My girlfriend has a six-year-old laptop running Windows 10. Its hardware is still more than adequate for what she does, mainly playing a few Hoyo games, but Windows has started causing problems and keeps pushing the Windows 11 upgrade. A Fedora live session seemed to resolve those issues, so we're considering moving the laptop to Linux.
The main concern is game compatibility. Hoyo games generally aren't officially supported on Linux, and she doesn't want to risk a ban because she has invested both time and money in her account. I was able to run Genshin Impact through Steam, but I haven't found reliable options for the other games.
Would Waydroid be a practical way to play Android versions of Hoyo games? How well does it perform, and does using it create a meaningful ban risk for someone playing normally? I understand there can never be a complete guarantee. I'm also interested in any other Linux-compatible options I may have overlooked.
3 Answers
The desktop version through Steam is probably the simplest option for Genshin if it already works on that laptop. For the other games, community-maintained Linux launchers may be worth investigating, but support can change after game updates and each title's anti-cheat behavior is different. Waydroid is worth testing from a live system or separate installation first, but I wouldn't treat it as a guaranteed solution or assume there is zero ban risk.
The laptop's exact GPU matters a lot more than its age. A reasonably capable Intel, AMD, or Nvidia GPU with working Linux drivers can make a big difference, while Waydroid may struggle if hardware acceleration isn't configured correctly. Test the games before committing to Linux, and keep the existing Windows installation available as a fallback until you're confident everything works.
Waydroid can run some Hoyo games, but compatibility varies by title. Genshin reportedly starts and plays, although the available graphics settings may not be ideal on a larger display. Zenless Zone Zero has been less reliable, including crashes when entering the game. Performance also depends heavily on the GPU and its drivers; Intel and AMD graphics tend to be the safer choices for Waydroid, while some systems may perform better using integrated graphics. There is no dependable way to promise that an Android container won't trigger anti-cheat or account restrictions.
Genshin also works for me through Steam using the desktop version, and it has survived several updates so far. I'll compare that with the launcher options before making the switch.