Linux

I gather it's been doable for quite a while now, but the Steam Deck/SteamOS has given the Proton compatibility layer a huge boost in the last year and a half.

I've been gaming on Linux primarily for the last ~5 years. I also use Linux professionally (though I am a research scientist, not a programmer). I would say Linux gaming is 95% feasible if you do SP only. If you do MP in addition to SP, it's maybe 70% ish doable? If you do just MP, that drops to like 20%-30%.

Most things "just work" now, especially for SP games. Occasionally you find an old game with a glitch or bug you need to search the web to fix, but it's not bad, similar things happen on Windows.

If you stick to the biggest supported distros (Fedora, Ubuntu) and stick to Steam, and stick to SP, it's basically no different from Windows as far as ease of use and compatibility.

I've clocked well over 100 hours on Snowrunner in Steam Games, and now started Red Dead Redemption 2. I mainly play simulators, and many of the fames are actually Windows games, but Steam with Proton seems to be handling them just fine.

At this point you can use linux or windows without having to switch around except for more specific applications (things not directly supported through proton can still be run through it by just adding to steam as a non-steam app)

You may not find as many Linux users, but it'd be more a numbers game than anything. The games are definitely there now.

ProtonDB and using a combo with Lutris and Steam. And of course some third party Proton like Proton GE to make games run smooth. Funny enough, the games I found hardest to run been the Neptunia (example Cyberdimension) games. I guess no one really cares about them.

LTT did a video last year where they tried to go full Linux for their gaming setups. Turns out it's doable, but has some pretty glaring complications if you deviate from the common branch of what people do. USB 3.2.2 remote gaming is unsupported, and they had some issues I can't recall. They basically ended on "Yes you can game, but you're gonna have to tinker a lot to get it working right, unless you're just using steam on a standard PC".

I hate to say it but I haven’t had much luck gaming on Linux. Long time Linux user (bounce between Ubuntu and arch type distro since before 2008).

I haven’t had much luck getting may games working at all on Linux (fallout, Skyrim) or running well (City Skylines, KSP). I’ve followed plenty of guides but have limited luck, so not sure if it’s my aging CPU/GPU or what.

I would like nothing more than to use Linux as my only OS but I have limited time to game (less than 4-5 hours / month), so I’m stuck with windows since I can still quickly fire up games there.

With Proton most games run with no issues and just as fast as on Windows. Those that don't are because of anticheat, weird launchers or invasive DRM. I still have a Windows partition for those games and Windows only tools but haven't used it in months.

I was putting some old donated computers into a school in the Dominican Republic and they had old Windows versions and I could not update without spending some cash. So I installed Ubuntu Linux on them. It was GREAT! So pretty soon I upgraded my own PC and now I have been using Linux for a decade. The range of games is reduced - some Windows games just won't work. But I am not a "coder" and not really a hardcore gamer either - I do some engineering and some technical writing, surf internet, and watch videos. I have no idea why anyone still uses Windows except for the fact that it came on their PC when they bought it (and it cost them $200 for the privilege!).

I use it for work, my personal desktop, and naturally my Steam Deck. It's far from being the majority but it is becoming increasingly common thanks to Valve.

You can check for yourself if the games you want to play work on Linux, just look up "(game name) ProtonDB" and look for a gold or higher for a good gaming experience. Subjectively, 90% of the games I've tried work well. CSGO, Overwatch 2 (through Lutris), Don't Starve, Deep Rock Galactic and Red Dead Redemption 2 are all games I know play well on Linux since I've tried them myself. It's incredible what Valve has done with Proton for game compatibility on Linux.

I know Steam (Valve) have metrics on it that probably give a good idea of how Linux fares in the PC market for gaming. Probably not entirely accurate but maybe accurate enough. I know it's the best I've ever seen though.

I've been gaming on Linux for years and steam has made it super easy. I used to deal with wine but now the process is exactly the same as any other OS (assuming you're using steam). If you want to play non steam games you probably want to have some knowledge about how Linux works

I've clocked over 660 hours in Apex Legends. recently finished Psychonauts 2. currently playing Valheim with some friends and Witcher 2 on my own. all of that exclusively on Linux.

Linux gaming is growing a lot, especially in the last couple of years. You can play almost any windows game on Linux, the biggest hang-up right now is anti-cheat. Most anti-cheat made for windows will not like being emulated on Linux, and even if it works a lot of time you will run the risk of being banned.

So bigger multiplayer games, mainly AAA titles, are still lagging behind.

I'm no hardcore gamer but game a lot.
I'm running Nobara KDE, almost any games I throw at it work with no tinkering. Just this afternoon I installed Lies of P demo from Steam, it worked OTT with zero glitch. I have a SSD with Win11 I haven't run in months lol.

I am both. And I have to say while many games with steam are download and play depending on your system os and gpu you will have various degrees of tinkering in order to get stuff running.

You either have to accept that you can't play every game or spend a lot of time getting them to work.

And multiplayer anti cheat games are very few that work.