Gaming on Linux: Proton and anti-cheat

Moving your gaming PC to Linux feels like moving house: most of the furniture fits through the door. The trouble is the one wardrobe that is screwed to the wall, and on a gaming PC that wardrobe is usually called anti-cheat.

The short answer

Do Windows games run on Linux? Many Steam games do, through Proton, Valve's compatibility layer built on a modified Wine. Valve's developer documentation says that most APIs are supported and most games work out of the box [1]. The exception is online games with anti-cheat. Proton supports Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye, but only after the game's developer switches Linux support on, and Valve states that kernel-level anti-cheat is not currently supported [1]. So check every online game on your list before you remove Windows, and keep Windows on its own drive as a way back.

How it works

1. Proton translates, it does not emulate. Proton is a Steam tool that runs Windows-only games on Linux with the help of Wine [2]. Its build includes DXVK and vkd3d-proton [2]. By default, Proton uses the Vulkan-based DXVK renderer for Direct3D 9, 10 and 11 games; the README names an option to use the OpenGL-based wined3d instead [2]. Valve tells most users to use the Proton that Steam ships, not a self-built one [2].
2. Steam Play switches it on. In the Steam client on Linux, Proton is called Steam Play. Ubuntu's Steam documentation describes two options: "Enable Steam Play for supported titles" covers games Valve has checked, "Enable Steam Play for all other titles" covers all other Windows games in your library [6]. In current Steam clients these options sit on the settings tab "Compatibility" [17]. Per game, you open Properties > Compatibility and tick "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" to choose a version [6].
3. Versions as of 25 Oct 2026. The newest stable release on Valve's GitHub page is Proton 11.0-2e from 9 Oct 2026 [3]. Proton Experimental is the testing branch; its changelog is dated 15 Oct 2026 [4]. Proton 10 is still listed with release 10.0-4b [3]. Older versions matter: GamingOnLinux notes for at least one game that you must select Proton 10 manually because Proton 11 crashes it [7].
4. Anti-cheat is the hard part. Valve recommends user-space anti-cheat components because they can run in the Wine environment. Kernel-space solutions, meaning drivers inside the Windows kernel, "are not currently supported" [1]. For Easy Anti-Cheat, the developer must enable Linux as a client platform and ship an extra library; for BattlEye, each title needs a manual configuration step with Valve or BattlEye [1]. That is why the same anti-cheat brand can work in one game and fail in another. GamingOnLinux advises installing the "Proton EasyAntiCheat Runtime" and "Proton BattlEye Runtime" from your Steam library [8].
5. Four places to look up a game. Valve rates games for Steam Deck and Steam Machine as Verified, Playable, Unsupported or Unknown. Unsupported almost always means missing middleware, for example an anti-cheat, or a Windows function Proton does not cover yet [5]. GamingOnLinux keeps a curated anti-cheat list and states that a Steam Deck Playable or Verified rating means the anti-cheat is enabled [8]. Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? is a crowd-sourced list [9]. ProtonDB collects player reports with the medals Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Borked [10].

Check your library in this order

1. Is there a native Linux version? Then you do not need Proton for that game [6].
2. Look at Valve's badge. It comes from Valve's own test and names the reason for Unsupported [5].
3. Online with anti-cheat? Look the game up on the GamingOnLinux list and note the date of the entry [7].
4. Cross-check with Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? Read the date of the last recorded update. On 25 Oct 2026 the site counted 196 games as supported, 280 as running, 2 as planned, 636 as broken and 53 as denied [9]. Several entries date from 2021 or 2022, so treat a single status as a hint, not a guarantee [9].
5. Read ProtonDB reports for everything else. The medal is a summary of user reports, not a test [10]. Read the newest reports and check which Proton version and graphics card they used.
6. Test before you commit. Install Linux on a second drive and play your three most important games there for a week.

Graphics drivers

AMD and Intel graphics use Mesa, the open graphics library that provides their OpenGL and Vulkan drivers [15]. Mesa also contains NVK, an open Vulkan driver for NVIDIA GPUs from Maxwell onwards [15]. Most NVIDIA owners use NVIDIA's own driver. Ubuntu recommends the packaged, signed drivers via ubuntu-drivers or the Additional Drivers app and warns that drivers from other sources may break Secure Boot [14]. Other distributions have their own route; use your distribution's documentation, not a random script.

Other launchers

Steam is the easiest start because Proton is built in. For Epic Games Store, GOG and Amazon Games, the open-source Heroic Games Launcher runs games with Wine or Proton on Linux and shows ProtonDB and Steam Deck information [16]. Heroic itself notes that anti-cheat on Linux "depends on the game" [16]. Games from Electronic Arts need care: on 25 Oct 2026, the GamingOnLinux list shows every Battlefield title that uses EA Javelin Anticheat as broken [7].

Dual boot as your way back

Keep Windows on its own SSD and pick the system in the boot menu. Then a game that is blocked on Linux costs you a reboot, not a reinstall. Secure Boot needs attention. Electronic Arts requires Secure Boot to play Battlefield 6 on PC, together with TPM 2.0 [11][12]. If you switch Secure Boot off to install Linux, that game stops on the Windows side too. You do not have to switch it off: Ubuntu boots with Secure Boot through a signed shim loader [13], and the NVIDIA drivers it recommends are pre-built and signed [14]. Only kernel modules you build locally, for example through DKMS, need your own Machine Owner Key (MOK), which you confirm once at the next start [13]. On Linux, mokutil --sb-state shows whether Secure Boot is active. On Windows, msinfo32 shows it under System Summary as "Secure Boot State" [12].

When something fails

Add PROTON_LOG=1 %command% to the game's launch options. Proton then writes a debug log named steam-<AppID>.log, by default in your home folder [2]. Remove the option again when you are done. If a game with anti-cheat refuses to start, stop there. Do not try to trick or bypass the anti-cheat. GamingOnLinux warns that this can lead to account bans on every platform [8].

A worked check: five real games, status on 25 Oct 2026

This is a sample library, not a recommendation. The status comes from the lists at the date of retrieval and can change with any game update.

Apex Legends and HELLDIVERS 2 use the same anti-cheat brand and still end up on different sides. That is the point of step 4 above: the developer decides, not the brand. With this library, Linux becomes the daily system and Windows stays as a second drive for three games.

Checklist

• List every game you played in the last three months and mark the online games.
• Look up the Steam Deck badge for each Steam game and note the reason for Unsupported.
• Check each online game on the GamingOnLinux list and note the date of the entry.
• Compare with Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? and treat entries older than a year as unchecked.
• Read the newest ProtonDB reports for games without a badge.
• Install the Proton EasyAntiCheat and BattlEye runtimes from your Steam library.
• Install graphics drivers through your distribution's packages.
• Keep Windows on its own SSD and leave Secure Boot on.
• Check Secure Boot with mokutil --sb-state on Linux and msinfo32 on Windows.
• Switch Proton versions per game if one version fails, and log with PROTON_LOG=1 %command%.
• Never try to get around an anti-cheat block.

Related pages: Linux: kernel and distribution; Windows 10 in 2027: ESU, Windows 11 or Linux?; Game streaming at home: Sunshine and Moonlight; Console storage: Switch 2, Xbox, Steam Deck.