Does distro really matter for gaming or is it just gamers like these distros like catchy and steam? If I install Zorin on my sons laptop, can we still get the games that are available on other distros as well?
Gaming on Zorin?
- Thread starter Kojack
- Start date
kibasnowpaw
Well-Known Member
Mostly no. The distribution itself does not decide which games you can play.
Zorin OS should be perfectly capable of gaming. Zorin OS 18 is based on Ubuntu 24.04, and its software store supports software from the Zorin and Ubuntu repositories, Flathub and the Snap Store. Zorin also has official instructions for installing Steam, enabling Steam Play/Proton, and using Lutris and Heroic Games Launcher.
I personally game on Ubuntu Server 26.04 with KDE Plasma and X11. I started with a minimal server installation and only installed the desktop, gaming software and other components I actually needed.
That is not necessary for normal users, but it demonstrates that you do not need a special “gaming distribution” to play games on Linux.
I often explain a Linux distribution as being similar to a pre-built package or kit. It contains the Linux kernel, package manager, desktop environment, drivers, default programs and configuration that its developers believe most users will need.
It is technically much more than a ZIP file, but the comparison helps explain the basic idea.
Different distributions mostly give you:
This means a gaming distribution may come with Steam, Wine, Lutris, MangoHud, GameMode, controller support and gaming-related fixes already installed or easily available.
A general-purpose distribution may require you to install some of those things yourself.
However, after the same gaming tools and correct drivers are installed, the actual games normally do not care whether the computer says Zorin, Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, Arch or another mainstream distribution.
Steam uses Proton to run many Windows games on Linux. Proton is essentially a modified Wine environment together with components such as DXVK that translate Windows graphics APIs to Vulkan.
Lutris can manage games from Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle and many older platforms by combining Wine, emulators and compatibility layers.
Heroic provides access to Epic Games, GOG and Amazon libraries and is available as Flatpak, AppImage and several distribution-specific packages.
Flatpak applications are designed to work across many different Linux distributions because they use their own runtimes and can bundle the libraries they need.
Therefore, your son should generally have access to the same Steam, Lutris, Heroic, GOG and Epic games on Zorin as users of other mainstream distributions.
The biggest limitations are normally not the distribution. They are:
Anti-cheat is an important example. Proton supports Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye, but support must often be enabled by the game developer. If the developer does not enable Linux support, changing from Zorin to another distribution normally will not fix it.
Distribution choice can still affect convenience and occasionally performance or compatibility.
A rolling distribution may receive newer kernels, Mesa versions and drivers more quickly. That can help very new hardware or games, but frequent large updates can also introduce new bugs.
Zorin and Ubuntu-based distributions normally focus more on stability and ease of use. That is often a better choice for a child, beginner or family computer where you want the machine to work without constantly maintaining it.
Valve officially supports the Steam Linux client on the latest Ubuntu LTS with common desktops such as GNOME and KDE. Since Zorin is based on Ubuntu, it is generally a sensible and beginner-friendly base for Steam gaming.
So my answer is:
Yes, you can install Zorin on your son’s laptop and still play the games that work on Linux through Steam, Proton, Lutris or Heroic.
A so-called gaming distribution may save you some setup work, but it does not unlock a separate secret library of Linux games.
The hardware, graphics drivers, Proton compatibility and anti-cheat support matter much more than the distribution’s name.
Zorin OS should be perfectly capable of gaming. Zorin OS 18 is based on Ubuntu 24.04, and its software store supports software from the Zorin and Ubuntu repositories, Flathub and the Snap Store. Zorin also has official instructions for installing Steam, enabling Steam Play/Proton, and using Lutris and Heroic Games Launcher.
I personally game on Ubuntu Server 26.04 with KDE Plasma and X11. I started with a minimal server installation and only installed the desktop, gaming software and other components I actually needed.
That is not necessary for normal users, but it demonstrates that you do not need a special “gaming distribution” to play games on Linux.
I often explain a Linux distribution as being similar to a pre-built package or kit. It contains the Linux kernel, package manager, desktop environment, drivers, default programs and configuration that its developers believe most users will need.
It is technically much more than a ZIP file, but the comparison helps explain the basic idea.
Different distributions mostly give you:
- Different software installed by default
- Different desktop environments
- Different package managers
- Different update schedules
- Different default settings
- Different graphical tools
- Different levels of technical support
This means a gaming distribution may come with Steam, Wine, Lutris, MangoHud, GameMode, controller support and gaming-related fixes already installed or easily available.
A general-purpose distribution may require you to install some of those things yourself.
However, after the same gaming tools and correct drivers are installed, the actual games normally do not care whether the computer says Zorin, Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, Arch or another mainstream distribution.
Steam uses Proton to run many Windows games on Linux. Proton is essentially a modified Wine environment together with components such as DXVK that translate Windows graphics APIs to Vulkan.
Lutris can manage games from Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle and many older platforms by combining Wine, emulators and compatibility layers.
Heroic provides access to Epic Games, GOG and Amazon libraries and is available as Flatpak, AppImage and several distribution-specific packages.
Flatpak applications are designed to work across many different Linux distributions because they use their own runtimes and can bundle the libraries they need.
Therefore, your son should generally have access to the same Steam, Lutris, Heroic, GOG and Epic games on Zorin as users of other mainstream distributions.
The biggest limitations are normally not the distribution. They are:
- The laptop’s CPU, GPU and amount of RAM
- Whether the correct graphics drivers are installed
- Whether the game works through Proton or Wine
- Whether the game uses an unsupported anti-cheat system
- Whether the developer has deliberately blocked Linux
- Whether the laptop supports Vulkan
Anti-cheat is an important example. Proton supports Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye, but support must often be enabled by the game developer. If the developer does not enable Linux support, changing from Zorin to another distribution normally will not fix it.
Distribution choice can still affect convenience and occasionally performance or compatibility.
A rolling distribution may receive newer kernels, Mesa versions and drivers more quickly. That can help very new hardware or games, but frequent large updates can also introduce new bugs.
Zorin and Ubuntu-based distributions normally focus more on stability and ease of use. That is often a better choice for a child, beginner or family computer where you want the machine to work without constantly maintaining it.
Valve officially supports the Steam Linux client on the latest Ubuntu LTS with common desktops such as GNOME and KDE. Since Zorin is based on Ubuntu, it is generally a sensible and beginner-friendly base for Steam gaming.
So my answer is:
Yes, you can install Zorin on your son’s laptop and still play the games that work on Linux through Steam, Proton, Lutris or Heroic.
A so-called gaming distribution may save you some setup work, but it does not unlock a separate secret library of Linux games.
The hardware, graphics drivers, Proton compatibility and anti-cheat support matter much more than the distribution’s name.
Yes you can game on ZorinOS as all your games will be running through Proton. The only thing is ZorinOS is based on Ubuntu LTS and LTS distribution are behind on software and libraries. There will be situations were a new version of mesa or the nvidia driver might be required for a game which can be more easily accessible on a rolling release distribution or something like Fedora or Nobara or PikaOS. I have no idea which games your son plays but as long as they aren't the latest games you probably won't be needing to worry about needing the latest mesa or nvidia package versions.
Distro doesn't matter too much. Just stick to something mainstream, or based on such, and you should be good to go.
When I explored gaming, it was largely retro gaming. For that, there are a ton of game emulators and (curiously) they seem to favor Flatpaks. You can use those on any system. While we don't support piracy, it's also not difficult to find ROMs for those old games -- and they don't even take up much space. Like every Atari 2600 game is less than 4 MB combined.
When I explored gaming, it was largely retro gaming. For that, there are a ton of game emulators and (curiously) they seem to favor Flatpaks. You can use those on any system. While we don't support piracy, it's also not difficult to find ROMs for those old games -- and they don't even take up much space. Like every Atari 2600 game is less than 4 MB combined.
Space engine and Minecraft. That's all we need.
@KGIII :-
I'm another one who's into 'retro' gaming.....when I DO play, that is. That, and any halfway decent FPS 'shoot-em-up'. (Doom & Quake are favourites!)
Without needing to pirate anything at all, there's a ton of older games'n'stuff archived (usually with full permissions) over at SourceForge. You just need to spend a bit of time "digging". It's astonishing what can be unearthed on that site!
It's where I found the files for the final release of Nexuiz.....the 'parent' of one of my all-time favourite FPS games, Xonotic.
Both are free, both have Linux-native packages.....and both are amazing (Nexuiz in particular, considering how long ago it was written). There's a huge amount of Linux-native stuff out there, yet "gamers", almost to a man, concentrate solely on the newest, 'heaviest', most bloated (and controlling!) AAA+ titles that are usually coded for Windows ONLY.
It's perfectly possible to have plenty of fun on older, cheaper, lower-spec hardware for a fraction of the cost, yet gaming 'culture' has persuaded these poor saps that you can't have a good time unless you drop thousands and thousands of dollars/pounds/euros on hyper-expensive 'supported' hardware. And they ALL fall for it.....every time.
Don't understand 'em!
Mike.
Last edited:
If you go to the almighty Archive.org, you can find entire ROM sets for older consoles.
Search: "complete atari 2600 rom set archive.org"
That's as much help as I'll offer in public. To be fair, the site is considered a legit electronic library. So, there's an air of legitimacy about it. Also, for many of those old games, getting the rights together for even a small game can be difficult. The companies have sold, merged, split off, and merged again. The copyright holders may not be reachable or may even be dead.
So, that's a stepping stone. It's not quite sailing the high seas, so I'm comfortable sharing that. It's game preservation by dedicated enthusiasts. Heck, my Atari 2600 collection was absurd. As it faded from popularity, I bought so many boxes of games and spare consoles. So, in my case, there's a good chance that I legitimately owned them before eventually discarding them. I think I tried to give it away and only had one person come pick through the games.
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