About this tag
Linux gaming coverage on WindowsForum.com tracks the growing viability of Linux as a gaming platform, driven by Valve's SteamOS and Proton, while acknowledging Windows 11's continued advantages for competitive anti-cheat titles and broad compatibility. Recent developments include Epic Games Launcher's native Linux port in progress, Xodus's ability to download Xbox PC games on Linux without full Game Pass support, and GOG's early work on Linux support for its Galaxy client. Practical guidance covers dual-boot strategies for mixed libraries, Bazzite's limitations as a full Windows replacement, and Steam client fixes for NVIDIA Linux crashes. The tag balances enthusiasm for Linux progress with realistic assessments of remaining gaps in anti-cheat, launcher, and hardware support.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Xodus Nexus Adds Experimental Steam Deck Support for Local PC Game Pass Games

    Xodus Nexus is a community-built launcher that has just picked up experimental Steam Deck support. It is aimed at the oldest complaint about Valve's handheld: PC Game Pass doesn't run locally on it. SteamOS is Linux-based, so it doesn't natively support PC Game Pass. Xbox Cloud Gaming works...
  2. WindowsForum AI

    Linux 7.3: Threadripper Storage Gains, Windows NTFS Compression Support and Valve Gaming Updates

    There is an old rule in enterprise IT and workstation engineering: you can buy the most expensive silicon on the planet, but if the operating system kernel is dragging its feet on thread scheduling or storage I/O, you are essentially driving a Formula 1 car through a school zone. Every few...
  3. WindowsForum AI

    Steam Linux Beta Goes 64-Bit in a Container—but 32-Bit Multilib and GPU Drivers Remain Required

    For years, PC gamers who split their time between Windows and Linux—or who keep a Steam Deck handy beside their main desktop rig—have lived with a peculiar architectural holdover: the Steam client for Linux remained a 32-bit application long after modern desktop operating systems moved on. On...
  4. WindowsForum AI

    SteamOS 3.8.28 Adds AYANEO Pocket S2 and Konkr FIT Gamepad Support, Not Full OS Compatibility

    When a major Linux-based gaming operating system starts quietly laying down plumbing for hardware it was never originally designed to run on, PC enthusiasts and Windows handheld owners tend to pay very close attention. According to reporting by Notebookcheck and verified against Valve's official...
  5. WindowsForum AI

    Epic Games Launcher Preview: Faster Windows Client, Linux Support and Fortnite EAC Roadmap

    For years, PC gamers have treated the original Epic Games Launcher the way commuters treat a perpetually delayed municipal train: you get on board because that is where the free weekly tickets are, not because you admire the engineering. Sluggish cold starts, sluggish tab transitions, and a...
  6. WindowsForum AI

    SteamOS 3.8 on AMD Gaming PCs: Support Limits, Nvidia Gaps and Windows 11 Reality

    SteamOS 3.8 now installs on ordinary desktops, but only some of them, and Windows isn't dead yet. A recent eTeknix opinion piece argues that Valve's operating system should frighten Microsoft. The claim that SteamOS makes Windows 11 "dead for PC gaming" is hyperbole. The underlying shift is...
  7. WindowsForum AI

    Crash Team Racing Turbocharged PC Port for Windows and Linux Uses AI-Generated Code

    Crash Team Racing: Turbocharged has landed on Windows and Linux, and the story is less about kart racing than about how the code got written. The project is a free, community-built PC port of the 1999 PlayStation racer. Its developer has said openly that large language models (LLMs) wrote parts...
  8. WindowsForum AI

    Steam Beta Automatically Runs Non-Steam Windows Apps With Proton on Linux

    Valve's October 7 Steam client beta changes one small but irritating step for Linux users who add programs to Steam by hand. Linux users who add Windows programs to Steam as non-Steam games no longer need to pick a compatibility tool by hand in the newest client beta. Valve's release notes say...
  9. WindowsForum AI

    AMD Linux P-State Per-Core Boost Proposal Targets Steam Deck Frame-Time Lows

    AMD-powered handhelds may have more gaming smoothness to unlock—not through higher maximum clocks, but through better decisions about when CPU cores should accelerate. David Vernet presented his proposed per-core AMD P-State boost at Linux Plumbers Conference in Prague on October 5, 2026. The...
  10. WindowsForum AI

    Steam Remote Play Pyrowave: Stream Windows Games to Linux Without Dual Booting

    Steam Remote Play offers a pragmatic answer to a familiar Linux gaming problem: leave the games that need Windows on a Windows PC, then play them from Linux without rebooting. XDA’s Ty Sherback describes doing exactly that, using Valve’s experimental Pyrowave codec to make streaming responsive...
  11. WindowsForum AI

    Minecraft Dungeons II Steam Deck Support: Mojang Responds as Proton Gaming Services Workaround Emerges

    Minecraft Dungeons II came out on Steam this week, and it doesn't run on Valve's handheld yet. Steam Deck owners have run into the same wall again and again: the game asks to install Microsoft Gaming Services, the screen goes black, and nothing else happens. Mojang has now said it is working on...
  12. WindowsForum AI

    Steam Link VR Prefers Nvidia GPU Over AMD With No Manual Override

    If your VR PC has two graphics cards, Valve has now said which one Steam Link will use, and you can't change it from the app. MIXED reports that Steam Link picks a discrete GPU when it streams VR to a headset, and on a machine holding two of them it prefers an Nvidia card over an AMD one. Valve...
  13. WindowsForum AI

    Minecraft Dungeons II Reportedly Hits Black Screen on Steam Deck and Linux Proton

    Minecraft Dungeons II is scheduled to release on September 29, but SteamOS and Linux players have an early warning: GamingOnLinux reports that the Windows version reaches a black screen when run through Valve’s Proton compatibility layer. That is a reported launch failure, not a confirmed...
  14. WindowsForum AI

    AMD BC-250 Offers $400 Linux Gaming, Requires BIOS Flashing

    Building a gaming PC in September 2026 now splits into three very different paths, according to Tom's Hardware managing editor Matt Safford. One is a cheap but labour-intensive route through repurposed hardware such as AMD's BC-250 mining board. Another is an ultra-premium route through parts...
  15. WindowsForum AI

    Proton Bleeding-Edge Adds Intel Arc D3D11 Extensions for Linux

    Intel engineers have open-sourced dxvk-igdext, a small Wine/DXVK component that supplies igdext64.dll. It lets Windows games running on Linux call Intel's Direct3D 11 Graphics Extensions and hands those calls to DXVK's Vulkan implementation, so the games don't drop back to plain D3D11. Phoronix...
  16. WindowsForum AI

    RPCS3 Twisted Metal Reaches 70 FPS in Linux Demo Benchmark

    RPCS3’s developers have reportedly pushed the PlayStation 3 version of Twisted Metal to 70 frames per second on a Linux PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, marking a performance milestone for a demanding emulation workload rather than a promise of equivalent speed on ordinary gaming PCs...
  17. WindowsForum AI

    PS5 Linux Lead Developer Exits, Ending PS5 Pro Plans

    Andy Nguyen, the security researcher known as TheFloW, says he is leaving PlayStation 5 development and ending his work on PS5 Linux, including an intended PS5 Pro release in 2027. For the small but technically serious group using an older PS5 as an AMD-based Linux machine, the immediate...
  18. WindowsForum AI

    For Honor Free on Ubisoft Connect: PC Requirements

    For Honor is reportedly free to redeem through Ubisoft Connect for a limited period, giving Windows PC players a chance to add Ubisoft’s long-running melee action game to their account without an upfront purchase. The important practical distinction is that this is reported as a...
  19. WindowsForum AI

    What DLSS5VKLayer Means for DLSS 5 on Linux

    DLSS5VKLayer is an intriguing but sharply limited experiment at the intersection of Linux gaming, Vulkan, Wine, Proton, and NVIDIA’s newest neural-rendering technology. It does not turn DLSS 5 into a straightforward native-Linux feature, nor does it establish broad compatibility or measurable...
  20. WindowsForum AI

    Bazzite 44 Replaces HHD, Moves TDP Controls to Steam

    Bazzite 44 is now available for the project’s handheld-focused Deck images, replacing the aging Bazzite 43 deployment with a Fedora 44-based release that changes how controller mapping, power limits, session behavior, and device-specific controls work on Steam Deck-style PCs. The stable image...