Valve have released the Steam Hardware & Software Survey for March 2025, and as expected with the Simplified Chinese language dropping the Linux stats have shot back up.
How is that much of your library not functional? I have a library of 4200 games (some from family library) and over 90% are just fine thanks to proton.
I assume they’re like a lot of people that only play competitive multiplayer games that don’t have support for Linux for whatever reason. Or they’re using a Nvidia GPU.
From the sample size of my two friends I don’t think Nvidia GPUs are that much of a problem anymore on Linux. I don’t personally own an Nvidia GPU so take that as you will.
Certain multiplayer games like CoD because of its anticheat are definitely unplayable on Linux. Only reason I still have windows is for that and Phasmophobia. But I think I can get Phasmo multiplayer running if I tinker with it. Maybe.
Nvidia GPUs are absolutely still a problem on Linux. It’s a problem that can be worked around, but it will require working around.
It’s honestly one of the biggest issues with Linux imo. If we want to encourage widespread adoption, it becomes really difficult to persuade people when they find out their GPU is essentially incompatible without major massaging. Especially since Nvidia is the most popular GPU seller on the market.
And the “it’s so easy, people just don’t want to learn” messaging doesn’t actually encourage long term use; If someone has been told that changing is easy but immediately encounters issues, then you’ve just made yourself an untrustworthy source of information in their eyes. They’re more likely to go “welp I guess it’s not for me” and just stop trying. If they’re at least presented with a realistic use-case and some of the most common pitfalls, they’ll be much better equipped to actually soldier on and learn. Just like teaching someone to ride a bike, going “it’s so easy, just keep peddling” does nothing to help when the person is laying in the grass with a scraped knee.
That part wasn’t aimed directly at you; It was more to head off the inevitable responses that always happen any time the argument gets started. Sorry if it sounded snarky.
If you use Bazzite, there is absolutely zero massaging necessary to use an Nvidia GPU. I know because I made the transition fulltime to it last June with my GTX 1080. To be fair, it includes the proprietary drivers, which I think almost every other distro is too principled to do OOTB.
Nvidia is fine and has been for decades. I used Nvidia exclusively on Linux for ~10 years and it was fine. AMD is a better experience on rolling releases and for keeping up with Linux changes (e.g. Wayland), but Nvidia has always been fine, you just might be stuck on X or obeying something and miss out on some features like having two monitors with different refresh rates (IIRC that was only possible on Wayland).
SteamOS is just Arch with some tweaks. Game compatibility isn’t even determined by SteamOS; Proton is doing all of the heavy lifting. So as long as the game works with Proton, it’ll boot on Linux.
No need to wait for SteamOS. It still needs the compatibility layer, as it is Linux. There is bothing too special about it as far as I know.
I’m a layman in terms of Linux but really… except some multiplayer titles, there really isn’t much to be concerned about using Linux. At least not from my experience.
If you install a version with Gamescope implemented (Chimera, Bazzite, Nobara, HoloISO), the experience is indistinguishable from SteamOS, other than typically some other goodies that make the desktop experience much better, like printer support. I don’t know exactly what they have planned for the wide release of SteamOS but I expect when it drops it will still be inferior to these distros.
I’ve been running Chimera/Bazzite on my desktop for a couple years now and it’s awesome! Especially if you don’t play competitive multiplayer stuff like me.
I didn’t use Proton, there’s the difference. Most games didn’t have a download option. I felt a compatibility module wouldn’t offer nearly as good performance/efficiency as a game designed to run on Linux/ext4 - but are you saying that playing via Proton is fine?
There is a setting under compatibility in Steam’s preferences that allows all Windows games to install with Proton. Without it, Valve won’t give you the download option unless they’re 100% certain it will run perfectly. This excluded many games that run fairly well, and a bunch of games that run perfectly but haven’t been properly assessed yet.
Proton isn’t an emulator; It’s a compatibility layer. All it’s doing is taking the Linux<>Windows stuff and converting back and forth. There’s very little efficiency loss, (and some games even run better because Linux tends to be a lighter OS.)
The big issue with Linux is anticheat. Some of the largest anticheat companies have chosen not to support Linux, or the game devs have disabled Linux support on their end. But to be clear, that’s not a choice Linux has made; It’s a choice the game devs made to exclude Linux players, because they want kernel-level control which Linux won’t allow.
Gaming on Linux used to be a big hassle, as it basically required devs to write a native Linux version of the game. But nowadays Proton does that translation for them, and is so lightweight that it’s negligible. If you have any doubts, check out protondb, which is a published list of game compatibility ratings. Gold will play just fine in 90% of cases. Platinum is going to be seamless. Native means there’s a specific Linux version. And Steam Deck Verified simply means the devs have set specific controller/aspect ratio/frame rate/etc settings for when the game is booted on a Steam Deck. Even if it’s not SD Verified, the rating will tell you whether or not the game will boot and run.
(Also, not sure why you’re being downvoted. You made a valid assumption, and not knowing is not a sin. The dismissal of evidence is, which you clearly didn’t do. )
Perhaps not knowing this at first was unforgivable to a few people, and accepting help from you seemed like I was being insincere? I am genuinely happy to see so many eager to help in this community, hell in the instances I’ve engaged with! So, so much nicer than Reddit aha
If you do install Linux (I highly recommend) just know that in Steam, if you buy a game and your library page says “This game is not supported” and the install button is disabled, you just need to right-click on the game (in the left panel), go to Properties -> Compatibility, and set it to Proton Experimental (you can also play around with specific versions of Proton). 99% of my games work flawlessly (n.b. I don’t play competitive online multiplayer any more, it’s too sweaty and time-consuming for me these days). In fact I can’t think of anything that didn’t work. But check ProtonDB real quick before buying (although you can always refund if it doesn’t run).
you just need to right-click on the game (in the left panel), go to Properties -> Compatibility, and set it to Proton Experimental
You can also enable it for all available games from Settings > Compatibility (and you’ll still be able to override the version on a per-game basis as well)
Proton is just a compatibility layer, not a virtual machine or emulator. So while the specifics vary from game to game, in general, performance is comparable. In my experience it’s just as stable and often faster than on windows (at least on AMD GPUs. But Nvidia has gotten better as well)
If a game is rated Gold or above, it’s generally good to go on most systems. Platinum is the best rating other than Native, which means it’s a game with an official Linux version. Proton is the reason I switched to Linux.
Bronze and Silver games might play fine too, but you’ll either have to do some tinkering or it just won’t work. It’s not that often that these games work “out of the box.”
I felt a compatibility module wouldn’t offer nearly as good performance/efficiency as a game designed to run on Linux/ext4 - but are you saying that playing via Proton is fine?
Can confirm, it’s fine. There’s some variability of course but taken as a whole the environment is comparable in terms of performance. As long as you’re not playing AAA competitive games that have anti-cheat you are going to be fine with few exceptions. And there are plenty of examples where the proton experience works better than the native.
Check protondb to get a realistic idea of how well games will work.
Absolutely. I play almost everything on steam deck these days, and proton gets fantastic performance results. It’s not like the early days of wine, we’re talking near-native or occasionally even better-than-native.
How is that much of your library not functional? I have a library of 4200 games (some from family library) and over 90% are just fine thanks to proton.
I assume they’re like a lot of people that only play competitive multiplayer games that don’t have support for Linux for whatever reason. Or they’re using a Nvidia GPU.
Nvidia works fine with Linux. Stop saying this.
Nvidia does not always work fine with Linux. Stop saying this.
From the sample size of my two friends I don’t think Nvidia GPUs are that much of a problem anymore on Linux. I don’t personally own an Nvidia GPU so take that as you will.
Certain multiplayer games like CoD because of its anticheat are definitely unplayable on Linux. Only reason I still have windows is for that and Phasmophobia. But I think I can get Phasmo multiplayer running if I tinker with it. Maybe.
Nvidia GPUs are absolutely still a problem on Linux. It’s a problem that can be worked around, but it will require working around.
It’s honestly one of the biggest issues with Linux imo. If we want to encourage widespread adoption, it becomes really difficult to persuade people when they find out their GPU is essentially incompatible without major massaging. Especially since Nvidia is the most popular GPU seller on the market.
And the “it’s so easy, people just don’t want to learn” messaging doesn’t actually encourage long term use; If someone has been told that changing is easy but immediately encounters issues, then you’ve just made yourself an untrustworthy source of information in their eyes. They’re more likely to go “welp I guess it’s not for me” and just stop trying. If they’re at least presented with a realistic use-case and some of the most common pitfalls, they’ll be much better equipped to actually soldier on and learn. Just like teaching someone to ride a bike, going “it’s so easy, just keep peddling” does nothing to help when the person is laying in the grass with a scraped knee.
Well you won’t hear me argue for that. I don’t come off like that do I?
I wouldn’t recommend Linux to my mother for instance. She may use a laptop for work all the time but thats about as far as her knowledge goes.
That part wasn’t aimed directly at you; It was more to head off the inevitable responses that always happen any time the argument gets started. Sorry if it sounded snarky.
If you use Bazzite, there is absolutely zero massaging necessary to use an Nvidia GPU. I know because I made the transition fulltime to it last June with my GTX 1080. To be fair, it includes the proprietary drivers, which I think almost every other distro is too principled to do OOTB.
In my experience, and many others’ it is a problem. YMMV. Not really a debate I care to rehash.
Nvidia is fine and has been for decades. I used Nvidia exclusively on Linux for ~10 years and it was fine. AMD is a better experience on rolling releases and for keeping up with Linux changes (e.g. Wayland), but Nvidia has always been fine, you just might be stuck on X or obeying something and miss out on some features like having two monitors with different refresh rates (IIRC that was only possible on Wayland).
Nah, the vast majority of my interest is in single player story-based games. But hey, the moment SteamOS for desktop is here, I’m jumping on that
SteamOS is just Arch with some tweaks. Game compatibility isn’t even determined by SteamOS; Proton is doing all of the heavy lifting. So as long as the game works with Proton, it’ll boot on Linux.
No need to wait for SteamOS. It still needs the compatibility layer, as it is Linux. There is bothing too special about it as far as I know.
I’m a layman in terms of Linux but really… except some multiplayer titles, there really isn’t much to be concerned about using Linux. At least not from my experience.
If you install a version with Gamescope implemented (Chimera, Bazzite, Nobara, HoloISO), the experience is indistinguishable from SteamOS, other than typically some other goodies that make the desktop experience much better, like printer support. I don’t know exactly what they have planned for the wide release of SteamOS but I expect when it drops it will still be inferior to these distros.
I’ve been running Chimera/Bazzite on my desktop for a couple years now and it’s awesome! Especially if you don’t play competitive multiplayer stuff like me.
I didn’t use Proton, there’s the difference. Most games didn’t have a download option. I felt a compatibility module wouldn’t offer nearly as good performance/efficiency as a game designed to run on Linux/ext4 - but are you saying that playing via Proton is fine?
There is a setting under compatibility in Steam’s preferences that allows all Windows games to install with Proton. Without it, Valve won’t give you the download option unless they’re 100% certain it will run perfectly. This excluded many games that run fairly well, and a bunch of games that run perfectly but haven’t been properly assessed yet.
Proton isn’t an emulator; It’s a compatibility layer. All it’s doing is taking the Linux<>Windows stuff and converting back and forth. There’s very little efficiency loss, (and some games even run better because Linux tends to be a lighter OS.)
The big issue with Linux is anticheat. Some of the largest anticheat companies have chosen not to support Linux, or the game devs have disabled Linux support on their end. But to be clear, that’s not a choice Linux has made; It’s a choice the game devs made to exclude Linux players, because they want kernel-level control which Linux won’t allow.
Gaming on Linux used to be a big hassle, as it basically required devs to write a native Linux version of the game. But nowadays Proton does that translation for them, and is so lightweight that it’s negligible. If you have any doubts, check out protondb, which is a published list of game compatibility ratings. Gold will play just fine in 90% of cases. Platinum is going to be seamless. Native means there’s a specific Linux version. And Steam Deck Verified simply means the devs have set specific controller/aspect ratio/frame rate/etc settings for when the game is booted on a Steam Deck. Even if it’s not SD Verified, the rating will tell you whether or not the game will boot and run.
Some windows games running on proton beat native windows performance. So yes.
Here’s a recent benchmark.
Edit: here’s the AMD GPU version if that’s what you’re using: https://youtu.be/D45AknAsIPw
Thank you, that’s fantastic! I need an upgrade and am likely going to go AMD for CPU and GPU. I think my Microsoft days are coming to an end aha
Glad I could help!
(Also, not sure why you’re being downvoted. You made a valid assumption, and not knowing is not a sin. The dismissal of evidence is, which you clearly didn’t do. )
Perhaps not knowing this at first was unforgivable to a few people, and accepting help from you seemed like I was being insincere? I am genuinely happy to see so many eager to help in this community, hell in the instances I’ve engaged with! So, so much nicer than Reddit aha
If you do install Linux (I highly recommend) just know that in Steam, if you buy a game and your library page says “This game is not supported” and the install button is disabled, you just need to right-click on the game (in the left panel), go to Properties -> Compatibility, and set it to Proton Experimental (you can also play around with specific versions of Proton). 99% of my games work flawlessly (n.b. I don’t play competitive online multiplayer any more, it’s too sweaty and time-consuming for me these days). In fact I can’t think of anything that didn’t work. But check ProtonDB real quick before buying (although you can always refund if it doesn’t run).
You can also enable it for all available games from Settings > Compatibility (and you’ll still be able to override the version on a per-game basis as well)
The trade-off of Linux vs. Windows means if your game doesn’t run on Linux I won’t buy it.
Playing via Proton is absolutely fine! It’s what is recommended actually!
Proton is just a compatibility layer, not a virtual machine or emulator. So while the specifics vary from game to game, in general, performance is comparable. In my experience it’s just as stable and often faster than on windows (at least on AMD GPUs. But Nvidia has gotten better as well)
You could check for yourself: https://www.protondb.com/
If a game is rated Gold or above, it’s generally good to go on most systems. Platinum is the best rating other than Native, which means it’s a game with an official Linux version. Proton is the reason I switched to Linux.
Bronze and Silver games might play fine too, but you’ll either have to do some tinkering or it just won’t work. It’s not that often that these games work “out of the box.”
Can confirm, it’s fine. There’s some variability of course but taken as a whole the environment is comparable in terms of performance. As long as you’re not playing AAA competitive games that have anti-cheat you are going to be fine with few exceptions. And there are plenty of examples where the proton experience works better than the native.
Check protondb to get a realistic idea of how well games will work.
Absolutely. I play almost everything on steam deck these days, and proton gets fantastic performance results. It’s not like the early days of wine, we’re talking near-native or occasionally even better-than-native.