Bazzite works great. You may want to use XIVLauncher, but it’s not required. If you prefer to use Steam input for gamepad, XIVLauncher can be installed as a Steam compatibility tool.

My gaming laptop runs FFXIV with no performance difference between Bazzite and Windows 10. There was one time Bazzite pushed out an update with broken nvidia drivers, but I was able to roll back easily and they pushed out a fix quickly.

It should run basically the same as on windows. Are you using xivlauncher currently? If not you can disable dalamud if you aren't in to plugins. Xivlauncher will help you manage the compatability tools. You may need try a couple different wine or dxvk versions to find the configuration that works best for you but that is a simple matter of dropdown menus.

Just make sure to back up your client settings first before making the switch. I would use both the backup functionality on the login screen and save the local files.

I have been using the flatpak ffxivlauncher for years and haven't had an issue. Currently on bazzite but have used it on arch and nixos.

The official macOS version is essentially the Windows version with a WINE wrapper.

Sadly it’s a bit outdated (last I checked), with mediocre performance to boot, but luckily the community made their own launcher and wrapper that works very well! You can find it here.

Might be useful to check what versions of tools they install and things they patch, if you ever run into any issues. Although I’m pretty sure the other posts here already linked to all the Linux specific info that’s needed 😁

@garretble Performance difference is imo negligible, Steam's Proton does a great job keeping the performance roughly equal. Plus you don't have rogue Windows processes stealing resources in the background.
For FFXIV specifically I had some tiny mouse input issues under Wayland (or maybe specific to Pop!_OS's Cosmic alpha version), whereas X11 seems more reliable - though I started running the game with mouse locked to window because it'd not register keys when mouse-rotating the camera.

while i can't guarantee great performance without a better idea of your PC specs, if it runs fine on windows for you in all likelihood it should be playable on linux for you too!

i've been playing XIV on endeavourOS for probably the past two years without any major issues i can remember. the only minor thing i've had it do to me lately under some window managers is not properly take focus sometimes on an alt-tab, making it run a little slow until i try it again or raise the window another way.

edit: as far as Bazzite goes i don't have personal experience with it but i've heard good things. if you're new to linux as a whole though, i hear that Linux Mint is probably the easiest to get your feet wet with!

I haven’t tried, but these make it sound promising:

https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/guide-to-final-fantasy-xiv-on-linux/50895

https://linuxvox.com/blog/ffxiv-linux/

https://www.protondb.com/app/39210

If you’re concerned, this is a way to keep Windows around for a while just in case:

• Buy an extra drive
• Take out your Windows drive
• Put in your new drive and install Linux
• If your computer supports having two drives installed (most desktops and some laptops), put the Windows drive back in, and use your BIOS to pick your default boot drive
• When you want it I use the other OS, use your BIOS or a boot drive menu (often F12 during beginning of boot process)

https://www.protondb.com/app/39210

And from what other user say… works quite well. Bazzite would probably be your best bet if you’ve never played around with Linux.

welp now i wanna resub again :3

I’m assuming you don’t have it on Steam? Works wonderful on my LegionGo running SteamOS. I had it running independently on Linux once but had to do the first login on Windows. That was three years ago, so might have been fixed right now.