2025 might have been the year for Linux gaming, but there's still a way to go until I switch from Windows
Here is an article full of praise for the success Linux has been enjoying in handheld PC gaming, being able to run most Windows games better than Windows itself can manage <https://www.pcgamer.com/software/linux/2025-might-have-been-the-year-for-linux-gaming-but-theres-still-a-way-to-go-until-i-switch-from-windows/>. The writer mentions the one big obstacle to Linux enjoying greater success in this area: kernel-level anti-cheat mechanisms. The vast majority of these are Windows-specific, and many vendors are not only reluctant to support Linux as an alternative platform, they are downright hostile to it. Ultimately, though, I am going to put my bet on free-market Capitalism winning out. The customer is king. It is the game vendors who have to entice the buyers to part with their money in return for something worthwhile, the customers have no obligation to simply hand it over. If the only ace the Windows products have up their sleeve is obnoxious anti-cheat mechanisms, that may not be enough to keep customers flocking to them in droves. In other words, if the Linux-based handhelds continue to offer a superior user experience to the Windows-based ones, then those last remaining holdout vendors will be forced, purely by market forces, to go where the money is: they will ultimately be dragged, kicking and screaming, into supporting Linux gaming in some form.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro