r/linux_gaming • • Sep 01 '26

guide Getting started: the monthly-ish newbie advice thread! (September 2026)

28 Upvotes

Welcome to the newbie advice thread!

If you’ve read the FAQ and still have questions like “Should I switch to Linux?”, “Which distro should I install?”, or “Which desktop environment is best for gaming?”, this is where to ask them.

Alternatively, try r/linux4noobs and r/linuxquestions: both are active subreddits supporting new Linux users.

Please sort by “new” so new questions can get a chance to be seen.

The previous thread is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1ukoung/getting_started_the_monthlyish_newbie_advice/


r/linux_gaming • • May 18 '26

guide Frequently Asked Questions 2.0

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50 Upvotes

Here’s a link to this subreddit’s FAQ document (which attempts to answer many common questions).

This thread is not meant for asking frequently asked questions. There is a pinned monthly-ish “Getting Started” thread for those.

You can post suggestions for improvement below, though! Just please explain what you’re talking about. The number of FAQ editors has been 1 (one) for a while now, and that one’s a dummy that doesn’t use 95% of the fancy gaming stuff y’all do.

Reposted as an Old Reddit link because New Reddit, in addition to being generally confusing, does not display the table of contents.


r/linux_gaming • • 4h ago

Linux gaming has come a long way, and it's getting harder to look back

67 Upvotes

Remember when gaming on Linux felt like a constant battle with compatibility issues, missing features, and games that simply refused to work? Things have changed so much that it's genuinely exciting to see how far the Linux gaming community has come. From enjoying the freedom to customize your gaming experience to running Linux as your only operating system, more players are discovering that gaming doesn't have to mean sticking with Windows.

And with more games becoming accessible through different compatibility solutions, the possibilities keep expanding. Even seeing games like Roblox become playable through new methods gets people talking about what the future might look like. There's still room for improvement, of course, but the progress is hard to ignore.

What makes Linux gaming especially interesting is the community itself. People share fixes, experiment with different setups, and help each other get games running that once seemed impossible to play.

For those gaming on Linux, what's the one thing that made you realize you could genuinely use it as your main gaming OS? Was it better performance, customization, freedom from Windows, or simply the satisfaction of getting everything working? And for anyone still considering the switch, what's holding you back? Let's hear your experiences!


r/linux_gaming • • 5h ago

You're now able to play Roblox Officially through browser! (Works on owned games for now)

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55 Upvotes

They announced support a while ago, you can test it by going to https://play.roblox.com/games/start?placeId=URPLACEID <- put your placeID or wait for it load and click a game you own!


r/linux_gaming • • 23h ago

CachyOS is adding a dedicated EACv2-compatible kernel (`linux-cachyos-eac`) plus a Secure Boot setup guide so users can optionally meet Epic’s new Easy Anti-Cheat Linux v2 requirements without changing their normal optimized kernel.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/linux_gaming • • 7h ago

One thing I love about Linux gaming is being able to bring old games back to life

68 Upvotes

Honestly, one of the coolest things about Linux gaming is seeing older games run on systems they were never meant to support.

Between Proton, Wine, and community fixes, games that seemed abandoned or impossible to get working can suddenly become playable again. Sometimes you don't even need an official Linux port.

Sure, some games still take way too much tinkering to get running, but there's something satisfying about finally launching a game you thought you'd never get working.

It's also nice knowing that these games aren't necessarily lost just because the original developers stopped supporting them.


r/linux_gaming • • 21h ago

hardware Anyone else running Linux as their only OS on a high-end PC?

632 Upvotes

Here's my hardware setup:

PC Hardware:

- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

- RAM: KLEVV CRAS V 32 GB (2x16 GB) DDR5 6000 MHz CL30 Dual Channel

- Motherboard: MSI PRO B650-A WIFI

- SSD: Samsung 990 PRO 1 TB

- GPU: Sapphire NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT

- PSU: MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5.1 1000W 80+ Gold

- CPU Cooler: MSI MAG CORELIQUID E360 360mm AIO

- Case: MSI MAG FORGE 320R AIRFLOW

Peripherals:

- Monitor: ASUS ROG Strix XG27ACS 27"

- Keyboard: Attack Shark X68 HE Magnetic Keyboard

- Mouse: Attack Shark X11

- Headphones: Soundcore Q21i NC

I've been using CachyOS as my only operating system since March. I mainly play Cyberpunk 2077 and CS2 Premier, along with the usual web browsing and everyday desktop activities.

As you probably know, many online games still don't work on Linux, and FACEIT isn't supported either.

I'm curious: are there other people here with relatively high-end hardware who use Linux as their sole operating system?

Do you ever feel like your hardware's potential is going to waste because you're using Linux? By that, I don't mean Linux itself wasting system resources. I mean things like the smaller game library compared to Windows and not being able to take full advantage of every feature of your hardware in the same way you could on Windows.

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on this.

As for why I switched: I wanted to move away from proprietary software and embrace open source. As a software developer, I also really enjoy being able to do almost everything through the terminal. I love the modularity of Linux distributions, their package management systems, and the way updates are handled. It just feels like a proper developer environment.

Another reason was my experience with Windows. Windows Update kept downgrading my GPU drivers for some ridiculous reason, no matter what I tried. I was also experiencing LiveKernelEvent errors, which contributed to my decision to switch.

Ultimately, I'm interested in hearing about other users with similar setups: what hardware do you have, which distribution are you running, what do you use your system for, and how do you feel about gaming and hardware support on Linux?

I thought this could be a nice place to share experiences and have a discussion!


r/linux_gaming • • 15h ago

gamedev/testers wanted An ASCII Cult Simulator Native to The Linux Terminal! Alpha Demo Available Now

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39 Upvotes

Hey r/linux_gaming!

I've been posting here for a while now, and you guys have liked CultGame in the past, so I figured you'd be excited to hear that the game now has its free Alpha Demo publicly out now!

You can check it out on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2345980/CultGame/


r/linux_gaming • • 10h ago

steam/steam deck I created a post-apocalyptic game that runs natively on Linux.

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13 Upvotes

Arkansas 2125 is a turn-based post-apocalyptic RPG set in a world devastated by nuclear war. Explore the wasteland, meet survivors, complete quests, fight mutants, and discover the secrets of a broken America.

Your choices matter. Will you survive the wasteland?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4546490/Arkansas_2125/


r/linux_gaming • • 1d ago

emulation Use to pray for times likes this, Forza Horizon 3 is now finally playable on Linux after nearly a decade thanks to an Xbox ONE translation layer Azimuth.

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362 Upvotes

It even has ultrawide support, no native Linux version but it works through proton.


r/linux_gaming • • 18h ago

steam/steam deck Steam Case Cover - Family Sharing & Colored Case Covers update

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44 Upvotes

Hey guys! I just wanted to share that I uploaded a new version (v.1.3.1) on GitHub.

This new release contain two new features:

  • Now you are able to apply the cover to games in your library that came from your family members. It will be displayed a green ribbon on it to represent it came from Family Sharing.
  • Also, you are now able to create custom colors for your cases. The default and supported one, regarding accessibility, will still be the original blue. However, you can now create basically any color you like.

I added some screenshots of the app to show how it is right now and also one of my own library to show the family sharing ribbon on Leaf it Alone.

As some people may know, I'm developing this in CachyOS and unfortunately my only Family Sharing member is my wife and she owns only 5 games, so those games were cached on my machine. If possible, I'd like the feedback of someone that uses Windows/macOS and have family members in their Steam Family that have multiple games. This is important because a big library from a family member may not be cached when you download the userdata.json file and then some covers may not be correctly applied.

If anyone tests this and give me a feedback saying it didn't work I'll start working immediately in a solution.

Thank you guys for using my tool!


r/linux_gaming • • 5h ago

guide lsfg-vk is blocking goverlay downloads

4 Upvotes
Blocked by nginx rule when goverlay user-agent is detected

Hey guys,

Just a heads-up for anyone using Goverlay: downloads from builds.lsfg-vk.dev appear to be explicitly blocked when using Goverlay's User-Agent (HTTP 403), while standard requests work fine. At least for me, Opensource should be about collaboration for something greater. You don't need to love every project you see online, there's a lot of projects that i admire even if they're not for my taste or my daily driver.

I don't know If the amount of requisitions became a problem or if something else is bothering the author, you could always just ping the maintainer and have a chat like a normal person. We're all on the same side here, trying to make linux gaming cool.

Well that's it... the goal is keep things running smoothly for everyone.


r/linux_gaming • • 3h ago

Is there a way to play COD MW4 2026 on bazzite linux?

2 Upvotes

I recently bought the new MW4 on battlenet but i remembered that linux cant run battlenet games so is there anyway i can play it on linux? or do i have to deal with my stupidity and buy it again on my ps5?


r/linux_gaming • • 12h ago

tech support wanted Differences in latency?

9 Upvotes

I'm curious to the explanation behind latency between running a game on desktop via Wayland and running a game in Steams dedicated game mode. From what I've researched, GameMode runs on Wayland but uses the Xwayland layer to run games. Confirmed when i ran mangohud and saw Xwayland used even with Wayland flag enabled in commands while using GameMode. I run the same game in desktop using ProtonCachyos for both, and now i see Wayland used. I do not perceive any latency differences tbh between the 2. So I'm wondering, did Steam optimize game mode to be competitive with modern display servers? Mind you I'm not a competitive gamer by any means. But i just watched a video by Brodie Robertson talking about latency between Wayland and X11. With Xwayland being drastically worse. It kind of sent me down a rabbit hole. The one thing i noticed in Game Modes favor was a much more even frame time average between min and max.


r/linux_gaming • • 37m ago

Is Linux finally becoming the go to choice for gaming?

• Upvotes

From running Linux as your only operating system to fixing gaming mouse issues and exciting rumors about the future of PC gaming, there's plenty to talk about in the Linux gaming community.

What's your biggest win or frustration with gaming on Linux? Do you think Linux could eventually challenge Windows as the top gaming platform? Share your thoughts!


r/linux_gaming • • 12h ago

Supertuxkart needs your help

8 Upvotes

because of the php vulnerabilities the online website has been taken down

fund.supertuxkart.net


r/linux_gaming • • 1h ago

tech support wanted Controller works in Faugus and in-game, but analog sticks are misconfigured. How do I remap them properly?

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• Upvotes

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Hey everyone,

I have a generic "DragonRise" USB controller. I finally got it detected by Faugus Launcher (using the built-in gamepad navigation option) and by the game itself.

The issue is that the left and right analog sticks are misconfigured. The buttons and d-pad work fine, but the sticks act weird or are mapped to the wrong axes.

I tried setting a global SDL_GAMECONTROLLERCONFIG variable via the terminal, but it didn't fix it (and I've since removed it). I also tried PROTON_DISABLE_HIDRAW=1, but no luck.

What is the correct, current way to remap the analog sticks for a generic controller so that both Faugus and the game read them as a standard Xbox controller?

Any help is appreciated!


r/linux_gaming • • 4h ago

cross-platform offline foss games, also available for linux (except apple flinger)

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3 Upvotes

r/linux_gaming • • 2h ago

tech support wanted How do I get my logitech superlight 2 to function with Mint?

0 Upvotes

I'm trying to get anything that I can use to change the DPI/Macros but nothing works. Basically to function as the logitech ghub for linux. Even though I hate the logitech software, at least it allows me to change the settings.

I've tried both the recommended programs, Solaar and Piper. Neither of them even recognize my mouse. I have scoured google searches and still nothing seems to work.

I know I could just get a new mouse that is more linux friendly, but I quite like the superlight 2.


r/linux_gaming • • 1d ago

PSA: Turn off all your GNOME extensions before you start a game.

148 Upvotes

I saw a pretty decent reduction in stuttering when disabling GNOME extensions altogether. I have collected about 20 of the over the years though. Anyways, maybe obvious, but just thought I'd mention this in case anyone hadn't thought of it. That is all.


r/linux_gaming • • 1d ago

tech support wanted How to safely downgrade KDE Plasma?

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56 Upvotes

UPDATE: changing "color accuracy" to "prefer color accuracy" instead of "prefer efficiency" in the KDE display configuration fixed it for me.

AMD gpu/cpu user here using CachyOS. After updating my system yesterday and plasma got to 6.8.1, I have an issue with fullscreened games having lags/stutters. The video is from someone else with the same problem but their lag is much worse, so I use theirs as example.

Whenever the game is on fullscreen/borderless fullscreen it would have this problem, but not when the game is on windowed mode or when it's not in focus, such as if I hold alt-tab or open up my start menu/app launcher widget.

That's why I want to try downgrading back to plasma 6.8.0 when I don't have this problem, also because someone said in KDE discuss that they downgrade their KWin to 6.8.0-1 and it fixes it, but would that cause any issue? Is it safe to do that or it's tied to cachyos system and not safe to downgrade?

I have no snapshots I could rollback to because I use systemd-boot until today where I switched to limine after knowing that btrfs snapshot is not compatible with systemd-boot.


r/linux_gaming • • 20h ago

new native/FLOSS game Lemon Sweep, a roguelite FPS that runs in your terminal

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23 Upvotes

Lemon Sweep is a roguelite shooter that runs in your terminal. You're a lemon with a broom (the garbage collector), and the TUI frameworks have come for the heap: Bubble Tea, Ratatui, tview, Ink, ncurses. Each one is a pixel creature made from its own idea, so Ratatui is a crab and tview is a modal dialog that bites.

The trailer is a bit unhinged, sorry. Every frame is a 160×45 grid of terminal cells, half blocks as pixels, painted to video. The gameplay parts are real runs played by the game's test bot, and all the sounds come from the game's own synth.

It runs on Limoni, a Go TUI engine. Zero allocations per frame, if you care about that kind of thing.

Play in the browser: https://thebanri.github.io/limoni/?app=lemonsweep

Or install: go install github.com/thebanri/limoni/apps/lemonsweep@latest

Source: https://github.com/thebanri/limoni

Happy to answer anything about how it's rendered.


r/linux_gaming • • 3h ago

I'm having storage issues with my mint.

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0 Upvotes

r/linux_gaming • • 18h ago

tech support wanted Has anyone found a workaround to this?

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17 Upvotes

If anyone is attempting to run containment breach multiplayer you need to install Consolas font through protontricks otherwise the launcher refuses to launch. A person said it worked for them but for me it's showing me this


r/linux_gaming • • 9h ago

tech support wanted Fans spinning non-stop

4 Upvotes

Hello,

My laptop has an rtx 4060. The fans are spinning non-stop under zero workload. It started after the nvidia drivers installed. My current distribution is opensuse tumbleweed but i don't think it matters since it was already the case on Fedora. It's driving me crazy, plase, help.