Valve has reached another milestone with its handheld PC Steam Deck and its Linux distribution SteamOS and now has more than 15,000 verified or playable games from the huge game catalog of its own game distribution platform Steam. 80 percent of all games evaluated by Valve have already earned the “Verified” or “Playable” seal.
Proton as the key to gaming on Linux
An overview of all 4,900 verified and 10,106 playable titles is provided by the two game databases of SteamDB and ProtonDB as well as the overview page of the compatibility program for the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED. In total, more than 15,000 games from the Steam library now run largely without problems on Linux, SteamOS and on Valve’s handheld PCs.
- Steam Deck Playable: 10,106 games
- Steam Deck Verified: 4,900 games
- Steam Deck Total: 15,006 games
The key to playing on Linux is still the Proton API, developed by Valve in cooperation with CodeWeavers, which in turn is based on the Windows-compatible Wine runtime environment. The biggest limitations for the Proton API are still the anti-cheat tools.
Proton is now officially Easy Anti Cheat from Epic Games and BattleEye compatible, but the game developers have to implement the corresponding support under Linux in their games. On AreWeAntiCheatYet.com Players collect the current state of anti-cheat compatibility of games.
ProtonDB delivers impressive numbers
In addition, 77 percent of the top 1,000 on Steam are now rated “Platinum” or “Gold” compatibility. If you add the “Silver” rating, which requires even smaller adjustments, then 87 percent of all games in the top 1,000 run smoothly on Linux.
Source: ProtonDB
AAA games such as Diablo 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, GTA 4 and Elden Ring have already earned the “Steam Deck Verified” label and – assuming the right distribution – sometimes even run faster than under Windows.
Windows vs. Linux in games: The big benchmark marathon
Gaming under Linux, especially with the help of Proton via the games distribution platform Steam, is currently on the rise and can now hold its own alongside Windows, as demonstrated by the big benchmark marathon “Windows vs. Linux” by PCGH.
To achieve the best performance under Linux, gamers should also take a look at alternative operating system kernels that are specifically optimized for gaming, as PCGH found out in a corresponding comparison test.
Gaming on Linux: Which gaming kernel delivers the best performance?
The gaming distribution Nobara Linux 39, which is the current reference and is also used for the editorial team’s benchmarks, represents an optimal starting point for a high-performance gaming system based on Linux.
Your opinion is asked!
What do you think about gaming on Linux? Is the free operating system an alternative for you, or would you rather use Windows 10 and Windows 11? The editorial team would be pleased to hear your well-founded opinion in the comments on this report. To comment, you must be logged in to PCGH.de or the Extreme forum. If you do not have an account yet, you can register here. The applicable Forum rules You should read and follow these instructions.
Source: SteamDB, ProtonDB via GamingOnLinux