Linux has always been the king of the server world. But when it comes to the world of PCs and desktop computing, the majority of people do not even know that there is any other desktop operating system except for Windows and Mac OS.
The market share of desktop Linux hovers somewhere around 1% every year, sometimes going a bit up while sometimes coming a bit down. But in some recent years, especially 2021, the Linux desktop gained a significant amount of users due to several factors. But the percentage of users on Linux is still hovering a little above that 1% mark.
While there are many reasons as to why the Linux desktop is not growing as fast as it should, gaming is a significant one of the reasons that makes people hesitate from switching over to Linux full time. So today let us take a look at Linux Gaming and see whether it is mature enough or not?
Some popular gaming platforms for Linux -
1. Steam -
Steam is a very popular platform by Valve Inc. to purchase, download, and play games on your PC. Steam uses something known as 'Proton' for gaming on Linux. Proton is a compatibility layer for Linux gaming based on Wine, which in turn is like an emulator which can run Windows apps on Linux.
In recent years, Proton has improved so much that it is now very hard to tell the difference in performance between a game that is built natively for Linux and a game that runs using the Proton compatibility layer, with proton outperforming native games in many scenarios. So yes, we can safely say that Steam, as of now, is the best platform to game on Linux.
2. Wine -
Wine is a compatibility tool that allows users to run Windows programs on Linux. While it works in a very good manner, it is still far from perfect for gaming. You can run many Windows games on Linux using Wine but there is a high probability that you would face lots of problems in the process.
3. Lutris -
It is a very nice tool for running Windows games on Linux. It has a wide range of sources for games like Steam, Epic Games Launcher, Uplay, Origin, and more! If you are a Linux Gamer then you probably already know about Lutris. If not, then you should definitely check it out!
Conclusion -
From all the facts we have seen above, we can conclude that gaming on Linux is not perfect. In fact, it is far from perfect. While there is a very high chance that a native game (a game built for Linux) would run flawlessly, at the same time non-native games running using compatibility layers like wine and proton might give some problems.
Proton, as stated earlier, has matured a lot, we Valve pouring a lot of effort into it. It now runs many games as if they were built natively for Linux! But there are still a lot of games that run poorly or do not run at all on Linux, especially the ones that use anti-cheat software.
You can check out how various games perform on Linux using an excellent website named ProtonDB. It gives ratings to different games ranging from 'Platinum' (runs flawlessly on Linux) to 'Borked' (Unplayable). Check out ProtonDB here!
But all hopes are not lost. In fact, Linux gaming is at its best place right now in terms of scope of improvement due to the upcoming launch of Steam Deck by Valve, which would run Steam OS, which is based on Arch Linux.
While Valve had originally targeted 100% compatibility for the Steam Deck, with each passing day it is seeming a more and more impractical task. But still, it is a very big leap for Linux gaming as this will lead to most of the games on Steam being supported on Linux, if not 100%. So while gaming on Linux is not perfect, it is also not in a bad state.
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