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MastodonWant to switch from Windows to Linux / SteamOS but concerned about games with anti-cheat on Linux? Here's all you need to know on what you can play.
Unlike most other games, anti-cheat is a special case when it comes to Linux / SteamOS gaming that comes with its own set of issues. Unfortunately, plenty of games do currently (at time of publishing) completely block Linux and prevent you from playing.
There's a lot of different anti-cheat systems out there to be aware of too. There's the likes of Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye, Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC), Anti-Cheat Expert (ACE), EA Javelin Anticheat, Nexon Game Security, RICOCHET Anti-Cheat, NetEase Game Security and a great many more. Quite a few developers also use their own specialised anti-cheat systems that don't have a specific name attached to them. And all of them work differently!
On Linux there's also multiple ways to play games - there's Native Linux games (those built for it) and then there's also Valve's Proton compatibility layer to run Windows games. Anti-cheat will work differently between those versions of games as well. You may find if a game has a Native Linux build, the anti-cheat might only work there (which is the case for some Valve games).
Some games that absolutely will not work (and likely never will) include some big hitters like Fortnite, Valorant and Warzone. But there's a number that do work great like Counter-Strike 2, ARC Raiders and Marvel Rivals.
You also have to take into account the way these anti-cheat systems interact with your system. Some are purely server-based so they don't touch your system. Some are installed into your local filesystem and others go hook directly into the kernel. On Linux though, kernel-level anti-cheat is not a thing (it's all user-based). This is part of why many games choose to block Linux, because they can't get into the kernel to provide the level of protection they specifically want.
Some games even allow SteamOS / Steam Deck, but block other forms of Linux (like Desktop Linux distributions including Fedora and Ubuntu).
In your Steam Library on Linux / SteamOS, you should ensure you have these installed:
- Proton EasyAntiCheat Runtime
- Proton BattlEye Runtime
Those will enable certain games to work that require them.
A word of warning as well - don't try to work around or bypass anti-cheat. This could lead to account-level bans and leave you without the game on any platform. We have also seen rare cases of Linux players being banned in certain games, but that doesn't happen often and is usually reversed when the players are found not to be cheating.
Rather than sending you off to hunt down each individual game - we run our own dedicated curated anti-cheat compatibility page for Linux / SteamOS, based on those we can directly verify to give you the most clear picture possible. Using this page it's easy to see at a glance what popular games you can expect to work without a bunch of workarounds being needed.
Valve (for Steam specifically) have their own direct rating system. If a game is Steam Deck Playable (or Verified) or SteamOS Compatible - the anti-cheat will be enabled.
ProtonDB is another website you can check, which has crowd-sourced reports across lots of different games run on Linux via Proton. And you can also try Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? as another option.
If you're completely stuck, want to use Linux for gaming but need specific games, another option to try is NVIDIA GeForce NOW which is supported on Steam Deck directly and has a Linux Desktop Beta.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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If you're completely stuck, want to use Linux for gaming but need specific gamesThe simplest option is to have Windows on another SSD and then you just boot into it for few select competitive games while using Linux for all the rest. This is what I do.
Zakaria_Shalih 31 May 2026
That, together with the huge performance loss associated to denuvo, is the reason why I won't buy any game with it, at least until it is removed.
Liam Squires-Hand 2 Jul 2026
Quoting: jbbandosThere is another possible issue that likely won't happen on windows. At least one of the most obnoxious "anti-cheat"/"anti-copy" malware out there, denuvo, won't block you from playing on Linux, usually, but, it can see you trying different proton versions in an unspecified time interval as breaking some arbitrary and undocumented activation limit. In that case, you're in for a month "cooldown period" during which you won't be able to play your game in any platform. This is an issue that doesn't likely happen on windows, as you won't be changing windows versions often enough to trigger it.Not quite correct. Denuvo locks out for 24 hours, not a month.
That, together with the huge performance loss associated to denuvo, is the reason why I won't buy any game with it, at least until it is removed.
gardotd426 19 Aug 2026
Fighting games are by FAR the single most linux-friendly esport/competitive game genre. The biggest competitive fighting game series? Literally EVERY game from the entire street Fighter series is playable ON Linux *with* Rollback Netcode - Fightcade for everything from Third Strike and earlier, meanwhile SFIV, SFV, and the current king dominator of the FGC, SF6, are all available on Steam. Speaking of SF6 it is breaking every preconceived notion everyone had about player counts since literally every other game prior would get a little bump when a new dlc character would drop, but that bump would be gone in a week or two, and almost every fighting game's biggest major tournament attendance is the first evo after the game releases... Street Fighter has been increasing almost every year, but even crazier they just broke the all time record for largest offline tournament with 7 THOUSAND sign-ups at Evo Japan just last year, almost years post launch.
Then look at the biggest *selling* franchise in the genre, Mortal Kombat. Every Mortal Kombar works perfectly on Linux.
And the former #3 of the "FGC BIG 3," Tekken? Perfect Proton compatibility.
What about the new 3rd spot holder? Guilty Gear Strive? Yes of course it works flawlessly on Linux.
How bou4 the outta nowhere massively hyped via word of mouth over its incredible game feel, Avatar Legends; The Fighting Game.
Out of all the fighting games to release for over a decade, there are exactly *three* that instituted kernel AC which blocked Linux: DragonBall Fighterz, Marvel Tokon? And 2XKO. 2X is dying, Tokon may follow the same path, and even if somehow they turn it around amd become the biggest successes they can realistically achieve at this point.... they're STILL irrelevant.
So in fighting games, no one uses kernel AC and everything from UNI and Melty Blood through to the royalty of SF, Fatal Fury, KOF, MK and Tekken is having some type of success or another, including the largest grand prize tournament winnings in history broken like 4 times between Capcom Cup, The SNK World Championship and the Esports World Cup. But big old fucking Riot and Sony think they can somehow just waltz into being the new big dogs overnight and they brought their rootkits with them. But unlike Valorant or League this is actually seemingly hurting them, and lmfao the biggest issue the Tokon devs are facing right now is the requests for Linux Proton enablement nonstop to the point it broke Linux Gaming containment and fgc news channels are covering it.
Why am I posting all this here? Because GOL doesn't post SHIT about fighting games like ever. Use your platform to show people the wide world competitive fighting games as the competitive multi-player genre of Linux.
Im gonna try and get some people to sign up to a Linux user- only SF6 tournament in a few weeks as well.
AlwaysLinux 12 Sep 2026
Quoting: Zakaria_Shalihgames whose anti-cheats makes them never works in Linux(even with wine/proton) aren't ended up in my Library for whatever reasonThis is what I do... I vote with my wallet and just dont contribute to games that dont support the ability to play on Linux either nativity, or though Proton.
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