I've got a friend who switched to running Ubuntu 24 LTS on his gaming PC with an Nvidia graphics card. Meanwhile, my other friends and I are mainly on Windows, diving into betas and new games—like six new titles just this month! By the time he's figured out how to set everything up and deal with mods, we've already logged off or even uninstalled the games. Now, he's stuck playing solo games. Recently, he hit a wall with Assassin's Creed: Shadows crashing on cutscenes and ended up refunding the game, frustrated with Ubisoft.
I'm not a Linux user for gaming, so I'm curious how the experience really is. Can you tell me if developers release games with Linux compatibility at launch? Do most games we regularly play—like Valorant, Apex, League of Legends, and Call of Duty—work well with Linux? I'm even considering dual-booting my machine to understand his struggles better. Is gaming on Linux just not suitable for a group like ours that plays new releases and betas? I often hear people claim they game on Linux but they never seem to mention the latest titles.
5 Answers
I manage to play a ton of newly released games on Linux without too many issues. Games like **Monster Hunter Wilds** and **Baldur's Gate 3** ran smoothly for me right off the bat. However, I usually avoid buying games on release day because I like to wait for sales. If a game has strict anti-cheat measures that mess with Linux compatibility, I just skip it and look for alternatives.
Your friend is definitely complicating things by using Ubuntu LTS with Nvidia—it’s like using an outdated toolkit for gaming. I'd suggest trying a more game-friendly distro like Bazzite that has better kernel support. From my experience, indie or retro games work well, but jumping into newer competitive titles is a headache without dual-booting. If they want to keep gaming with you guys, dual-booting would be the best route.
I totally agree—Ubuntu, especially LTS, can be a bit outdated for gaming. Switching to something like Fedora has worked wonders for me!
Linux gaming is definitely improving, but it’s still not as seamless as Windows, especially for the latest releases. Your friend should consider how much he values time versus learning Linux. Honestly, I stick to Windows for anything intense, and just chill on Linux for simpler titles. But yeah, if he really likes his Linux setup, some patience and trial-and-error are needed!
It sounds like your friend is having a rough time due to a combination of his game choices and how he’s approaching Linux gaming. Modding on Proton can get tricky, especially with updates messing things up. For the majority of new games, a few weeks to a few months post-release is usually when they become stable on Proton. If he really wants to stick with Linux, a dual-boot setup might be his best bet for those multiplayer games.
Most multiplayer games with strict anti-cheat don't work on Linux—it sounds like that’s what your friend is trying to play, which is why he’s facing so many issues. Developers often shy away from Linux support because they're worried that it might lead to cheating. You can check out resources like areweanticheatyet.com for more info on specific games. In general, though, many others just run fine nowadays, so check protondb.com for compatibility.
That's a good point! I remember hearing about Apex Legends dropping Linux support; it just highlights the issue with anti-cheat systems.
Yeah, I've noticed Monster Hunter Wilds has some visual glitches on my RTX 3080 too! For that one, I stick to Windows.