I game on Linux every day. I raid, I farm, I fish. I also break stuff, then fix it with coffee. People ask me, can you play big MMOs on Linux? Short answer: yes—many of them. But not all. And the small hiccups matter. And hey, recent data shows nearly 90% of Windows games now run on Linux, which still blows my mind.
If you want an even nerdier blow-by-blow, I put together a separate rundown over on Freedom Penguin about playing MMORPGs on Linux.
Let me explain what worked for me, what didn’t, and what made me grin like a kid at the loot screen.
My setup (nothing wild)
- Desktop: Ryzen 5 5600, Radeon RX 6700 XT, 32 GB RAM
- Laptop: ThinkPad T14 (Ryzen 7 5850U), 16 GB RAM
- Distros I used most: Fedora 40 and Pop!_OS 22.04
- Tools: Steam with Proton 9, Proton-GE (community build), Lutris, Heroic Launcher
- Handy extras: GameMode (boosts games), MangoHUD (shows FPS), DXVK/VKD3D (DirectX to Vulkan)
I tried an older Nvidia card for a week. It ran. But the driver dance made me tired. AMD, for me, just felt simple. Updates landed. Games launched. Done.
Meanwhile, I keep tabs on fresh Linux gaming tricks over at Freedom Penguin, a site that’s saved me from more than one late-night troubleshooting rabbit hole. And when I need a reminder that the same ThinkPad can moonlight as a hacker lab, I revisit Freedom Penguin’s guide to the laptops they actually use with Kali Linux.
The quick take
- If you play Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, Albion Online, RuneScape, EVE, or WoW—you’re in good shape.
- If you need Lost Ark or Black Desert Online—sorry. The anti-cheat says no.
- If you enjoy tinkering, Linux is fun. If you hate tinkering, pick games that “just work.”
You know what? I kind of like the tinkering. It’s like sanding a wobbly table. Annoying at first. Then it’s steady, and you feel proud.
What ran great for me
Final Fantasy XIV (Steam, Proton 9)
This one shines. At 1440p on my RX 6700 XT, I saw 90–120 FPS out in the field. Limsa stayed around 70–80 FPS. Raids felt smooth, even with spell fireworks. On my laptop at 720p Medium, I got 50–60 FPS.
One quirk: the launcher popped tiny the first time. I resized it and moved on. Controller support felt solid. Chat worked fine.
Guild Wars 2 (Steam, Proton 9)
Super easy. It just launched. Out in maps I got 60–100 FPS. Lion’s Arch dipped to 45–60. GW2 is a little CPU-bound, so big zergs still drop. But world bosses were a joy. I ran meta trains while dinner baked.
Albion Online (Native Linux client)
This was the chill one. It installed fast and ran clean. 120–144 FPS at 1440p. Load screens? Short. I did a few solo dungeons and forgot I was on Linux at all. That’s a compliment.
RuneScape / Old School RuneScape (RuneLite on Linux)
I used the RuneLite Flatpak. Login worked with my Jagex account. At 1080p I sat near 120 FPS on the desktop. Bossing nights felt smooth. Plugins loaded fine. Simple win.
World of Warcraft (Lutris, DXVK)
Yes, it plays. Mythic+ nights were steady at 90–120 FPS on High at 1440p. Raids held up. The Battle.net launcher took a minute on first boot. Cutscene audio desynced once; a restart fixed it. Weeklies got done, no drama.
EVE Online (Steam, Proton 9)
Space looked pretty. I got 120 FPS in quiet systems, and, of course, big fleet fights dipped hard. Time Dilation does its thing anyway. One patch day failed to start. I cleared the Proton prefix and it came back. Not fun, but not scary.
What worked, but needed a tiny push
The Elder Scrolls Online (Steam, Proton Experimental)
On first run I got stuck at “Requesting login.” I switched to Proton Experimental and it signed in. After that, it was good. 70–90 FPS questing at 1440p. Big Cyrodiil fights dropped to the 40s. Add-ons lived in the Proton folder, which felt fiddly, but they worked.
Star Wars: The Old Republic (Steam, Proton-GE)
The default Proton gave me a launcher loop. Proton-GE fixed it. Story zones hit 100+ FPS. Fleet sat near 60. I heard sound crackle two times in four hours. A quick relaunch cleared it.
What didn’t run (and why)
- Lost Ark: Anti-cheat blocked me. No go.
- Black Desert Online: Same story. I could log in once, then got kicked.
Fresh numbers indicate that most Windows games now function on Linux, but anti-cheat-heavy titles like these still lag behind.
I wish I had better news here. If the devs flip the right switch, these could work. But right now, they don’t for me.
Small things that surprised me
- Fans stayed quieter on Linux for some games. FFXIV was a bit cooler than on Windows for me.
- Patch days felt faster through Steam. ESO was the slow one—its launcher crawls. So I make tea.
- Controller remaps in Steam Input saved me in GW2 gliding and in FFXIV fishing.
- Windowed borderless was my safest bet. Fullscreen acted weird on one monitor.
- I also cleaned up my desktop with Docky, the classic Linux dock, after reading this week-long hands-on with Docky for Linux; it keeps my taskbar uncluttered between raids.
Real numbers I saw (just to ground it)
- FFXIV: 90–120 FPS at 1440p High on RX 6700 XT; 50–60 FPS at 720p Medium on my laptop
- GW2: 60–100 FPS in the wild; 45–60 in big hubs
- Albion: 120–144 FPS at 1440p
- WoW: 90–120 FPS at 1440p High; raids held steady
- ESO: 70–90 FPS questing; 40s in big PvP
- EVE: 120 FPS alone; big fleets drop a lot (expected)
Note: FPS swings with zones, add-ons, and mood. Okay, not mood. But you get it.
My go-to tweaks when stuff acts up
- Try a different Proton: default, then Experimental, then Proton-GE.
- Add “gamemoderun” to the launch line if your distro supports it.
- Use MangoHUD to watch temps and FPS. It helps you spot spikes.
- Check ProtonDB before you buy a new MMO. Saves your wallet.
- Prefer AMD GPUs on Linux if you can. Less driver hassle.
- Keep a tiny Windows SSD only if you need anti-cheat games. I keep one on a shelf.
By the way, all those in-game whispers reminded me that solid text skills can carry you well beyond guild chat. If you ever want to turn your keyboard prowess into smooth, real-world flirting, this step-by-step resource is gold: SextLocal’s How-To guide — it walks you through crafting engaging opener lines, keeping the conversation respectful, and setting clear boundaries so your messaging game levels up as smoothly as your characters.
A real-world template can help even more. If you’d like to see how a polished, attention-grabbing ad actually looks in practice, take a peek at Backpage Taylor’s profile — studying the layout, tone, and call-to-action there can spark ideas for crafting posts that stand out, whether you’re advertising an in-game event or writing a personal listing of your own.
So, should you play MMOs on Linux?
If your main games are FFXIV, GW2, Albion, RuneScape, EVE, or WoW—yes. It feels normal. Fun, even. I can raid, craft, and chat like anyone else. If your heart is set on Lost Ark or Black Desert Online, you may need a plan B.
I’ll be honest. Linux gaming still has “jiggle the handle” moments. A launcher breaks.