PS: can we use Steam Link to stream a anti-cheat enabled game from a Windows computer to a Linux one running Steam?

That's how cheating works today. People simply use streaming and image recognition. The cheat may not run on the system on which the game is running. We are currently in a transition phase, but kernel-level AC systems in particular are likely to greatly accelerate the transition.

So the elephant in the room is that these kernel-level AC systems no longer work at all in the age of AI and real-time image recognition for everyone. Not only can you not play Valorant on Steam, you also can't play it on Nvidia Now. It's a classic retreat battle. And everyone knows how they end up.

Games like Battle Field don't need kernel level AC at all because they are not F2P. Cheaters will always be found sooner or later with AI because publishers have better training data. But this does not work in real time. So you need a paywall to prevent cheaters from constantly re-entering competitive matchmaking.

Valorant and Fortnite have a different business model. I fear one without a future.

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Off Topic: Recently, Selaco caused my Steam Deck to crash so badly that it simply shut down and then starts with the Boot Loader menu.

Of course, I initially thought it was a hardware defect, and I still do. On the other hand, I have used the Deck frequently with other games since then and have not experienced any further issues. Has anyone experienced this issue with Selanco?

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An Artifact but not Artifact classic ...

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So let me get this straight. They ported the game to a whole nother platform, arbitrarily restricted it to a device that benefits very little, and will not be making it available for desktop systems that make up more marketshare, have significantly more users asking for it, would benefit from it far more, and would actually be impactful to the wider industry for having a GOTY winner ported natively to the platform.

SteamOS accounts for roughly a third of Linux users on Steam, making it the largest single distribution. The rest is highly fragmented, which is why "it runs here but not there" is such a common story.

But the development is positive. Deck-focused ports can absolutely simplify desktop Linux support. The Deck acts like a "Linux console" with a pinned runtime, which helps developers ship something stable. As standardization advances (Linux Runtime, Container, Wayland, driver) the extra step to support desktop Linux becomes smaller.

If Valve manages to sell the Steam Deck to significantly more people, ports will follow. I think that will be the case with the Steam Deck 2 in a few years.

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These sentences feel strangely disconnected. Unity's Windows support targets DirectX (I guess), which by Proton is translated to Vulkan/OpenGL. So yes, for Unity exports, which you seem to be talking about, native Linux does mean fewer layers.

Yes, I actually didn't want to say that. I should have used the word better instead of fewer.

The Unity Vulkan code is simply broken and leads to something like this on my and other systems. This is my system, I made the screenshot myself:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3547585264 [External Link]

The error has existed for years now.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HollowKnight/comments/wg2f8r/graphics_issue_on_steam_deck [External Link]

I have very little hope that it will be fixed. Hollow Knight is my favorite game, and I've been playing it for a long time. Until around 2021, I had hardly any problems with the Linux build. But now I'm having a lot. It all started when they switched the game to Vulkan. Maybe Unity would be better off using DXVK for its Vulkan path and basing the Linux build on the Windows version.

What do you get by having a native version: Your system is supported, which seems to mean nothing for you, but much for me.

That definitely means something to me. Even so: We don't need to view our system through rose-tinted glasses. Linux has strengths and weaknesses. Backward compatibility isn't one of its strengths. Even glibc likes to break userland. The typical scenarios in the OSS space are covered. If something breaks, it's quickly repaired. But when it comes to closed sources games, nobody cares.

We can do that though:

Thanks for the tip. I'll keep your page in mind.
But: You can see for yourself that you fix it yourself.
As a technically inclined person, I think that's great. But as a gamer, I'd probably sit in front of my PS4 at some point. Hollow Knight is, for me, an artistic experience. So when I notice reflections in the Linux build of Silksong where there shouldn’t be any, the enjoyment is gone.

I simply don't trust native Linux builds from Team Cherry anymore because this developer obviously don't really test them. But I'm still a big Team Cherry fan. Am I crazy? Maybe. These people earn millions but apparently it's not enough for a proper Linux build.

With a native Linux build, I'm dependent on the game's developer. With Proton, I'm usually dependent on Valve and the community. Many game developers are simply terrible at their Linux builds. They just click the Linux button in their engine without adequately testing the resulting output. That's my personal impression.

Proton is the solution for me in this and other cases. Especially since I simply couldn't play some of my favorite games without Proton. Elite: Dangerous.

I hope you can understand me. I think I do the same in reverse.

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Hollow Knight's Linux version exhibits both controller and graphics issues. It worked well in the past, but not anymore. If Silksong is already running into Linux-only-problems, the outlook isn't promising. Team Cherry's patch doesn't address a single Linux issue. I've given up hope for the Linux version of Hollow Knight, and apparently Valve has too. They are now verifying the game on Steam Deck for Proton.

Some thoughts and a question:

A "native Linux" label doesn't automatically mean fewer layers or better longevity. Unity's Linux export targets Vulkan/OpenGL and uses SDL2, but the core engine is proprietary. Proton is open source end-to-end, fixes classes of issues for many games at once, and can also be used independently of Steam (e.g. via Lutris). In practice, Proton's centrally maintained stack often delivers faster, broader fixes than a one-off proprietary Linux port.

Many of us still equate "native Linux" with fewer dependencies and better long-term stability. In reality, both paths are layered. The difference is who maintains those layers and how quickly fixes propagate when things break.

A one-off proprietary Linux port needs continuous care as distros, drivers, Wayland/X11, and ABIs evolve. Most studios cannot budget that care indefinitely. Proton's model is centralized, ongoing maintenance by design, with broad QA across titles and hardware. That is why long-standing issues in a "native" build can persist, while Proton get fixed within weeks or even days.

We assume native equals independence. But a proprietary engine plus changing system layers is not independence; it is just a different dependency set, with fewer possibilities for the community.

Unity’s open-source dependencies are compiled and linked together with Unity’s proprietary engine code. Many issues can’t be fixed by the community. You'd need changes inside the closed Unity runtime or the game project itself. Proton, by contrast, is OSS across the compatibility stack (Wine, DXVK, vkd3d-proton, FAudio, SDL2, etc.) and doesn't require modifying the game's Windows binary. In practice, the developer provide a working Windows build - they do almost always for commercial reasons.

So here’s the question: For closed-source commercial titles (not community-maintained OSS like 0 A.D.), what concrete benefits does a (proprietary) "native Linux" build deliver that outweigh Proton's faster fixes, wider hardware coverage, and transparent maintenance? If there are strong cases where a native Unity Linux export proves more robust over the long term, I'd genuinely like to see them.

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Hollow Knight was also released natively for Linux and has since been verified by Valve for Proton (9.0-4). Of course, I don't know the specific reason why. But I'm having various problems with the Linux version.

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"restricted_countries DE"

https://steamdb.info/app/3557620 [External Link]

While I don't care about this game, I wonder what else I'm not seeing (summer sale).

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Congratulations to you and to all of us. :)

Nostalgic when you look at early posts:

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/news/page=1680

I wasn’t part of it at the time. As someone who had been using only Linux since the ’90s, I had already given up on gaming altogether.

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