Gaming

PS5 Linux runs Steam games via Proton. Performance is solid - 1800p is a sweet spot for many titles.

Steam Installation

Do not use the snap version. Install from the Steam website or via apt with i386 enabled:

# Ubuntu
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install steam

Or download the .deb installer from store.steampowered.com/about and install it directly.

Proton

Use Proton Experimental (bleeding-edge) for best compatibility. For EAC/BattleEye games specifically, try Proton EAC or Proton BE.

Confirmed Working Games

Game	Settings	Notes
CS2	-	Working; see mouse issue below
Halo MCC	4K	90-100fps, multiplayer works
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3	1800p	90+ fps
Forza Horizon 6	1800p high	60fps; Proton Experimental bleeding-edge; add as non-Steam game
World of Warcraft	1080p max	Stable 60fps; install via Battlenet
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor	1080p medium	60fps, no ray tracing
Blades of Fire	1080p max	60+ fps
Another Crab's Treasure	High	Flawless
VOIN	TAA only	Fast and responsive
Call of the Elder Gods	-	Working
Final Fantasy XIV	-	Via XIV Launcher through Steam
007: First Light	Low + FSR Performance	OK
Rocket League	-	Online works; latest Proton
Factorio	-	Runs great
Final Fantasy XVI	4K	60fps with 8GB VRAM; drop to 2K for faster load times
Mafia 3	-	Stutters; theflow barely hits 60fps - known game optimization issue, not PS5-specific

Anti-Cheat

Anti-Cheat	Status	Notes
EAC / BattleEye	~ Partial	Use Proton EAC or Proton BE
EA Javelin (FC 26, BF6)	✗ No Linux support	Blocks Linux outright; no workaround

World of Warcraft via Battlenet

WoW requires Battlenet. Install via Proton:

1. Download battlenet-setup.exe from battle.net
2. Add it as a non-Steam game
3. Install to /home/<user>/Games (shows as Z:/home/<user>/Games in the installer)
4. Launch Battle.net.exe from that folder to play

Performance tuning: single-core CPU performance is the bottleneck in raids (see Gaming Benchmarks for why), not GPU. In Lutris, edit the WoW shortcut, Configure -> Environment Variables, add:

PROTON_FORCE_FSYNC=1
VKD3D_CONFIG=no_upload_h_cb
RADV_PERF_PROFILE=pro

Reported to noticeably help frame times in busy scenes (25-man raids), though single-core-bound content will still dip regardless. Use the cachyos-proton build from Steam for this.

Known Issues

CS2 - Mouse keeps snapping to center

Caused by DualSense being recognized as a controller while connected. Fix via gamescope (add to Steam launch options):

gamescope --force-grab-cursor --immediate-flips -f -w 1080 -h 1080 -W 1920 -H 1080 -r 144 -S stretch -- %command% -fullscreen -w 1080 -h 1080 -refresh 144

Adjust -r 144 and resolution to match your display. Also try disconnecting DualSense before launching.

CS2 - Black screen after Valve logo

Some users on Ubuntu get a black screen after the Valve splash. CS2 is more reliable on CachyOS. If you're on Ubuntu, make sure Mesa is updated (see First Boot steps).

Steam snap version

The snap install of Steam has known issues. Use the .deb from the Steam website instead.

Gaming Benchmarks

Game	Settings	FPS
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands	1080p High	95 avg
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands	1080p Ultra	85 avg
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands	4K Low	28 avg
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands	4K High	OOM crash
Team Fortress 2	4K Max (no MSAA)	60-300

Game Streaming & VR

No VCN hardware encoder (see GPU), and Vulkan video encode is not supported on this GPU (GFX1013) either, so any streaming solution is limited to software (x264) encoding only.

• Steam Link: works, x264 software encode. Reported ~33% CPU usage per core while streaming.
• Sunshine: does not work currently, fails with [h264_vulkan] Encoding of h264 is not supported by this device since it expects a hardware or Vulkan encoder.
• VR (Quest/standalone headsets): WiVRN has had better results than Steam Link or ALVR for PCVR streaming - reported working with Quest 3, audio can be choppy at low bitrate, raise bitrate if pixelation/choppiness shows up.

Local LLMs

PS5 Linux runs local LLMs fine via Open-WebUI. Community has run:

• Gemma4:12B
• Qwen3:14B

16GB shared RAM makes it viable for mid-size models.

Performance Tips

• 1800p is a sweet spot - many games hit 90+ fps at 1800p that struggle at 4K
• Enable fan and CPU/GPU boost via ps5_control before gaming - see Post-Install
• gamescope in TTY (no DE) is the lowest-overhead way to run games - launch gamescope directly from a TTY session
• Use gamescope for FPS limiting and upscaling
• mangohud for an FPS overlay
• Remove idle=halt from cmdline.txt if you notice microstuttering - see GPU