[devit]

All software that you install on the main desktop operating systems is given the "keys to their computer kingdom": there is no privilege separation or sandboxing, except for the "user vs root" division, which can be trivially bypassed in countless ways (and anyway, most installers require root privileges).

And yes, obviously you need to have a dedicated gaming PC and certainly not install any games or any software that isn't strictly necessary on the systems/VMs with important data.

[smoyer]

To some degree that's true. I keep an eye out for programs that insist on running as root. And if someone breaches my account, they've still got to put the work in to escalate their privilege through one of these programs.

I've also been installing more and more software into ~/bin rather than the more traditional /opt and /usr/local/bin. I think that the trend towards usermode software will take over in the next five years.

[enitihas]

Usermode software might be far more dangerous though. Any software you run on your machine can change the files in ~/bin, and you won't know the difference.

[LeifCarrotson]

The user vs root division does not need to be bypassed for a game. Riot does bypass it with their kernel-mode driver for the anti-cheat mechanism.

[jackewiehose]

As parent comment noticed there is no need to bypass anything. Just ask the user for root permissions like any other installer and the user will accept.

[youerbt]

That's how Riot installs their thing in the first place and that's how everybody can install their own thing.