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I recently built a gaming PC, and I'm just wondering if putting Ubuntu (or any linux OS for that matter) onto a PC that is going to be used mainly for gaming is a bad/good idea. I know a lot of games are only available for Windows, the ones I play being Skyrim and Battlefield. Would I still be able to play those games using WINE? Or would I be better off using Windows? I have not installed any OS yet, and I don't plan on pirating Windows to run the two operating systems side by side. It would either be Ubuntu or Windows. Not both. So, please help?

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    You can run Windows and Ubuntu side by side without pirating.
    – Dan
    May 30, 2014 at 14:11
  • I know you can, I just don't have the money at the moment to purchase an OS. In order to run them side by side I would have to illegally download it instead of buying it. Which I don't intend on doing.
    – user286732
    Jun 12, 2014 at 23:58

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Would I still be able to play those games using WINE?

No. Well technically the answer could be yes but the experience is horrible. BF2 works with wine (platinum rating). BF3 does not (bronze/garbage rating). Skyrim also has a platinum rating. BUT as with anything wine related: getting it to work well will take some effort.

Or would I be better off using Windows?

Yes. But do not dismiss dual booting so quickly: Ubuntu takes time to learn (like any operating system you start the 1st time). So you probably want to have a fall-back for the time being. Why not opt for dual boot?

Gaming on Linux is possible. And I mean gaming with high quality games; not the games currently in the games section of any Linux system (mahjongg, chess, bubble clones etc). Gaming on Linux currently is equal to Steam and Humble. The Linux games list on Steam is growing and growing. And it has some cool games too. Unreal Tournament is coming soon. The Unreal engine is coming to Steam/Linux too. That means this list of games might be coming to Linux too (speculation on my part ;) )

If you like Civilization V you are in luck: their supported OS list got updated with "Linux" on steam.

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With the arrival of Steam, Humble Store, GOG (few months away), Desura and many other outlets serving games for Linux and specifically Ubuntu and its derivatives, I believe that the Ubuntu platform is ready for use as a gaming OS.

Some numbers: The Steam Linux library has grown to 484 games for Linux. The Humble Store has around 260 games for Linux. Desura has 556 games for Linux. The Wine HQ platinum and gold ratings have 3874 games.

Some recent games that are confirmed to come on Linux: Metro 2033, Metro Last Light, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, The Witcher 2, Stronghold 3 Gold, Wasteland 2, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Civilization V, and many more.

In addition, nearly all games announced on Kickstarter and other crowd funding platforms are coming/already are available for Linux. Games like Wasteland 2, Pillars of Eternity, Road Redemption, Shadowrun Returns, and many more crowd funded games support Linux.

Yes, some big games do not feature on Linux yet, but many of them are coming in the near future. For these, you can use Wine or PlayOnLinux (depends on Wine) or CrossOver Linux (from the supporters of Wine. This is a commercial software with excellent support for Windows games. And, it will cost just a fraction of what you will pay for Windows).

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Sorry to say mate, but as of now it is definitely a bad idea, as I am crazy about games as well as linux. right now only few .exe based applications can be used on to linux / ubuntu using wine. however it can't support majority of games.

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The two games your are mentioning have some support on wine. However not all games do. Please check the following links for reference:

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=2424

http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=13667

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Normally Ubuntu is not for gaming but still there are many open-source games for linux.

You can install Steam which make you enable for Awesome games ( Paid+Free games). For more information visit here:- http://store.steampowered.com/

Even you got an option, Install wine which enable for playing windows games.

Install it on Ubuntu Software Center:

Install via the software center

Or even trough terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine1.7 winetricks
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  • I would install "playonlinux" and not wine itself (the 1st installs both wine and some extra tools).
    – Rinzwind
    May 30, 2014 at 7:37

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