It’s no secret that I’m an avid PC gamer. I personally consider the PC platform to be the best when it comes to gaming but I’ve always been a little concerned when it comes to how much power Microsoft has over the PC gaming market. As of the writing of this article, the Windows operating system continues to dominate PC gaming with the Steam Hardware & Software Survey for February 2022 stating that over 96% of PCs running Steam use Windows OS. This is unbelievably dominant and puts a scary amount of power in Microsoft’s hands. However, there are signs that Linux could become a more viable gaming operating system in the future and I thought I’d share some of the reasons why I’m excited about the rise of Linux gaming.
Linux has always struggled as a gaming OS for one very simple reason, there aren’t that many Linux gamers in the first place. There are costs associated with porting a game to Linux and the small market share of Linux gamers typically results in most games choosing to port to Windows only. This has created a problematic chicken and egg dilemma where Linux ports are not created due to the small market and people choose Windows over Linux because of the much wider variety of games. However, it seems this limitation may soon be a thing of the past.
After the release of Windows 8, Valve, the company responsible for running Steam, began efforts to make Linux a more viable gaming platform. Beyond adding Linux support to Steam and porting their games such as Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead etc. to Linux, Valve also decided to create their own operating system called SteamOS that was based on Linux and eventually released a product called “Steam Machines” that used SteamOS to create a console-like experience. However, Steam Machines proved to be a failure with complaints including a lack of support from the majority of games and poor performance.
However, the failure of these machines did not dull Valve’s desire to make Linux more viable and arguably one of the most important developments in Linux gaming was released in 2018, that being Valve’s Proton. For those of you unfamiliar with Proton, it’s a compatibility layer developed by Valve and CodeWeavers that allows games developed for Windows OS to run on Linux OS. It’s important to note that Proton doesn’t make every single Windows game work on Linux but Valve have been continuing to develop the software which allows many thousands of games that would not work on Linux normally to run on Linux. However, the most exciting pushes to increase the Linux gaming market share have occurred within the past year!
The announcement of the Steam Deck, a portable gaming PC, was incredible but one of the things that I was most excited about was the fact that it ran on SteamOS 3, the latest version of Valve’s Linux-based operating system. Valve’s effort to try to get every Steam game working on the Steam Deck, which they still have yet to do, has led to some incredible developments for Linux gaming with one of the most important being that popular anti-cheat software Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye are now Linux compatible. Additionally, it’s rumoured that Amazon will be shifting their Amazon Luna servers from Windows to Linux with the idea of using Valve’s Proton. However, a particularly exciting development occurred within the past few weeks when it was announced that a Steam alpha was coming to Chromebooks. Chromebooks have gained a considerable PC market share and, since Chrome OS is based on Linux, this’ll help to continue to grow the Linux gaming market.
Having explained why the Linux gaming market now has a lot of potential, I should explain my reasons for being excited about the potential rise of Linux gaming. As a PC gamer, I’m always happy to see the PC gaming market expand and I think the release of the Steam Deck and the development of Steam for Chromebooks are two excellent ways to do that. Additionally, I’m always happy to see greater competition and I think the rise of Linux gaming can add additional pressure on Microsoft to improve the gaming aspect of Windows.
Let me know your thoughts on the reasons why I’m excited about the rise of Linux gaming, your own thoughts on Linux as a gaming OS, what you think about Valve’s Proton, your thoughts on the Steam Deck and Steam on Chromebooks and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.