The most popular argument against using Linux for gaming is there are few games to play on Linux. Go to online forums or social media and you would usually see the “only about 20% of the Steam game library has Linux support” argument. As of January 9, 2018, only 4,060 out of 18,945 (21.4%) games at Steam have Linux support. That is relatively small but people forget to consider that Steam was released in 2003 and only started supporting Linux in 2013. It means 10 years passed wherein all games being released on Steam are games that only support Windows. From a businessman’s point of view, making Linux ports of very old games does not make sense.

Related Readings:

Newbie Friendly Guide to Using Linux for Gaming

Game Developers That Support Cross-Platform PC Gaming

The Linux Games of 2017

Based from data of SteamDB, we already showed before that some of the games being played in 2017 have Linux support. Now, it’s official. Valve has released their data on Most Played games and Top Sellers of 2017. Linux gaming is alive and kicking.

Games highlighted in blue are available on Linux.

100,000+ Simultaneous Players



4 out of 9 supports Linux – 44%

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Rainbow Six Siege ARK: Survival Evolved Grand Theft Auto V Warframe PUBG PAYDAY 2 DOTA 2 H1Z1

50,000+ Simultaneous Players

7 out of 14 supports Linux – 50%

Paladins Rocket League Divinity: Original Sin II Total War: WARHAMMER II Team Fortress II Conan Exiles Arma III * Football Manager 2018 Civilization V Rust Football Manager 2017 Middle-earth: Shadow of War Garry’s Mod Killing Floor 2

25,000+ Simultaneous Players

16 out of 28 supports Linux – 57%

Europa Universalis IV Battlerite Unturned Euro Truck Simulator 2 7 Days to Die The Elder Scrolls V For Honor Dead by Daylight Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Don’t Starve Together Left 4 Dead 2 Fallout Shelter XCOM 2 The Elder Scrolls Online Counter-Strike Stardew Valley Total War: WARHAMMER The Division Dark Souls III Fallout 4 Assasin’s Creed: Origins The Witcher 3 Ghost Recon Wildlands Stellaris The Binding of Isaac – Rebirth Terraria Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III Civilization VI

Platinum

4 out of 12 supports Linux – 33%

Divinity: Original Sin II ARK: Survival Evolved Rocket League PUBG Ghost Recon Wildlands Warframe The Witcher 3 Rainbow Six Siege DOTA 2 Grand Theft Auto V Counter-Strike: Global Offensive H1Z1

Gold

4 out of 12 supports Linux – 33%

Stellaris Call of Duty: WW II Total War: WARHAMMER Civilization VI Arma III * Middle-earth: Shadow of War Assasin’s Creed: Origins NieR Automata Fallout 4 Dark Souls III For Honor The Elder Scrolls Online

Silver

6 out of 13 supports Linux – 46%

Cities: Skylines Team Fortress II Sniper Elite 4 Resident Evil 7 XCOM 2 Total War: WARHAMMER II Planet Coaster Euro Truck Simulator 2 Conan Exiles Dead by Daylight Cuphead Rust War Thunder

To prove that Linux really works for gaming and that we just don’t write articles about playing games on Linux, shown below are some of the Linux game play videos that you can watch on our YouTube channel.