Eurogamer spent the week explaining why the new Steam Machine still cannot promise a frictionless library, and the comments thread reinforced the gnawing question every Linux gamer asks before buying anything: will it actually run? Proton has closed most of the gap, Steam Deck Verified covers the obvious tiles, and yet a single kernel-level anti-cheat decision can yank a beloved title off the platform overnight. Linux game compatibility is no longer a binary question. It is a per-build, per-anti-cheat, per-Proton-version judgement call.
We tested 7 of the best apps and sites for checking Linux game compatibility before you spend money or install hours. The benchmark was the boring stuff: how current the data is, how honestly it surfaces anti-cheat caveats, whether it speaks Proton and Wine version numbers fluently, and whether it gives you something actionable when a title is flagged broken.
What to look for in a Linux compatibility tool
A handful of criteria separate the references worth bookmarking from the ones that drift out of date:
- Catalogue breadth. Steam-only coverage is fine for many users. Anyone running Epic, GOG, Amazon, or Itch needs a tool that looks past Valve’s wall.
- Anti-cheat clarity. Anti-cheat is the single biggest reason a 2026 title fails on Linux. The strongest tools call it out explicitly and link to publisher policy.
- Proton and Wine version awareness. Reports without a Proton or Wine version stamp age badly. Look for tools that surface “works on Proton 9, broken on Experimental”.
- Per-config recipes. A compatibility verdict is only half the answer. Tools that bundle the install steps, launch flags, and dependencies save a lot of forum diving.
- Community signal vs vendor signal. Valve’s Deck Verified badge and ProtonDB’s medal both matter, and they often disagree. The best workflow uses both.
- Steam Deck mapping. Deck owners have specific concerns (controller, suspend, 800p performance) that desktop verdicts miss. A useful tool either filters for Deck reports or links them.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Platforms | Free plan | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProtonDB | Community reports on every Steam title | Browser, all OSes | Yes (open source) | Tiered medal rating fed by thousands of player reports |
| Steam Deck Verified | Valve’s official verdict for Deck and SteamOS | Steam client, browser | Yes | First-party testing for input, suspend, and performance |
| Lutris | Per-game install recipes for non-Steam games | Linux | Yes (open source) | Community scripts that automate Wine, dependencies, and patches |
| Heroic Games Launcher | Checking Epic, GOG, and Amazon titles | Windows, macOS, Linux | Yes (open source) | Built-in compatibility tool picker with Proton-GE and Wine-GE |
| Bottles | Auditing Windows software outside the Steam path | Linux | Yes (open source) | Per-prefix dependency previews before you commit to install |
| Protontricks | Fixing Steam titles that almost work | Linux | Yes (open source) | Per-game prefix access for the standard Winetricks recipes |
| Are We Anti-Cheat Yet | Knowing if a multiplayer game is bannable on Linux | Browser | Yes (open source) | Dedicated, sourced tracker for every major anti-cheat title |
The 7 best apps for checking Linux game compatibility
1. ProtonDB — best community database for Steam titles
ProtonDB is the default answer and still the strongest. Every Steam title gets a Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Borked medal based on aggregated user reports, and each report carries the player’s distro, GPU, and Proton version. The site syncs with your Steam library and tags your owned games with their current rating, which turns a regional sale browse into a five-minute compatibility audit.
Where it falls short: Coverage outside Steam is non-existent by design. Newly released games can sit at “Pending” for a few days until enough reports trickle in, and a Platinum medal does not guarantee anti-cheat works for online play.
Pricing:
- Free: open source, no account required to read
- Paid: none
Platforms: Browser, with a community-built Steam Deck overlay
Download: protondb.com
Bottom line: Pick ProtonDB for Linux game compatibility if you are buying or installing Steam titles and want a verdict that reflects what real players are seeing this week.
2. Steam Deck Verified — best first-party verdict for Deck and SteamOS
Steam Deck Verified is Valve’s own compatibility programme, visible inside the Steam client and on every store page. Titles get rated Verified, Playable, Unsupported, or Unknown based on testing across input, default settings, suspend behaviour, and on-screen legibility at Deck resolution. Steam OS desktop users get the same signal, since the underlying Proton stack is identical.
Where it falls short: Testing is slower than community reports, so brand-new releases often sit at Unknown for weeks. A Playable verdict can still mean small text and manual control mapping, and Deck testing does not always translate to desktop Linux with different hardware.
Pricing:
- Free: included with any Steam account
- Paid: none
Platforms: Steam client on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Steam Deck
Download: store.steampowered.com
Bottom line: Pick Steam Deck Verified for Linux game compatibility if you want the cleanest single badge per game, and use ProtonDB alongside it for the cases Valve has not tested yet.
3. Lutris — best per-game install recipes for non-Steam libraries
Lutris is both a launcher and a recipe registry. The site hosts community-maintained install scripts for thousands of titles spanning Wine, Proton, native Linux ports, emulators, and DRM-free installers, and each script encodes the exact runner, dependencies, and tweaks that made the game work. Browsing a game’s Lutris page tells you immediately whether anyone has cracked it on Linux and how.
Where it falls short: Script quality varies with maintainer attention. Older entries can reference Wine versions long since superseded. The desktop client is Linux-only.
Pricing:
- Free: open source, no licence fee
- Paid: none
Platforms: Linux client, browser for the script registry
Download: lutris.net
Bottom line: Pick Lutris for Linux game compatibility if your library lives outside Steam and you want a recipe rather than a verdict.
4. Heroic Games Launcher — best compatibility view for Epic, GOG, and Amazon
Heroic Games Launcher is the open-source client most Linux players use for Epic, GOG, Amazon, and (via integration) other Linux-hostile storefronts. Beyond running the games, the launcher exposes a compatibility tool picker for Proton-GE, Wine-GE, and the upstream builds, lets you swap per-title, and pulls in ProtonDB ratings alongside each Epic or GOG entry. The result is a single window that answers “will this work, and with which Proton”.
Where it falls short: Coverage of compatibility ratings depends on the underlying store’s metadata and ProtonDB’s match. A handful of older GOG installers still need manual prefix tweaks the launcher cannot auto-detect.
Pricing:
- Free: open source, no licence fee
- Paid: none
Platforms: Linux, Windows, macOS
Download: heroicgameslauncher.com
Bottom line: Pick Heroic for Linux game compatibility if you own games on Epic, GOG, or Amazon and want compatibility metadata in the same window you launch from.
5. Bottles — best for auditing Windows software outside the Steam path
Bottles is a Wine prefix manager that treats every Windows app as a sandboxed environment with its own runner, DXVK or VKD3D version, and dependency list. The browse-before-install view shows which runner the community recommends, which dependencies the prefix will pull in, and any known caveats for that title. For games that ship as a standalone Windows installer rather than via a storefront, this is the cleanest way to test the waters.
Where it falls short: Bottles leans more toward general Windows software than dedicated game launching, so per-title gaming metadata is shallower than Lutris’s. First launch of a new bottle can be slow while runners and dependencies download.
Pricing:
- Free: open source, no licence fee
- Paid: none
Platforms: Linux (Flatpak recommended)
Download: usebottles.com
Bottom line: Pick Bottles for Linux game compatibility if the game you care about ships as a raw Windows installer and you want to see the prefix recipe before committing.
6. Protontricks — best for fixing Steam titles that almost work
Protontricks is a small command-line and GUI wrapper that exposes each Steam game’s Proton prefix to the standard Winetricks recipe collection. When a ProtonDB report says “install dotnet48 and the d3dcompiler verb to fix the missing menus”, Protontricks is the tool that actually applies the fix to the right prefix. The Flatpak release works cleanly on Steam Deck and on most desktop distros.
Where it falls short: It is a fixer, not a discovery tool. You still need ProtonDB or a forum thread to tell you which verbs to apply. Some recipes target an older Wine layout and need community-updated steps.
Pricing:
- Free: open source, no licence fee
- Paid: none
Platforms: Linux (Flatpak recommended), Steam Deck
Download: github.com/Matoking/protontricks
Bottom line: Pick Protontricks for Linux game compatibility if a title is one missing DLL or runtime away from working and you need a clean way to apply the fix.
7. Are We Anti-Cheat Yet — best tracker for the anti-cheat question
Are We Anti-Cheat Yet is a single-purpose, community-maintained database that answers the one question Steam Deck Verified hedges on: does this game’s anti-cheat permit Linux play, and is doing so likely to get you banned. Each entry lists the anti-cheat in use, the publisher’s current stance, the support status (Supported, Running, Broken, Denied, Planned), and a source link to the most recent verification. For multiplayer fans, this is the difference between a confident purchase and a chargeback request.
Where it falls short: Single-player titles are out of scope, so the list is small relative to ProtonDB. The site depends on volunteer sourcing, so the freshest weekend release may take days to land.
Pricing:
- Free: open source, no account required
- Paid: none
Platforms: Browser
Download: areweanticheatyet.com
Bottom line: Pick Are We Anti-Cheat Yet for Linux game compatibility if you care about multiplayer titles and want to know whether the anti-cheat will let you play before you launch the store page.
How to pick the right one
If you only use Steam, open ProtonDB and Steam Deck Verified side by side. They cover the bulk of the catalogue and disagree often enough that one is not enough.
If your library spans Epic, GOG, or Amazon, install Heroic Games Launcher and let it pull ratings into the same view you launch from.
If a game is not on a storefront at all, search Lutris for an install recipe first, then fall back to Bottles when no recipe exists.
If a title is borderline and almost works, keep Protontricks on hand for the standard Winetricks fixes that ProtonDB reports tend to recommend.
If you live in multiplayer titles, bookmark Are We Anti-Cheat Yet and check it before any purchase that mentions an online mode.
FAQ
Can I trust a Platinum rating on ProtonDB?
For single-player play, yes. A Platinum rating means most reporters had a working experience on default Proton with no tweaks. For online play with anti-cheat, cross-check with Are We Anti-Cheat Yet before trusting it, because ProtonDB reports often skip the multiplayer mode.
Is Steam Deck Verified the same as Linux compatible?
Not exactly. Deck Verified tests a specific hardware target with controller-first input and 800p performance in mind. A Verified title will almost certainly run on a normal Linux desktop, but a Playable or Unsupported title can still work fine on better hardware with a keyboard and mouse.
Why does the same game work on Steam Deck but not on my desktop Linux install?
The Deck ships a tightly controlled Proton, kernel, and Mesa stack. Desktop distros vary, and an out-of-date Mesa or a Wayland session quirk can break a title that runs cleanly on SteamOS. Match your Proton version to the one in the working ProtonDB report and the gap usually closes.
Do these tools cover Windows-only launchers like Battle.net or Riot?
Lutris and Bottles do, with community-maintained install scripts that wrap the launcher inside a Wine prefix. Anti-cheat for Riot titles in particular remains the gating factor, and Are We Anti-Cheat Yet is the place to verify before going through the install steps.
