We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

If you're in need of something to game on Linux this weekend, why not try out the open-world survival game DayZ. The game is also going through a player surge thanks to a new expansion release.

The DayZ Frostline expansion launched October 15, and Bohemia Interactive announced it sold over 300,000 copies of the DLC in the first week. Along with that on October 20th they marked the best day ever with "501,522 total daily active users" and an all-time high on concurrent players "with 79,000 on Steam, 33,000 on PlayStation, and 36,000 on Xbox".

The thing is, I've been trying to play DayZ on and off for a while but always had issues with the launcher. Valve even announced back in late 2021 that DayZ was one of the titles that enabled BattlEye anti-cheat support, ahead of the Steam Deck release. As of the latest DayZ update though? No problems at all getting into the game.


Pictured - DayZ on Linux, click pics to enlarge

Nice to see that some developers appear to have no problem with keeping their anti-cheat enabled for Linux unlike GTA Online for GTA V and Apex Legends.

The only issue I've encountered is that if you leave the game launcher open, you get a weird outline of it on top of the game window. Simply closing the launcher once you're in the game gets rid of it. Other than that on the latest Proton 9.0-3 it seems to work really nicely.

Pretty reasonable performance too on the Extreme graphics preset on 2560x1440 I've been seeing it run swimmingly over 60FPS all of the time in the open-world, and higher when in various buildings. Depends on the area though, some areas give much better performance.

DayZ is also 50% off until November 4th.

DayZ | Release Date: 31st December 2018

Official links and where to buy from:

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
8 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
6 comments

sarmad Nov 1
Why is it rated Unsupported on Steam then, is it just too heavy to run on the Deck?
wytrabbit Nov 1
View PC info
  • Mega Supporter
Quoting: sarmadWhy is it rated Unsupported on Steam then, is it just too heavy to run on the Deck?

It likely needs to be retested by Valve, so whenever the automatic test triggers it'll update.
awesome
Given past trends, "DayZ works really nicely on Linux for now" might prove to be more accurate.

I worry about getting into any Anti-cheat game with my friends because when they drop support for Proton, that will just become one more thing keeping me on Windows. And then I remind myself this way of thinking is dumb, because it doesn't matter how many reasons I have—one is enough.

And then there's the worry of false banwaves like Apex Legends had, I suppose.
starpollo Nov 2
View PC info
  • Supporter
Great to see you enjoying DayZ Liam! Probably my favourite game of all time, and I only started playing after Bohemia enabled BattlEye support for Proton.

Pretty awesome when developers actually seem keen to have their games working on Linux, which I believe Bohemia is, considering they were one of the first developers to take advantage of these proton compatible anti cheat options, and they actually fix bugs that only affect Linux users.

Because of that I've been able to have many many awesome adventures, make new friends, play on whacky modded servers, and just have the best time in this amazing game :)
View PC info
  • Supporter
I tested it year ago and it is still super janky, but thats fine...

original dayz mod was the most fun and intense gaming that I've ever had. I spent hours to just regroup with my friends and we all died on a airfield because someone ambushed us with better gear.

once I died and respawned on a beach cause my friend hit a tree with a bicycle we were riding on. awesome game.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register


Or login with...
Sign in with Steam Sign in with Google
Social logins require cookies to stay logged in.