I'm considering moving my 15-year-old son's gaming PC from Windows to Linux, but Rainbow Six Siege is the main obstacle because of its anti-cheat system. He also plays Minecraft servers, Bodycam, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Roblox. Has anyone successfully run these games on Linux, and are there any setup steps or compatibility issues I should know about?
Dual-booting Windows just for Rainbow Six Siege is an option, but I'd prefer not to buy another drive for a single game. My son would also like to use Linux, but he plays Rainbow Six Siege with a longtime group of friends, so losing access to that game would mean losing an important social activity for him.
The computer has a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, Radeon RX 9070 XT, 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory, a 1TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 drive, and a 500GB external SSD used for games. I've had a great experience with CachyOS on an older laptop, so I'm hoping Linux might work well on this system too.
3 Answers
If your son needs to keep playing Rainbow Six Siege with his friends, dual-booting is probably the practical answer. You don’t necessarily need a large or expensive new drive—Windows can use a modest secondary SSD, while Linux stays on the main drive. It avoids giving up the game without preventing him from using Linux for everything else.
For the other games, compatibility is generally much better, although each one should be checked individually in ProtonDB or the relevant Linux gaming resources. Red Dead Redemption 2 and many Minecraft setups can work well, while Roblox and Bodycam may have additional launcher or anti-cheat limitations. Test those before making the full switch, especially if specific servers or mods are important.
Rainbow Six Siege is currently the deal-breaker. The game itself may launch through Proton, but its developers block Proton players from joining multiplayer matches because of the anti-cheat system. This isn’t something that can normally be fixed with a launch option or a community tweak, so there isn’t a reliable Linux solution at the moment.
Exactly—the problem is the developer’s multiplayer restriction, not that Proton cannot run the game at all. It may start, but you still can’t join the necessary online lobbies.
That’s what I’m leaning toward. He wants Linux too, but he’s 15 and has played with the same group of friends for years, so removing access to their main game wouldn’t be fair just to avoid a dual-boot setup.