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Cloud gaming options for Linux in 2024?
I have a dual-boot with Linux and Windows. It works pretty well, but I usually need to perform a bunch of updates for Windows because I go weeks or months without using it, and I only use it to play a game for an hour or two. I'm kind of sick of the maintenance and I mount stuff with sshfs from my Linux computer all the time so I don't like not being booted into the Linux drive. It's just kind of a pain.

So, I've heard Cloud Gaming is an option. I don't travel much anymore, and my internet connection is about as good as it gets in Australia. What are my options for Cloud Gaming? Stadia's dead, obviously. Searching for Linux Cloud Gaming didn't turn up many results from this decade.

These are the games I want to play:

  • Rainbow Six Siege

  • Halo: MCC

  • Fortnite

...Are there any Cloud Gaming services that offer these games? I'm not sure if I'd want to pay for it yet (hopefully the prices aren't stupid), but I'm curious about the landscape anyway.
Highball Jan 10
https://cloud.gg/games

Looks like you have GeforceNow through https://cloud.gg/. I'm not sure how good it is. GeforceNow is good here in the states. RainbowSix Siege and Fortnite but no Halo. Probably have to use Edge as well.

Hope that helps.
I tried GeForce Now. The Queue time was about an hour, and after I got access, I realized I needed to enter my Steam login details. Which I did not do, so I don't know how the service actually is. I don't trust it with my actual plaintext login details.

Otherwise, GeForce Now has two of the games I want to play, but I don't like the idea of waiting in a queue even if it can be cut down with more expensive membership plans. Having to wait and paying that kind of price for my relatively casual gaming experience doesn't work for me.

Amazon Luna is out since my Amazon account was banned two years ago, and it's not available in Australia anyway.

I guess that leaves Xbox Cloud Gaming? It has all the games I want and is available in my region, I don't need to hand over plaintext login details, and there doesn't seem to be a wait time. Only issue is that at A$19/month, it's pretty expensive. This would be the only part of Game Pass I'm actually taking advantage of.

Welp, I tried.
Quoting: Highballhttps://cloud.gg/games

Looks like you have GeforceNow through https://cloud.gg/. I'm not sure how good it is. GeforceNow is good here in the states. RainbowSix Siege and Fortnite but no Halo. Probably have to use Edge as well.

Hope that helps.
Cheers! I attempted to give it a shot just now, and it seemed to work fine in Chromium. I just uhh, don't want to sign in to my Steam account on these servers. Call me paranoid.
Highball Jan 10
I think you are okay. They bring up an official Steam Login window mandated by Valve to generate unique OAuth access tokens. It's pretty trivial to securely store the tokens these days. Plus, if someone did get the token, and they went on a buying spree, Valve could easily identify those purchases and refund your money. Plus, I'm sure if Nvidia gets hacked and the cache of OAuth access tokens get lifted, Valve is going to hear it from a bunch of people. I say live dangerously, haha.
Mezron Jan 10
I use GeoForceNow to play Warframe. It's pretty solid. I do miss Stadia. It was the sweet spot for many of my friends and myself that are 100% on Linux but wanted to try out newer stuff without burning $$$ towards hardware.
I think Cloud Gaming is too expensive for me right now, but only because of how little I'd use it. I only play with friends once a week or once every few weeks (more like once every few months), so it just doesn't make sense for these few anticheat games. I think it would make sense if I played games nearly every day, and if a lot of them were anticheat games. The price points certainly aren't bad.

If it were $5 a month and I didn't need to wait half an hour in a queue, I might go for that. GeForce Now has a $5 price point but having to wait in a queue is not for me :)

Quoting: HighballThey bring up an official Steam Login window mandated by Valve to generate unique OAuth access tokens.
To me, it looks like the normal steam login window, which could be easily keylogged by the server. I don't trust the server beyond being able to play games. It's also not just NVIDIA you need to worry about; it's cloud.gg running the servers. And, I gotta be honest...I really don't trust Australian companies that much. But as I said, call me paranoid :) Either way, the service is not for me in its current state.

That being said, please continue posting in this thread! I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences with cloud gaming.
dubigrasu Jan 10
Quoting: Arcadius-8606I use GeoForceNow to play Warframe. It's pretty solid. I do miss Stadia. It was the sweet spot for many of my friends and myself that are 100% on Linux but wanted to try out newer stuff without burning $$$ towards hardware.
Just curious, why use GN for Warframe? Is working just fine on Linux, played few times but left utterly confused with its story/lore whatever.
I do miss Stadia myself, and I miss it badly, it was the best damn cloud gaming service in my experience (damn it Google!).
Mezron Jan 11
Quoting: dubigrasuJust curious, why use GN for Warframe? Is working just fine on Linux, played few times but left utterly confused with its story/lore whatever.
I do miss Stadia myself, and I miss it badly, it was the best damn cloud gaming service in my experience (damn it Google!).

1) To save HD space 2) It's a DRM based game and I don't want DRM games on my HD if at all possible. I spend very little money on tech overall. I honestly get my tech for free mostly. So that means I will be using Cloud based gaming and browser based stuff a lot.

Last edited by Mezron on 12 January 2024 at 12:40 am UTC
Real talk, if DMM offered a cloud gaming service for their entire library of VNs for $20-30/month, I would pay for it in a heartbeat. Shipping a single VN physically would cost as much as 6 months of this service. I mean, I do it, but I would rather not have to do it for every VN.

Take notes, DMM...
I gave XCloud a try; Microsoft's Cloud Gaming service. The one I thought was the best of my choices.

And, well, I like it. It has all the games I want to play. It has some old classics and some games I would never consider paying for but wouldn't mind giving a shot (which, I've discovered, is the main appeal of cloud gaming services). Hell, they even have BLiNX! I haven't played that game in such a long time...shame they don't have BLiNX 2, though. That was such a fun one.

I managed to play Rainbow Six Siege with no (minimal? hard to tell) lag, no degradation in quality, from my Chromium browser.

There's a huuuuuge disadvantage to the service, though. It requires you to use an Xbox gamepad. And I absolutely suck at competitive games with a controller. I cannot get used to it. I really couldn't tell if it was lag or just trying to aim with a thumbstick that was throwing me off.

Also, I had to input my Ubisoft login using the gamepad...that was pain.

So it's not a viable replacement for me. There's a third-party browser extension that converts gamepad inputs to keyboard/mouse inputs for XCloud but I uh, don't trust them. It's a proprietary extension. Microsoft has been wanting to get keyboard/mouse + touch support (for phones) on XCloud for a few years now.

But I'm getting to play some games like Halo Infinite that I've been wanting to but wouldn't consider paying for. And for only $1 for a 14-day trial. The longest I've waited to get into a game is 2 minutes.

If it had the keyboard/mouse support, I could see myself using it. $20 is a tall ask, though.
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