But there's also a decent chance a game won't run at all, and when performance is actually a problem, an even better chance that Windows-specific performance optimization tips will be more readily available than Linux-specific tips.
Given that games almost universally have their own immersive user interfaces, and therefore require minimal interaction with the host OS, it's hard for me to justify running Linux on a dedicated gaming PC.
But 50% of the time you are going to have to apply some hack or workaround.
Gaming on linux is feasible, but it’s not hassle-free and we shouldn’t skip the fact that it still requires some effort. A cheap cost to free oneself from Microslop, but a cost nonetheless.
I remember having to spend 3 days to get games to work on Linux and then something like sound or a texture would be completely broken still. In many cases performance would be worse. But these days?
For me at least, Elden Ring on launch day worked flawlessly, anti-cheat and all, on Linux without having to do anything other than adjust settings in the game (which I needed to do on Windows too) and it ran better to boot!
Things are definitely miles better! I myself have switched fully to Linux as far as games go. But it’s still not the “Install and Play” experience one would expect on Windows.
Just check ProtonDB’s aggregates. Of all the Steam games with reports in the DB (~10% of the entire Steam catalogue), 30~60% (tier 1/platinum) are likely zero effort setups, 30~40% likely require some work (tier 2/gold), and the remainder will most probably do or not run at all.
Things have improved, are improving, and hopefully they’ll keep doing so. But we need to practice some degree of expectation management, especially given influx of new converts these days…
But there's also a decent chance a game won't run at all, and when performance is actually a problem, an even better chance that Windows-specific performance optimization tips will be more readily available than Linux-specific tips.
Given that games almost universally have their own immersive user interfaces, and therefore require minimal interaction with the host OS, it's hard for me to justify running Linux on a dedicated gaming PC.