this post was submitted on 03 May 2025
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I've based my information on what Steam says: https://store.steampowered.com/linux
I honestly don't know what to say about the misinformation accusation. Blame the publishers, I guess?
I've since learned from this thread that it doesn't accurately reflect how well games run using Proton.
Not gonna blame steam or publishers, rather gonna blame the guy that talks out of his ass without googling it for 5sec
Why are you being so hostile? How have I been talking out of my ass? I feel I've provided a wealth of context here about my experiences over the years and how I came to this conclusion.
In fact, I think my experience is representative of many people's perception of Linux support for games.
You said you tried it a couple months ago and only 10% was playable, which is a massive lie, since proton has been working for a couple years now. Maybe you need me to google it for you.
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=how+much+games+on+steam+work+on+linux
And there you said it at the end, presumptions, perceptions... Nothing based on facts.
Many years ago, back on my dual boot Toshiba laptop running Ubuntu 10 LTS, I became frustrated with how Windows was running and spent a good amount of time trying to get Steam and several games running on the Linux partition. I eventually managed to get Steam to run using Wine, and even got some games to launch, but they were unplayable. Although I can't be sure exactly which games I tried, I enjoyed Counterstrike, Unreal Tournament and Left 4 Dead at the time and suspect it must have included those.
Having been unsuccessful at getting anything to work (including some unrelated desktop software for work)—and I spent a considerable amount of time trying—I was left with the impression that this was a hopeless endeavor.
Fast forward to a few months ago: I heard about the Steam Deck and read that it was running a version of Linux. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see which games in my library are compatible. Steam helpfully shows a compatibility symbol on the product page, but unfortunately doesn't provide an overview from your own library. So I ended up having to do spot checks, and among my favorites it was less than 1 in 10 that were listed as Steam Deck / Linux compatible.
Now I'm sure there are all sorts of great results for searching the web for games that run on Linux. However, like many people, there are specific games from my library that I prefer to play.
Based on my past experiences with tinkering with Linux to get incompatible games to run, combined with publisher's own information provided regarding system compatibility, I have been left with the perception that not many games run on Linux. This was the motivation for my original comment that sparked this conversation.
None of what I've told you here is a "massive lie" and I'm genuinely confused about why you're so upset. Instead of having a civil discussion and teaching me about Proton, like many others in this thread have, you've attacked me and made wild accusations. Perhaps you might reflect on our interaction and reconsider how you choose to speak with other people.
You can turn on steamplay in linux and you can play 95% of your library, should've googled it instead of figuring it out yourself. Steam made proton layers so you can play whatever the fuck you want. No tinkering, 95% of my library works just fine on linux, i only use windows for apex and cod, which are riddled with cheaters anyway...
It's people like you who constantly talk out of their asses on forums that keep linux at bay, because someone will see that comment and say fuck it linux is gonna be too hard, when it isn't.
Discussion ends here, ain't gonna answer to you anymore
That's a helpful insight about enabling a special mode in Steam, thank you for sharing.
For the record, I take offense to your accusations of me "talking out of my ass" and "spreading misinformation" because I didn't know about this mode and what Proton is or how to use it. I'd have thought you would be excited to share this knowledge and spread the word about how users can rest assured they don't need Windows in this day and age. Instead you've chosen to reinforce the stereotype that Linux users are antisocial know-it-alls who pick stupid fights through anonymous comment threads.
Honestly proton running the windows version under linux is typically better polished, better performing, and more compatible than the "official" native linux version that most publishers put out, except in very rare circumstances where the developer actually understands and uses Linux and makes it a primary development focus. It's counterintuitive, but proton actually is that good (also most official linux releases are pretty lazy, like "console ports" if not worse).