October 11, 2023

Gaming on Linux

 What the newbie gamer has to know is, that the Linux operating system provides a different experience than the well known Windows ecosystem. Its not about kernel drivers nor open source licences, but Linux gaming is about reducing the own expectations. The user has to like what he gets no matter how low the quality is. So Linux gaming is equal to potato gaming. The typical resolution is 320x200 pixel which is upscaled to the monitor. Of course, such a resolution looks terrible and it doesn't fullfill the minimum standard. But on the other it allows to see gaming from a new perspective.

In a direct comparison, Linux gaming has a lower quality than windows gaming. More advanced graphics hardware from nvidia isn't supported in Linux and if a graphic chip was detected it will produce for sure a lower frame rate. In every case it is impossible to run the same games as in Windows so the overall situation is about missed opportunity. There is no way to fix it because the Linux ecosystem hasn't the resources to program drivers. Most users are playing older games like Tetris or Pingus which was developed 25 years ago.[1] If they are asking for more recent games with 3d graphics they barely understood what Linux is about.

It is unlikely that the situation will become better in the near future. Linux gaming is a mess and perhaps this was the objective from the beginning. Because of this reason, it doesn't make sense to compare Windows with Linux because they have different objectives. The only thing which is for sure is, that Windows is a here to stay, while Linux is hated by everybody. Nobody likes to play low resolution games from 20 years ago which have lots of bugs.

[1] Wikipedia: pingus