Summary
Steam revolutionized digital distribution for PC games, but Valve’s more recent push toward Linux and Proton-based gaming—whether through the Steam Deck or Steam Machine—is its most ambitious move yet. While making Linux a viable gaming platform is commendable, it comes with significant trade-offs for average users. Modern Linux and SteamOS are surprisingly intuitive Linux can run most current-generation games, albeit with a major caveat If you’re new to Linux, you will find a rather large assortment of distributions to choose from based on your requirements. And honestly, if you’re looking to grab a Linux distro just for gaming, any of the custom versions should do you just fine. However, if you’re looking for a more stripped-down, basic version of Linux that gets you to your games as quickly as possible, there’s no better option than SteamOS. Valve’s proprietary OS is essentially the whole Steam “Big Picture” experience, built on top of a Linux base. And the best part is that you don’t have to fiddle around with Proton layers to get your games working. As long as the game you want to play has the “Steam Deck/Steam Machine Verified” certification, it should work just fine. Even vanilla Linux is rather intuitive, and so is setting up your custom Proton layer for games. In fact, some games like Elden Ring run much better on Proton than on Windows. It’s genuinely amazing how much Linux has evolved over the years, especially on the gaming front. Much of this was possible thanks to SteamOS and Steam Deck. With that said, Linux being Linux still has one major caveat, which stopped many other power users like me from running it as our daily driver, at least for gaming. While Linux has evolved substantially over the years, most modern games are still developed for Windows. This is especially true for Triple-A productions. We do get the occasional macOS ports or even Linux ports of games, but that’s extremely rare. In fact, I can count only a single Triple-A title that got a simultaneous macOS and Windows release this year — and that was Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert. You’re going to be using Proton to run your games on Linux; any title that uses Kernel-level Anti-cheat or similar software/DRM won’t work. That means games like Call of Duty, Valorant, even League of Legends won’t work regardless of which Proton layer you plan to use. For this reason, even when I switched to Linux back in 2020, I still had to side-load Windows 10, just to access my multiplayer suite of games. However, if you don’t care about multiplayer, you’ll find Linux more than enough to handle your needs. Considering how rapidly things are moving forward for both Linux and SteamOS, though, I can see the anti-cheat issue getting ironed out pretty soon. Truth be told, we all benefit from good competition for Windows’s PC gaming monopoly. Setting up Linux can be a hassle for someone new to PC gaming Unless you are tech-savvy enough, setting up Linux can be rather confusing While I do like how Valve is approaching Linux-based gaming and trying to make it mainstream for gamers, it’s still far from its ideal form. I do agree that installing Linux and setting it up as your daily driver is significantly easier now than it was half a decade ago. In fact, I even got my father to install Linux on his old laptop, which wasn’t able to upgrade to Windows 11. However, Linux is still far from the most user-friendly OS for PCs. In most cases, people will find Windows to be just the better option to stick to, even with the myriad of issues and “bloat” it comes with. And the whole process of gaming on Linux doesn’t stop at just getting the OS up and running on your PC. You then also have to set up Proton, make sure you’re running the correct drivers for your GPU, etc. Even after that, you have to be prepared to make adjustments to your game and Proton just to play your game without it crashing every other minute. The best thing about Valve’s development of SteamOS is giving gamers an alternative to Windows. Then there’s the issue of game updates or system updates breaking Proton, which forces you to reconfigure everything from scratch. And if you’re investing a lot to build your gaming rig, the last thing you want coming between you and your gaming sessions is an operating system. Does this mean Linux can’t be a daily driver for gaming? Absolutely not. I have used Linux exclusively for three years, and had very few issues running and enjoying my games. However, unless you’re using a Steam Deck/Steam Machine or are tech-savvy enough to side-load Linux on your PC, in my opinion it’s just best to stay on Windows for your gaming needs. Windows is here to stay, for better or for worse The best thing about Valve’s development of SteamOS is giving gamers an alternative to Windows. However, even with the improvements made to Proton and how it integrates with most games on Steam, Windows is still the better platform for all things video games. On Linux, yes, you can run most native Steam games without any major issues. However, when it comes to other DRMs or distribution services/clients, such as Epic Games Launcher, EA App, Ubisoft Connect, and Battle.net, getting your games up and running on Linux isn’t nearly as easy as it is on Windows. This also means, if you’re using SteamOS, you’re mostly locked into Steam’s ecosystem, which, I think, just goes against the whole “open platform” concept of PC gaming. And for these reasons, at least for now, Windows is going to be the primary option when it comes to PC gaming. That said, if you’re even remotely curious, I highly encourage giving Linux or SteamOS a try. In reality, it’s not as complex as you might think it is.