Maybe "beyond the Blackwall" isn't the greatest metaphor for a revolution regarding the rising movement of people abandoning Windows for Linux. But, the way I see it, the rogue AI, in comparison to Cyberpunk 2077 versus the real world, is far from contained, and everything on the other side, is us. Some of us have built firewalls, some have left Windows, and others have done both. The underground, or, the other side of the corporate walled garden, is slowly, and silently, pushing back against the storm of corporate greed, misinformation, and distrust.
Every day I see more and more people jumping into the Linux subreddits asking questions on how to install this, or what distro they should use, or, what's best for gaming? And it makes me feel like, despite r/linuxsucks being a playground for Microsoft hold-outs, we're slowly winning.
Maybe slow and steady really does win the race.
If you ask me which distro's good for gaming, I probably wouldn't be able to give you very many good references, though. I only have experience with Debian and Pop!_OS, and I've had flawless gaming experiences on both of them.
But that's mainly because I have some inkling of an idea of what I'm doing.
I know what Lutris is, I know how to force Steam to use Proton for every single game in my library. But, is this information readily and easily available to the average person? The average person whose decided they're sick and tired of Microsoft spying on them, and harvesting all of their data, including sensitive material?
The answer to both of these questions is: Probably, no.
If you're new to Linux gaming, and you want Steam to filter all of your games through Proton (which has a pretty high success rate), click "Steam" at the top left, then settings, then compatibility, and then choose the latest version of Proton.
Lutris, on the the other hand, is a bit of a different beast.
This is usually available in the package manager for whatever distribution you're on. For me, it's the Pop Shop, which is basically just a bunch of curated stuff. It's pretty much as easy as installing it as though it were an app in the Microsoft Store, except you're not downloading any malware, and Microsoft isn't recording your preferences in some database fifty miles underground.
But what makes this different than Steam's Proton?
Well, Lutris, by default, runs on their own distribution of Wine, and has multiple different "runners" you can use, if their default doesn't work out for you, or for whatever game you're attempting to install (see this faq for a little more information on what a "runner" is).
Basically, I use Lutris for games that aren't available on Steam, or for games I don't feel like using with Steam. Games like Etheria Restart, a gacha that has its own launcher, the EVE Frontier alpha, that isn't available anywhere but via an EXE you're given access to only after buying a founder's pack, and others such as: Rift, Entropia Universe, Dark Age of Camelot, and Anarchy Online (one of the trickiest games to get working on Linux).
If you want to see what "runner" you're using, or even experiment with different ones (don't worry, this won't delete your whole system), click the hamburger menu at the top right in Lutris, then preferences, then runners, and scroll down to Wine. From there you can click the gear icon and choose whatever it is you want your default to be.
I'm currently running a download of WineHQ Staging 10.12, available here. I've had the most success with this runner, aside from a few random issues that are easily solved (like explorer.exe opening and staying open, for some reason).
Installing something like this is slightly more advanced, so I would definitely recommend becoming familiar with the terminal and running commands, including reading up one ones you shouldn't run (rm -rf /*).
If I haven't scared you away by this point, welcome.
I saw an article recently talking about how Linux is the future of gaming, and I'm still slightly skeptical about this, because I think Microsoft will do everything they can in order to retain their market, up to and including using their money to stop it from happening.
But, at the end of the day, the only thing holding Linux back from growing in gaming spaces, is developer support. And it most definitely doesn't help that people like Tim Sweeney refuse Linux, based solely on the fact that it doesn't yet have "tens of millions of users," at least, in his own opinion.
So, you've gotten this far, you're still reading, you haven't decided that Linux is too hard, and you want some stuff you can install right now and play with the least amount of issues.
Honestly, I would say most games you install through Steam's Proton probably won't give you issues.
Here's a short list of games I'd suggest (via Steam), anyway:
- 1: EVE Online: Believe it or not, installing and launching this game takes zero effort. No push-back, no switching Proton versions, no custom arguments. Just press the button, and you're good to go.
- 2: Elden Ring: Yes, Elden Ring, the title with the developers who will ban thousands of users for falsely flagged cheating, works perfectly on Linux. And I've never been banned.
- 3: Path of Exile 2: Despite games like Diablo 4 giving me a bit of trouble, and still continuing to do so, I purchased PoE2, installed it, and launched it. No issues, smooth gameplay.
- 4: The Sims 4: You're probably thinking, "The Sims?!" And yeah, if you're a fan of starving imaginary people to death in your basement, or building a family through the generations, this game works great.
- 5: Lost Ark: Previously barred from working on Linux due to its anti-cheat, this issue has been solved, and Linux users are now able to play without issue. It also runs great.
Note: Your mileage may vary, especially if you're using an Nvidia card rather than AMD, but I'm almost certain most of the titles I've mentioned above will work for you, and there are a lot more.
For example, here are some classic games that work without issue (via Steam):
- 1: Dragon Age: Origins: I fart you not, I installed this and it just works. Didn't even have to select an older version of Proton (although, this is usually the solution for a lot of older games, and if this game does give you issues, that's the solution in likely a lot of scenarios).
- 2: Doom 1 and 2, the original versions: Wildly enough, these ancient games (by generation Z standards) required no effort to install and play.
- 3: Mass Effect Legendary Edition: You thought I was going to complete these lists without mentioning the series that changed gaming forever?
- 4: Myst: Masterpiece Edition: What's a classic Linux gamer's list without Myst? A tasteless list.
- 5: Baldur's Gate: Another absolute classic that I haven't struggled with, at all. And, if you're curious, yes, BG2 and BG3 also work just fine.
I think both of these lists will get you started, and hopefully with as little resistance as possible. And, as I've mentioned before in other posts ... yeah, you can't play Call of Duty, Apex Legends, or Fortnite. In fact, you can't play anything with kernel level anti-cheat, and with good reason! You shouldn't. Kernel level anti-cheat should, frankly, be illegal.
But Apex and Fortnite aren't casualties of spyware. Fortnite just has an idiot CEO behind it, and Apex Legends has a publisher/studio that's decided that all Linux users are potential cheaters (see: EA/Respawn sucks ass).
This just sort of loops back to my point on Linux and developer support, though. Some developers make a conscious choice to say, "Fuck those guys" when in reference to Linux gamers, and it absolutely should piss you off.
When someone on a random social site says, "Linux can't play THIS game." They might be talking about a game developed and released by a bunch of clueless jerks.
Anywho, hat's all for my rambling today. And, if you want some help getting setup, feel free to drop by my forum, sign up, and start posting.
Source: https://mkultra.monster/gaming/2025/07/24/linux-gaming/
