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Taking a look at the most-played games on Steam by player-count, here's how many of them should be playable on Steam Deck and desktop Linux. Checking via the Steam Deck Verified rating (either Verified or Playable), and then the ProtonDB / Linux Native rating for desktop Linux.

While the top 100 changes quite often, it's still a really interesting way to look at overall compatibility.

Overall we're seeing 83/100 at least rated Playable on Steam Deck and 84/100 work on desktop Linux with a Gold rating on ProtonDB or higher (or Linux Native support).

Here's the full rankings breakdown:

Rank

Game Title

Steam Deck

Desktop Linux

1

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Playable

Linux Native

2

Baldur's Gate 3

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

3

Dota 2

Playable

Linux Native

4

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

5

Apex Legends

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

6

Grand Theft Auto V

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

7

NARAKA: BLADEPOINT

Playable

ProtonDB Silver

8

Rust

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

9

Wallpaper Engine

Unsupported

ProtonDB Bronze

10

War Thunder

Verified

Linux Native

11

Call of Duty

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

12

Team Fortress 2

Playable

Linux Native

13

Unturned

Playable

Linux Native

14

Football Manager 2023

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

15

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

16

Dead by Daylight

Verified

ProtonDB Silver

17

ARK: Survival Evolved

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

18

Remnant II

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

19

EA SPORTS FIFA 23

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

20

Warframe

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

21

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI

Playable

Linux Native

22

Terraria

Verified

Linux Native

23

7 Days to Die

Playable

Linux Native

24

Stardew Valley

Verified

Linux Native

25

DayZ

Unsupported

ProtonDB Gold

26

Hearts of Iron IV

Playable

Linux Native

27

Euro Truck Simulator 2

Verified

Linux Native

28

Red Dead Redemption 2

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

29

ELDEN RING

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

30

tModLoader

Playable

Linux Native

31

The Sims 4

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

32

Farming Simulator 22

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

33

Garry's Mod

Playable

Linux Native

34

Don't Starve Together

Verified

Linux Native

35

MIR4

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

36

Project Zomboid

Verified

Linux Native

37

SCUM

Unsupported

ProtonDB Bronze

38

Left 4 Dead 2

Verified

Linux Native

39

Farlight 84

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

40

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

41

Lost Ark

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

42

Black Desert

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

Unsupported (anti-cheat)

43

Rocket League

Verified

ProtonDB Platinum

44

RimWorld

Verified

Linux Native

45

BattleBit Remastered

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

46

NBA 2K23

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

47

Hunt: Showdown

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

48

VRChat

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

49

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Verified

ProtonDB Platinum

50

Monster Hunter: World

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

51

FINAL FANTASY XIV Online

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

52

Cities: Skylines

Playable

Linux Native

53

Deep Rock Galactic

Playable

ProtonDB Platinum

54

Street Fighter 6

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

55

Fallout 4

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

56

PAYDAY 2

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

57

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

58

Phasmophobia

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

59

Total War: WARHAMMER III

Unsupported

Linux Native

60

雀魂麻將(MahjongSoul)

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

61

The Elder Scrolls Online

Unsupported

ProtonDB Gold

62

Valheim

Verified

Linux Native

63

Eternal Return

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

64

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Playable

ProtonDB Platinum

65

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition

Unsupported

ProtonDB Gold

66

Europa Universalis IV

Unsupported

Linux Native

67

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Verified

Linux Native

68

Sid Meier's Civilization V

Playable

Linux Native

69

DAVE THE DIVER

Verified

ProtonDB Platinum

70

Goose Goose Duck

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

71

Cyberpunk 2077

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

72

Bloons TD 6

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

73

Path of Exile

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

74

New World

Playable

ProtonDB Silver

75

Crusader Kings III

Playable

Linux Native

76

Soundpad

Unsupported

Unsupported

77

Geometry Dash

Playable

ProtonDB Platinum

78

Brawlhalla

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

79

World of Tanks Blitz

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

80

Stellaris

Playable

Linux Native

81

BeamNG.drive

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

82

Albion Online

Playable

Linux Native

83

Cookie Clicker

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

84

Arma 3

Unsupported

ProtonDB Gold

85

Forza Horizon 5

Playable

ProtonDB Silver

86

Brotato

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

87

Slay the Spire

Verified

Linux Native

88

Factorio

Playable

Linux Native

89

MONSTER HUNTER RISE

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

90

Sea of Thieves 2023 Edition

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

91

Raft

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

92

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Definitive Edition

Verified

ProtonDB Gold

93

Satisfactory

Playable

ProtonDB Platinum

94

Oxygen Not Included

Verified

Linux Native

95

Football Manager 2022

Playable

ProtonDB Platinum

96

Counter-Strike

Playable

Linux Native

97

Battlefield V

Playable

ProtonDB Gold

98

American Truck Simulator

Verified

Linux Native

99

Squad

Playable

ProtonDB Silver

100

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition

Playable

ProtonDB Platinum

Note: I intentionally did not remove stuff like Wallpaper Engine and tmodloader, as the point was the full top 100 exactly as it was on Steam at the time. This top 100 snapshot was taken today at around 17:00 BST. It seems around this time Destiny 2 also had a big player drop so it fell out of the top 100, missing it was not intentional but the list is accurate for the time it was taken.

So that's the position the Steam Deck and desktop Linux are in a bit over half way through 2023. Hopefully you found that and the ratings interesting listed together like this.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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9 comments

denyasis Aug 8, 2023
That's really nice. I just got a deck and I think my biggest "issue" is deciding what to play!!
Slackdog Aug 8, 2023
Seems like anti-cheat the main reason for non playable, good times!
scaine Aug 8, 2023
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Quoting: SlackdogSeems like anti-cheat the main reason for non playable, good times!

Yep, other than Soundboard and Wallpaper Engine, which aren't games (as noted in the article), it's all anti-cheat. Well, that's not quite true on the Steam Deck front - there's a couple of examples there like DayZ and Total War Warhammer 3 which don't work there, even if they're native! Presumably just not enough power to make the games work.

But generally, yeah, anti-cheat. Pretty frustrating to be this close and still have that one technology trip up a portion of the experience.
Craggles086 Aug 9, 2023
I thought people had been saying that Gary’s Mod was never going to be playable on Linux.

Guess that prediction was selling Valve short.

Still hoping that Elite Dangerous will get some work to make it Steam Deck compatible.
gaboversta Aug 9, 2023
People are playing Age of Empires III?
I remember this being THE game a friend and I used to play, and even back then it was old. I have since learned that the internet seems to like Age of Empires II more, so that's why I'm surprised.
Klaas Aug 9, 2023
I'm surprised that ATS is almost at the bottom with the release of the new state DLC white ETS2 is at 27.
scaine Aug 9, 2023
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Quoting: GuestWait, where is destiny 2. Shouldn't it be in the top 100?

Yeah, it's 25th overall for me right now, 23rd by daily players. I wonder if the list changes by time of day so much that even the top-25 can drop out briefly. Maybe when the US is asleep?
Liam Dawe Aug 9, 2023
Quoting: scaine
Quoting: GuestWait, where is destiny 2. Shouldn't it be in the top 100?

Yeah, it's 25th overall for me right now, 23rd by daily players. I wonder if the list changes by time of day so much that even the top-25 can drop out briefly. Maybe when the US is asleep?
At the time I took the snapshot, Destiny 2 had a player drop-off. It was not in the top 100 at that time. You can see it on SteamDB. Doing the top 100 based on current players is certainly not foolproof. I will look at doing another way as well soon :)
Glipglop Aug 9, 2023
Quoting: Craggles086I thought people had been saying that Gary’s Mod was never going to be playable on Linux.

Guess that prediction was selling Valve short.

Still hoping that Elite Dangerous will get some work to make it Steam Deck compatible.



I play elite on my deck all the time. It works great. you just need to play in desktop mode.
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