Gaming on Linux
Paul Waring (paul@xk7.net)
20th June 2026
whoami
- IT Director, Chief Security Officer, Freelance PHP Developer
- Specialise in legacy code/systems and financial services
- I like trains, history and technology (@pwaring@social.xk7.net)
- You may know me from: Geek Walks, Currybeer (but not golf or
moths)
Topics
- Why?
- Native ports
- Wine
- Proton
- Heroic Games
- The future
Why?
- Avoids having to dual-boot (Windows is more hostile to this)
- Avoids having to buy another machine (expensive, esp. now)
- Use older hardware
- Pause games to answer emails etc.
- Sometimes even better performance!
- Games are a killer feature for many people
- Why not?
Native ports
- Many games have these now - especially independent games
- Special / extended / remastered editions
- Baldur’s Gate I & II
- Civilization, Tomb Raider, X-COM
- Sometimes a 1-2 year delay from Windows release
- Often done by a separate developer, e.g. Feral Interactive
- Some features may not work, e.g. Steam achievements
- The best option if available
Wine
- Wine Is Not an Emulator (originally)
- Not emulation (of hardware)
- Not virtualisation
- Implements the Windows Application Binary Interface in user
space
- Effectively Windows system call => Linux system call
- Is this emulation? Some would argue yes (OS emulation)
Wine
- Works reasonably well for simple games
- Not written for games, but is probably the most popular use
case
- Can be used to target Windows on Linux
GOOS=windows go build program.go && wine ./program.exe- Supported by CodeWeavers - open source and proprietary
(CrossOver)
Proton
- Wine but with extra patches for games
- Direct3D (Windows) to Vulkan (cross-platform) using DXVK
- Mainly supported by Valve / Steam
- Integrated with Steam
- Can be used outside of Steam
Proton
- Different games work better with different versions
- Can choose versions on per-game basis, plus a default
- ProtonDb.com: user reports of compatibility (not always
reliable)
- Older games likely work, e.g. Age of Empires II
- Videos / cut-scenes sometimes don’t work
- Sometimes need to tweak startup options, e.g. skip intro media
- Can trigger anti-cheat alerts
DOSBox
- Emulator for DOS (self-described)
- Also emulates 286, real/protected mode etc.
- Sometimes directly packaged with games (esp. re-releases)
- Other similar emulators, e.g. FreeDOS (software emulation only)
Heroic Games
- Similar to Steam, but can import games from many sources
- GOG (Good Old Games) works well
- Integrates with Wine in a similar way to Steam + Proton
- Works well with old games: Alpha Centauri, Anno 1602
- Other options: Lutris (didn’t work for me, bad experience reporting
issue)
Retro gaming
- Lots of projects for this
- Raspberry Pi is a popular platform
- RetroPie: Raspbian + EmulationStation + RetroArch
- Emulators are free, getting hold of games is legally dubious
The future
- Lots of active projects supporting gaming on Linux
- Steam Deck is a driver for gaming on Linux
- Steam May 2026: Windows (94%), Mac (2%), Linux (4%)
Resources
- MiniDebConf Gaming: mdco2.mini.debconf.org
- Programming Linux Games by Loki Software
- gamingonlinux.com