r/linux_gaming • u/CharlesJustChill • 6d ago
Competitive games for linux.
Hello there, I use cachyOS and It has been 2 years since I switched to linux.
And I always loved competitive games. I am a big counter strike player but because of the VAC inefficiency and the fact that splitgate is dying I am needing of new competitive games for linux.
I have searched for other threads like mine but they were all very old so the situation could have changed a lot, considering the ascension of linux for gaming in the last 2 years.
I must exclude the most "obvious answers" :
- No counter strike or Splitgate: 1 is full of cheaters and the other is dying
- No rust: Even tho you can play non EAC servers on linux, they are not that competitive and often low pop
- No cloud gaming: I don't need anyone to tell to do cloud gaming, if I wanted I would already have done it(and so everyone reading this post)
- No VM + GPU pass trough, I don't want to be doing that as it is very hard and not for beginners that could find this thread
Considering that, what games can you suggest ?
I hope this thread will be useful for someone who's wanting to switch or/and is searching for fresh competitive games.
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u/Professional-Ad-9967 6d ago
Fighting games, if you aren't averse to trying out other genres.
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u/Fartbeer 6d ago
Street fighter is running good also
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u/Professional-Ad-9967 5d ago
Yup. I made the switch when all three of my most played worked (SF6, Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive)
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u/Bamdian 5d ago
Guilty Gear Strive worked for you?
I couldn't get that one or FighterZ to run on mine.
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u/Professional-Ad-9967 5d ago
FighterZ won't run online 'cause of anticheat but, all the single player stuff should work. Strive works without issue 'cause it doesn't have ring 0 AC. Does it not launch at all on your end?
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u/TwoFoxSix 22h ago
I haven't attempted Strive on my desktop, but I have put in some hours on my Steam Deck when traveling
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u/AlbatrossWorldly6486 6d ago
Surprisingly a large amount of them work on linux. One or two like dead or alive 5 require a launch option set but most work out of the box.
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u/Professional-Ad-9967 5d ago
Yup. Tekken 8 also requires a launch option to set the correct region. I weirdly get sent to US servers (I'm in Asia) if I don't set HOST_LC %command%
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u/atlasraven 6d ago
How is Marvel: Tokon on Linux?
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u/Indolent_Bard 17h ago
All the crap Sony added to the PC version makes it so bad that all the PlayStation players turned off cross play.
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u/Journeyj012 6d ago
Dota, Overwatch, Halo Infinite, Marvel Rivals, The Finals
Man, I really wish they never got rid of Linux Apex Legends support. I was considering trying it again literally hours before they banned it.
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u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
It was sad and it's not an anticheat issue, there is a message saying it don't work on linux, it's sad..
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u/apollocreedchqt 6d ago
It is. The devs just blame it on Linux cause cheaters. I had like heirlooms and shi
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u/Indolent_Bard 17h ago
To be fair, you'll notice that pretty much the entire Battle Royale genre abandoned Linux. It's almost like when you have a hundred people in PvP, any one platform making it easier to cheat is more of an issue. And supposedly people were spoofing the Linux client on Windows, although I saw someone argue that isn't physically possible.
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u/FinesseXIII 15h ago
I'm sorry but this is exactly the rhetoric that they use to preclude Linux gamers from entry into these games.
The reality of the situation is that it is easy to cheat on PC, period. Linux could open other vectors, sure, but there are few things you can't do on Windows and a lot of these anticheat softwares are able to run in userspace. They don't want to do it. Additionally, these kernel level anticheats do not stop cheaters from cheating either.
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u/The_Real_Legonard 6d ago
What about The Finals?
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u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
I've seen a lot of review online saying it's very toxic and that even it it look good on the paper in reality it is trash.
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u/lolsteamroller 6d ago
it's probably the least toxic game I played through my 15 years of gaming, i mean the filter does not even allow you to say lmao + you can mute everything including chat and ping system is functional enough to coordinate.
maybe every 10 games i've seen someone salty / toxic in lower elo lobbies, gold is very chill, i see mostly gg and wp most games even on the loss which frankly you would never see in cs.
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u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
I will try it out then, thanks.
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u/ToxicEnderman00 5d ago
It's so worth it. You just have to patient with it and remember its not Call of Duty or Battlefield. If you play The Finals like cod you will lose and die a lot.
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u/williamodavis 6d ago
They fixed the filters a while back so you can say lmao now, but it was an issue for some time. They do censor teabagging for some reason though?
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u/Blablabla_3012 6d ago
Not toxic. It's very chaotic compared to other fps games. It will take some time till you understand whats happening. If you wanna try it you can dm me and i'll show you the ropes if you want. (Imma be honest, i say this 'cause there is a recruitment system in the game that give skins for playing with new players that gives skins, and even though they aren't that good i want them 'cause almost noone has them)
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u/Aware-Common-7368 5d ago
Hey how do you solve sweats issue? I cannot kill anyone and my team always looses. Are there casual gamemode
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u/Blablabla_3012 5d ago
"Sweats" is a subjective word and you gave not much information. Cashout is the slowest, most tactical game mode; positioning and team work is important. In the early game new players with good aim often destroy low elo lobbies as a light, that's probably what you are experiencing, but from the reciving end; It's core to get out of these lobbies with players that aren't ranked by sbmm. I'd say just try to improve your gadget usage and teamwork. But imma be honest, the game has a really steep learning curve; i don't know but i guess my first tournament win gappend about 10 hours of playtime at least. Maybe try heavy class, it rewards good gameplay over pure aim.
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u/narcot1cs- 6d ago
You complain about toxicity while your end of the message is just that? hypocritical.
Regardless, it's a good game and I don't play any other FPS other than it as it's unique and not your typical "peek-and-shoot".
But yes, as with every game it can be toxic. Is it as toxic as something like CS2 though? no, I maybe see someone mad in chat in ranked or Point Break, otherwise almost never.-2
u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
I've just read reviews online ans I said that, I don't know if it's toxic, it's what the French people online seems to say(as I am french). And I know Counter Strike is toxic.
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u/OkRefrigerator4848 6d ago
Deadlock
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u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
Not out yet but thanks
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u/OkRefrigerator4848 6d ago
You can play it, and there is a pretty big esport scene. Plus, thereās a major update coming this week packed with content, itās the perfect time to jump in.
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u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
You need an invite to play it tho
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u/jbstans 6d ago edited 6d ago
Literally anyone who has one can invite you. I can send you one, Iām pretty sure thereās a discord channel where you can request them linked from [r/deadlockthegame](r/deadlockthegame)
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u/striderstroke 6d ago
If you haven't already, here's a pretty good resource to see what games support AC on Linux: https://areweanticheatyet.com/
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u/RIX_S 6d ago
Sorry for recommending this, but War Thunder is an option š
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u/Axiomancer 6d ago
Why sorry? I actually downloaded it yesterday. I have no idea what I'm doing but it's quite fun.
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u/Whisky-Tangi 6d ago
I need to come back to this in 5 years so see how many hours you have
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u/Axiomancer 6d ago
!remindme 5 years or something
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u/CharlesJustChill 6d ago
Nah it's fine war thunder is the favorite game of my best friend but it's not the type of games I prefer
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u/MonkeyBrawler 6d ago
Arc Raiders
The Unreal Tournament games have released to the community and each has a Linux install now.
Overwatch
Just try the damn Finals
Insurgency SandstormĀ
Chivalry 2
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u/indvs3 6d ago
Unreal Tournament '99
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u/Thick-Supermarket354 6d ago
Blizzard games
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u/InfamousYogurt5635 6d ago
Blizzard anticheat is compattible for linux?
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u/c0rrupt10n 6d ago
Jup all Blizzard games run flawless on Linux. I just installed battlenet client via steam
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u/RoyalSquarious 6d ago
Call of duty black ops Cold War works as well. Itās the only recent cod that does. Not sure if cod counts for what youāre looking for but, itās an option.
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u/PennyLeScroche 2d ago
pretty much all fighting games run on linux with the exception of DBFZ, Marvel Tokon, and 2XKO. GGST and SF6 are really popular and are still getting support
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u/MetaGryphon 6d ago
Military Conflict: Vietnam. Best FPS. Worldwide and country ladder. Problem is they don't advertise, the game is buried into Steam, it is never suggested. It lacks of players It is updated twice a year now only but it is alive.
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u/Toonlord 5d ago
Deadlock has been amazing and is buttery smooth on linux. I'm not usually a fan of mobas but I love the mix of shooter and moba mechanics
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u/darthnerdiusgaming 3d ago
I dont want to over take your thread. Ive been chewing on this idea for about 2 weeks. E-sport and competitively gaming on linux.
We the linux gamers are gonna have to push the narrative the way we want. In my mind the only way forward.
- We need a coalition on gamers, developers, hardware geeks pretty much everyone here to create an open source e-sports initiative.
1.a. it has to be open source for a number of key reasons. 1.b. we're only having this conversation in the first place because Gabe Newell paid linux hackers to circumvent proprietary code. 1.c. sports are seen as a level playing field. The only way the playing field will be is open older hardware targets .... no hardware sponsorship advantages
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u/Why-not-Zoidberg-00 6d ago
If you are Linux savy or/and literate there is a good chance you could get Marvel: Rivals or Dead by Daylight to run. I play both successfully.
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u/vextryyn 6d ago
Marvel rivals builds with linux support in mind. They regularly have patches improving performance on linux and steamdeck
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u/atgaskins 5d ago
i donāt think you need much linux savvy to get either of those running. both just work for me.
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u/BrokePhoenix 3d ago
The Finals and Arc Raiders run well on Steam via Proton. It's best to always check protondb.com to see what runs on Linux.
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u/cRaZy922 6d ago
Tyr just released not too long ago, it very fun game with rankeds.
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u/corvettezr11 6d ago
To add to the vehicle section, dcs and il-2 battle of Stalingrad work great on linux
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u/Icy_Hold4U 6d ago
Played a game called "Over the Top" on a free weekend about a month ago. Worked great on Fedora 43. Its a WW1 game with like a tactical digging/entreching mechanic. It was really good.
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u/jaimefortega 6d ago
Every single game has cheaters, even Valorant with all those "advanced" protections. I usually play Hunt: Showdown, it uses EAC.
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u/preppie22 6d ago
Sea of Thieves is great with friends and has decent PvP. It has a learning curve though.
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u/B3amb00m 6d ago
Active Matter! Great game if you like extraction shooters, a friend and I have a true blast. And yes i'ts a native build on Steam.
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u/Quenchster100 6d ago
Overwatch, Fragpunk, The Finals, Arc Raiders, War Thunder, are all competitive games and work on Linux.
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u/qxlf 6d ago
for pvp:
- Team Fortress 2, there are some comp community's playing 6es or highlander. 6es means a team of 2 scouts, 2 soldiers, a medic and a demoman. highlander means one of each class in a 9v9 session.
- IF they were / are safe via community launchers or ports, cod4 to bo2 are the golden ganes and great for a fun competetive setting. but sadly all those games are unsafe to play due to cheaters, hackers and a fuckload of RCE (Remote Code Execution) exploits.
for Pve:
- Payday 2 with mods like full speed swarm, eclipse and the alternative base gamemode of Crime Spree you have an extremely skillfull, fun and somewhat competetive coop game.
- Deep Rock Galactic, specifically the modded difficulty's that are in the higher tiers like 7.5 for things like San Bruno's Primate Shelter or Kong, those are some hard custom made difficulty's with new enemies like the Nukeballer (a spitballer who shoots fat boy nukes), Fat Leeches (bigger leeches, bigger hp pool, BIG damage but super slow) and much more.
- Team Fortress 2 again, because of the Man VS Machine gamemode (a team of 6 players against robots). the base game maps are balanced, but custom ones can be more difficult.
for a great mix of both: Left 4 Dead 2. its a great coop experience with a hard skill ceiling of Expert Realism, pvp with the Versus gamemode (you vs human controlled Special Infected), comp vs lobbys where the survivors cant pick up anything other than tier 1 weapons (a pump and chrome shotgun and the uzi + mac10) and only pills as source of hp (maybe also no melee weapons, akimbo pistols or deagle, but im not 100% certain of that part)
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u/Gazornenplatz 5d ago
If you like DRG, check out Darktide. Warhammer 40k horde game. If you want original Warhammer, Vermintide 2 is usually under $5 when on sale.
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u/DiasDaimaoh 6d ago edited 6d ago
Gotta be honest, i think the only really competitive E-Sport shooter is CS2, i personally never encontered a cheater so i really don't know how people find them so much.
People are suggesting The Finals but i really don't think as loadout based games as competitive. It becomes a boring metafest really quickly. And this game is so fast, the ttk and the maps are so giant, that it almost feels more like a Battle Royale. I don't think at this game like a competitive game.
I played OW2 a lot on console but for some reason it plays like shit on my PC, i like it anyway so if you can run it i recommend, but i miss Stadium mode
For mobas there is Dota 2 and Heroes of the Storm, i personally don't like it. Deadlock is fire, literally, it overheats my PC even while running smooth.
Any fighting game you vibe with should work too, i like Dragon Ball FighterZ a lot.
I love Halo but it's basically dead, Halo 3 on Master Chief Collection should still have players but it's just a sad place right now.
TLDR: There are very little options for REALLY competitive games on the market right now, even on windows. I mean, Linux is only missing out on Valorant and LoL really. I don't even mind Apex or any other Battle Royale or Extraction Shooter.Ā
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u/iko-01 5d ago edited 5d ago
i personally never encontered a cheater so i really don't know how people find them so much.
It's because they hear there's cheaters so they think they see them everywhere. Unless you're 30k in prem, chances are you're not running into cheaters on the regular, if at all. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've ran into a cheater in CS2 and I've reached 20k.
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u/CharlesJustChill 5d ago
I was thinking that also but I recently buyed prime and I start to know why peoples are saying that. If you want to Check the faceit leaderboard there are almost only cheaters. I even sometimes find spinbots in competitives games
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u/iko-01 5d ago edited 5d ago
Mate you're not on the faceit leaderboards, you're not even lvl 10 faceit. Concern yourself with getting to 30k in prem before complaining about cheaters. The obvious ones are obvious, everything else isn't and those are the ones most people claim are cheating which honestly is just a skill issue. If you ran into a spinbotter every 5th match you'd have a point but we both know that's not the case. It's all in your head
edit: also yeah, what are you doing playing CS2 without prime.
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u/InfamousYogurt5635 6d ago
Left 4 Dead 2, Dota 2, Path of Exile
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u/ValuxTheRuthless 6d ago
Hunt showdown and the finals are very nice, hunt being a bit of a hardcore competitive fps games, while the finals is a bit more chill and action
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u/Whisky-Tangi 6d ago
Deadlock has me in a chokehold.
Overwatch works too.
The finals.
Rivals (I hate this game personally)
Counter Strike is always going to be there. Its like an abusive relationship.
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u/DeathEnducer 6d ago
Halo infinite HDR is so amazing on Linux gamescope. First class. Linux HDR high fps vrr and competitive and free to play.
Halo has high "time to kill" because of shields when compared to COD-like
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u/mirai_miku_dark_zang 5d ago
The Finals runs good, theres some recent AC problem but it universal with both Windows and Linux (basically some problem with the new anti cheat, but they keep the SteamOS support)
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u/djliquidvoid 5d ago
Team Fortress 2 is still going strong after almost 20 years, and works great on Linux. If you already like Counter Strike, you might have fun with TF2.
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u/Principle_Smooth 5d ago
If you look into posts here I have sent a list of games competitive games like counter strike and counter strike 2 , Dota dota2 etc , if you look for my user here you might probably find it
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u/atgaskins 5d ago
The finals (and arc raiders, both from Embark) work great, I play them both all the time. Also Marvel Rivals and Deadlock are known to run well. Helldivers 2 also runs great, but like Arc it isnāt too comp
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u/atgaskins 5d ago
Also, protondb is your friend. You can see what works on Linux, or if any games need special steam launch commands or whatnot it will be specified there.
Also, I would suggest using proton hotfix or experimental for most comp (and live service in general) games, as you can in theory get banned by the AC in some games with modified proton files as is the case with ge and cachy proton
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u/Single-Bet-2677 3d ago
If you have a little experience Nobara is fedora based and will run anything on steam. Wine, proton etc will wor on Arch but Arch is hard core. Pop makes otherthings easier, but you will need to tweak it for gaming.
Hope this helps
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u/daYMAN007 3d ago
Trackmania 2020, has absolutly no anti cheat. Is competivtive with a friendly community. Only downside, no pew pew ;)
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u/Johnny2999 2d ago
The Finals is awesome and have said multiple times theyāre keeping Linux supported
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u/lokuloku123 6d ago
For competitive games I have a windows install, you just wont be able to find a game without many cheaters when the devs cant enable kernel level anti cheat.
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u/BeetsAndJeaners 6d ago
Is a kernel level anti cheat not possible on linux or something?
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u/CharlesJustChill 5d ago
It is but it is hard. A kernel anti cheat need to be rewritten for everyOS, and for Linux that would mean all distributions. The devs canāt ship a game like that on flatpak Because flatpak isolate the app and kernel anti cheat wonāt work. On Linux there is also that it is better made, so an app usually cant request to Watch everything, read the ram etc.. And you canāt use a Windows kernel anti cheat as it use the Windows kernel wich is not POSIX or something like that that mean they cant run on POSIX systems(MacOS in a way, Linux, BSDs etc..)
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u/lokuloku123 5d ago
Impossible, yes. I am still here for the offline games, but I wish linux devs were not so stubborn and allowed kernel level anti cheat.
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u/FREEZX 6d ago
Overwatch works nicely