… However, there was just one problem: while Dino Crisis 1 and 2 were sold on Steam, they didn't play nicely on Linux or the Steam Deck. This was because the games weren't gelling with Proton, the compatibility layer that Linux uses to translate Windows-based games into a format it likes better. …
… And while I tried to love Linux, I just couldn't bring myself to use it as my daily driver for several reasons. Linux isn't for gamers Compatibility? What compatibility? Let me say one thing right off the bat: gaming on Linux has improved in leaps and bounds from the early days. …
… Out-of-the-box compatibility with peripherals Hardware compatibility on Linux is hit or miss, but mostly miss Linux is, counterintuitively enough, ahead of Windows in terms of basic hardware support . …
… When we talk about how far Linux has come in PC gaming, we often focus on performance and compatibility. …
… Valve's Proton compatibility layer and the Steam Deck have done more for Linux gaming in the last few years than the previous two decades of community effort combined, and we've reached a point where the vast majority of single-player PC games run on Linux without much fuss. …
… Proton is built on Wine, but it isn't Wine Proton adds a lot for gamers Proton is Valve's compatibility stack for running Windows games through Steam on Linux. …
… Performance, compatibility, and reliability have improved a lot, but the average gamer still prefers the problems of Windows to the unpredictability of Linux. The year of Linux will come, but we need to be patient. …
… Fsync came next, using Linux futexes for even better performance. It was faster than esync in most cases, but it required out-of-tree kernel patches that never made it into the mainline Linux kernel or to upstream Wine out of the box . …
… Proton and Steam Deck turned Linux into a practical gaming option for millions—compatibility now matters. …
… And with Arm64EC configuration options in Proton 11, Valve is starting to extend the compatibility layer beyond x86. In 2026, compatibility is no longer a build problem as far as developers are concerned. …
