How to check game compatibility for Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck

Want to know how you can check to see if a game is compatible with Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck? Here's all you need to know in one handy guide.

The first thing you need to understand is that there's two different ways of running games on Linux-based systems. It's split between these:

• Native Linux Games: these are games actually built for Linux as a platform.
• Proton: you can run Windows games through Valve's compatibility layer Proton.

In both cases the result can be a mixed bag. Some Windows games in Proton run to perfection, others not at all. And with Native Linux games, sometimes their support isn't as good as you would expect it to be.

For games that have anti-cheat, that situation is a little more complicated. So we have a dedicated anti-cheat compatibility page for that.

How to tell what should work and be supported will be different across each store. This guide will focus on the stores that do in some way offer up Linux support.

Steam

On Steam you can first check the dedicated Linux tag. Aside from that you can look to the purchase / play banner on the store pages for the SteamOS icon. It's a little confusing, since it's just the Steam logo, but in the example below for War Thunder you'll see it supports Windows, macOS and SteamOS / Linux (and VR). However, right now, that only accounts for Native Linux games.

Specifically for Steam Deck (which covers all games either Native Linux or via Proton), Valve have the Deck Verified rating system split across Steam Deck Verified, Steam Deck Playable and Steam Deck Unsupported. If you're in a supported region it will show a banner below the language list in the sidebar on store pages.

You can also check user-submitted reports on ProtonDB to see what compatibility you might expect for any Steam game. That will show you a mixture of reports from the community across all Steam games covering both Native Linux and Windows games in Proton.

GOG

For GOG, you can also filter specifically to Linux games since they do sell Native Linux games. But, with Proton / Wine, you can also run Windows games from GOG too with external launchers like the Heroic Games Launcher and Lutris.

GOG Galaxy does not support Linux officially.

Humble Store

For the most part, Humble Store and Humble Bundles just sell keys for other stores. So you should just check compatibility elsewhere first.