box.
  Granted I have still had a fuck ton of issues, errors, etc, but Ubuntu is the only distro that has worked the best out of the box. Fedora was a broken mess, and Mint was in between.
  So if you want anyone to not give up on Linux, direct them towards Ubuntu first. You can always switch distros later, but spending 3 days trying to fix issues on a different distro isn't fun.
  
  That's not accurate anymore. Canonical has dropped the ball lately (one word: snaps). Pop OS is way more sensible for gaming.
  
  That has been my go-to in the past, but I am not sure if it is still, I have enough past linux experience that I just went with arch after trying nobara and couldn't be happier. For all the memes of it being hard, especially if you go with something like EndeavourOS, it is fairly simple, the package management is superb and I do not have to bother with things like Flatpaks.
- I can't speak for both games you listed, however for WoW - Blizzard games tend to have a good reputation for running on Linux (one of the few good things I like about Blizzard). Sometimes there are a few bugs here and there (OW had a mouse cursor locking problem) but generally they're pretty good.
  I have been playing Diablo 3 on Linux for as long as I can remember, even before the massive rise of Linux gaming from the introduction of VKD3D/DXVK/Proton. I know D4 was working in Linux even during the betas, and I've heard StarCraft players who've said the same.
  Of course, the system requirements never mention Linux as an officially supported platform, but I can't say I've ever heard of a Blizzard game that doesn't work on Linux (games they develop - games like CoD and originally Destiny 2 where they were only the publisher/launcher host is a different story) so I'd be very surprised if WoW doesn't work.
  IIRC Blizzard's anti cheat ("Warden" I believe) is mostly server side which makes things way easier - I mean hell I know a lot of their games even supported Mac OS.
  And as the others have linked, for MSFS you can check Proton but I hear the reception is good there too since it's rated as Silver on there.
  These days I'm usually just playing the Diablo games from them, and I just use the Bottles app which makes it really easy to play non-Steam games. It even has an option to install the Battle.net client for you, then you login, install the game, and click play - it's super simple.
  
  Thanks for the feedback - I've installed Pop OS tonight and installed bnet, wow, unreal engine, rocket league and steam.
  Battle.net had a few problems because of the host file, and Vulkan apparently needed some fiddling - but at apart from that, I must say everything runs smoothly.
  I look forward to test a lot of things deeper - but for now it very much seems like an experience I could get used to.
  
  Glad to hear that its working smoothly there! Definitely don't hesitate to let us know here if you have any questions about anything! There is also !linux_gaming@lemmy.world for a more gaming-centric Linux community as well.
- Yeah it has improved massively in the last year's, what games do you usually play?
  
  Apart from wow and flight sim, I play rocket league, satisfactory, old school monkey island (and other point and click games) and FIFA from time to time and I make small game projects in unreal engine.
  
  Can't speak for the others but rocket league in proton has worked well for me. Sadly epic discontinued multiplayer in the native linux build so you HAVE to use proton, which isn't obvious from the steam page.
  
  I didn't even realise there was a native Linux build. Often surprises me when I look for proton settings for one reason and another only to realise it's not using proton
  Often actually change it to force proton and the windows version though as it actually tends to run better
- Can't promise anything, but a few years has made a pretty huge difference here. If the game you want to play is on Steam and doesn't have weird anticheat, it'll likely just work. If it's not on Steam, try Lutris.
  If the game you want to play still doesn't work, post here and say "LINUX BLOWS BECAUSE IT CAN'T PLAY THIS GAME" and then you'll get a dozen different ways to make it run
  
  Cunningham's Law to the rescue!
Lots of good games are still not working properly (e.g. Nioh), also modding support is very lacking and cumbersome.
- I had some trouble with Nioh, but I remember it working perfectly after trying a few things
  That was last year though, I don't remember what exactly I did to make it work
  
  You can see other people's issues on ProtonDb https://www.protondb.com/app/485510
  Basically no attacking with controller without workaround, movies not playing for some and performance/stability issues.
  
  Oh right, the light attack not working unless left-clicked once. Yeah, that's a weird one. Cutscenes were borked every now and then, true.
  But all in all, I had a good time playing it, which is probably why I remember it having less issues than it actually does.

I'd argue that the idea that most games don't work on Linux is a flat-out misconception in 2023.

It's hard to quantify, but Valve's own Steam Deck (=running on Linux) verification stats have 70% of games either Verified or Playable (Playable generally means that it runs but text is small on the Deck screen, or it needs a lot of keyboard input -- nothing that matters on the desktop). Crucially, "Unsupported" doesn't mean it doesn't run -- it means untested, and in my experience at least, many of those just work too.

Protondb shows 80% of its catalog with a Platinum, Gold, or Silver rating -- 70% are Gold. Silver generally corresponds to e.g. switching to Proton Experimental, which is a single-click process.

Anecdotally, after being gaming only on Linux for more than a year, with a catalog of 500+ games, I've had one (1) that gave me any more trouble than that Proton Experimental switch (Assetto Corsa, first one).

So there is no "unspoken part" here. The experience running Windows games on Linux isn't what it was even 2 years ago. It is, for many people, an entirely seamless experience now.

PS: seeing Windows games running better on Linux isn't a new observation either. Elden Ring was a great example where Proton shader precaching eliminated the stutter that plagued that game at launch, so it didn't happen on Linux.

Wait...so, if i understand this correctly yeah...the Deck might upen us all up to a future of Linux as our operating system as gamers?
Seeing how popular it is etc, might that actually be on purpose? Excuse me being dumb, i just play games and that's it basically no real computer tech knowledge.
- That was always Gabe's intention with SteamOS when it came out around a decade ago. He has never really liked windows, and definitely never liked the potential for Microsoft to mess with his product. SteamOS was made from the ground up to supplant windows as the primary gamer OS, we are just now witnessing the turning of the tide.
- Gabe Newell has been openly critizicing Microsoft for quite some time now and therefore, Valve has been pro Linux for years.
  It is not too far fetched that the Steamdeck is their second attempt to make Linux gaming more widespread after the failed "Steamboxes". This and they took the opportunity to make a PC-Switch knock-off when the market was perfectly ready for it.
"Proton shader precaching eliminated the stutter that plagued that game at launch, so it didn't happen on Linux."
I've been meaning to ask, and it probably should be it's own thread, but when launching a game and it says 'Processing Vulkan Shaders', does allowing it to partially process do anything.
Warframe for me will quickly jump to 33%, then do about 1% per 10-20 seconds. I don't want to wait 10+ minutes to reach 100%, but does letting it get to like 40-60%, then hitting skip, at least keep the processed sharers, or does it skip/dump and process on demand? Basically, is Immediate skip vs giving it a minute or two before skipping worth anything?
- If you let it run through once, it should cache the compiled shaders so it will recompile only after the game or your gpu drivers are updated
- I can only speak from my own experience on this one, but depending on the game, letting it complete means less stuttering the first time you see some shader effect in-game. My understanding is that it offsets processing that otherwise has to happen during runtime.
  I've seen conflicting reports of how worth it that is, and I suppose it probably comes down to a lot of factors, in particular the game itself and the power of the hardware it's running on.
  I tend to let it complete always, but for me that's generally less than a minute. Gives me time to get my gaming beverage ready, haha
"gave me any more trouble than that Proton Experimental switch (Assetto Corsa, first one)."
Oh great, the only game I have any interest in playing...
- The instructions for getting it to run are all over Protondb (needs winetricks), and even then, it looks like a minority of hardware configs that have issues -- perhaps even AMD specifically.
  Edit: also it looks like it may work OOTB now if you start it using Glorious Eggroll's Proton 7.2 or higher

Is anyone else bothered by the 100% better statement?

100% better is twice as good, not infinitely better which is what’s happening here. This is dividing by 0.

It's better 100% of the time, when it's doesn't work on Linux.
Also, I'm sexy 100% of time, when I am sexy (which is 0% percent of the time).

IMO that is a disingenuous way to state that. It makes it sound like they had to work to find games that worked on Linux at all and suggests that most games do not. Which is far from the truth. Most games just work these days and it is only a handful that don't, so only a handful work 100% better. Then it all really depends if you care about those few games or not.

Most games just work these days and it is only a handful that don’t,
To add my own experience, I play a lot of Japanese visual novels (it's a good 80% of what I play). Very few Japanese visual novels are released on Steam. But if they are on Steam, they're usually DRM-free or work in Proton anyway. However, most of these games are English-only. I play them in Japanese.
So I need to get my games from other places, like digital storefronts such as DLsite and DMM. However, I quickly found out that absolutely no games that DMM sells will work in Wine. This is because they are all encumbered with a form of DRM that isn't compatible with Wine. DMM is the largest digital storefront for VNs. DLsite sells some games with various kinds of DRM. PlayDRM does work in Wine, but the rest doesn't. They also sell DRM-free games. The selection isn't as large, but it's good. We recently got the DRM tagging feature in VNDB, so it should give you a good idea of what games are incompatible.
You can also buy VNs physically. Some games are DRM-encumbered but many are DRM-free. You generally don't know until you buy, though, and it can be an expensive mistake. Hopefully we can change that with the new VNDB DRM tagging system.
Even when they're not DRM-encumbered, though, you have a decent chance of facing issues with media playback. Older games using DirectShow you can probably get working with native DLLs using Winetricks. If it's a newer game that uses Media Foundation, you might not be able to get it to work at all. Worst case, the game crashes on the opening movie. I'm looking for a way to improve that section of the wiki since I know very little about Media Foundation for solving these issues.
There also tend to be a bunch of Windowing issues with older VNs like fullscreen being broken. Gamescope will solve those issues.
So, while you can play a lot of VNs in Wine, you need to be careful about it. Fortunately, only two of the VNs I bought are unplayable and they're both from DMM.
- I do love DRM just ruining people's experiences
Few games? Man, you and I are definitely having a different experience.
- For years now I just buy Steam games without even checking compatibility. They just work. No joke on my partners a Windows machine they’ve bought the same game once or twice and it regularly crashes for them.
  There is of course luck in games I choose.
- My guess is that some genres are going to be more problematic due to more extensive use of anti cheat. What are some of the games you're having trouble with?
  
  My issue(I think) is a combination of games utilizing anticheat(I've not gotten a single one to work yet) and also trying to play non-new games that were not designed during the Steam push for compatibility. I can't use linux to play the games I like to play so I use a Win host for gaming and to run my linux install in a VM on the second screen.
- I do all my gaming on my Steam Deck and I haven't run into anything that didn't work – even "unverified" games. But I also eg. don't play any multiplayer games so I don't have troubles with anti-cheat systems which are apparently still a big pain point for Linux gaming and might be one reason for your bad experiences
Gufufufu
- Edit: ah, i believe you hadn't enabled Proton. Yeah, i can see why you'd have the misconception that Linux sucks for gaming (well, if you ONLY play certain multiplayer games and don't branch out to others, yeah you might have a rough time).
  A lotta distros don't even work with Steam
  Having been a chronic distrohopper since I joined Linux a couple of years ago, this is wrong. I've had some hiccups with Steam, yeah, but that was more the version of Steam I installed (Flatpak. Learned right quick to just install what was on the repos) and it didn't not outright work on any of the distros I used: be they Fedora, Ubuntu-based, Arch-based, or OpenSUSE. Steam's always worked
  I don't think a single Bethesda Release works on Linux
  They do. I regularly play and mod Oblivion, Fallout New Vegas, and Skyrim and can play as well as one does on Windows. It's not limited to those either: Doom, Evil Within, Ghostwire, Rage...all those work with very little configuration (which honestly is just personal prefrences on my part. They'll still work by enabling Proton in the Steam settings, and in the game properties if you wanna be extra sure or are using a GE version of Proton). Starfield also works. So it's not just oldies either.
  No Fromsoftware...Lies of P doesn't.
  Except I play Souls and Souls-likes all the time, and I'm currently playing Lies of P with no problems on Linux. If anything I had more problems with when i tried playing a Soulsborn on Windows. Elden Ring stuttered like crazy on Windows, but i had next to zero problem playing on my Arch install, even playing Multiplayer.
  The other games you mentioned are also playable on Linux. Don't know who told you they don't but 90% of Steam works on Limux and Steam Deck. Just go to account settings and in compatibility, check "Enable Steam Play for all titles" and restart Steam. Otherwise, you get ONLY games with a native Linux version (which are...hit or miss at times). The only games you'd actually have trouble running on Linux would be ones that were given a hard "we're not supporting Linux" like Fortnite and those with heavy Anti-Cheats like Rainbow 6 Seige, Black Desert, or Valorant (and even those are getting Linux compatability: Dead By Daylight works now, Master Cheif collection apparantly works now, but I haven't played it in a while to check, Apex has worked for a while, etc)
  
  check “Enable Steam Play for all titles” and restart Steam. Otherwise, you get ONLY games with a native Linux version (which are…hit or miss at times).
  I don't think this is fully true. You get all native games plus all verified games. Which is only a small subset of games overall, but quite a bit more than just the native games. Though most others do work and only really require toggling that switch.
- Elden Ring, Uncharted, and God of War absolutely work because on Linux is the only way I've played any of them. Starfield has been the only game recently that did not (still doesn't) work on Linux via Steam without issue. And Starfield is a Nvidia issue not really a Linux issue.
- Edit: Oh sorry, I missed the other reply thread.
  EA games and such sound plausible, but
  No fromsoft
  I have probably played their whole steam catalogue on linux. They work fine.
  Same for TES and Fallout.
  Just to make sure, you did enable proton for "unsupported" games, right?
- Idk man a ton of distros don’t even work with steam
  Name one. I don't know of any.
  I don’t think a single Bethesda release works on Linux
  Personally I've never had one not work, and that includes Starfield on launch day.
  No PlayStation ports do either iirc
  Elder Scrolls on Linux didn't have the stutter it had on Windows at launch. It was literally a better experience and it continues to run great. God of War runs great on Linux. Returnal runs great on Linux.
  Seriously, the number one issue for Linux gaming right now is people in comments telling other people it doesn't work.

This seems a little exaggerated. For example, over 10k games are Steam Deck playable/verified. About 75% of the games that were tested were compatible with the Steam Deck, so probably many more will follow. Also, all emulators work on Linux too and sometimes even better than on Windows. The number of games that are available to you on Linux is simply massive.

Things are changing. The SteamDeck is a Linux platform. So if you want that share of the market, you need Linux support

Based on what the 100% better? I Mostly games have only minor issues.