this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2025
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The only problem with such statistics are, that a) these are Steam games, which do not include all Windows games such as Fortnite, and b) most AAA multiplayer games that are very popular are not playable on Linux. So 90% of games does not equate to 90% of players. Because for most players in example it does not matter the 20% games on Steam with 1 or 2 players at most (just figuratively speaking). This article leans towards Steam statistics and ignores Fortnite, League of Legends, Roblox, Valorant and even on Steam itself GTA Online, PUBG, Call of Duty games (online part), Battlefield games (online part) and so on.
I am a die hard Linux user and gamer since 2008, but I am not someone pretending that 90% of Steam games playable on Linux is as impressive as the the statistics sound. It is important to tell the entire truth, so people switch based on correct and full information and not on a wishful thinking.
I agree that for you it doesn't make sense, but outside of the "competitive" FPS genre compatibility covers most everything else, minus things with crazy kernel level DRM rootkits. But you really shouldn't be playing those on Windows either IMHO. And if more people didn't support them on Windows devs might be forced to use compatible anti-cheat that would benefit gamers on all platforms.
I'm also a casual gamer that will just move onto something else in my backlog if a dev breaks proton compatibility.
What do you mean it doesn't make sense for me??? What exactly doesn't make sense to me in your opinion. I am stating facts and we should not hide them when recommending or showing statistics. It is disingenuous titles like these that will let people try once and forget forever.
Everyone should decide themselves it the move / change makes sense. But we need to provide the facts and information. This article fails to do so.
I meant changing to Linux doesn't make sense for you if the games you play have 0% compatibility on Linux. I was agreeing with you! I guess I could have worded that better, sorry about that.
The big issue is I think a large percentage of that group of gamers would love to drop the overhead of Windows but devs are making games designed around Windows lock-in because that is where the user base is. It's like a circular scenario where unless one of them is willing to break the circle it's going to continue for the foreseeable future.
Oh I see, yes that's a misunderstanding here. I was just confused. :D
As for the second point of Windows lock-in, this is no longer the real issue thanks to the integrated efforts of Proton. Developers don't even need to build a Linux version of the game. It really mostly comes down to the anti cheat, which doesn't work on Linux the same way as Windows. There are anti cheat systems that work on Linux, but they are not as effective, because it does not have the same Kernel privileges as on Windows.