A whole bunch of different Linux gaming distros are teaming up to 'improve the open source gaming ecosystem'

Linux gaming is here to stay, baby. That feels like a good summation of the gaming OS arena of 2025/2026. It's been going from strength to strength, thanks to continual Proton updates, attention garnered from the Legion Go S and the upcoming Steam Machine, and as of today, even official Nvidia GeForce Now support. And now it's getting the active and single-minded focus of a conglomeration of different Linux distributions.

It comes in the form of the Open Gaming Collective (OGC), a group formed, at least in part, of developers for various and somewhat disparate gaming-oriented Linux distros. Developers of these distros, such as those working on Bazzite, Nobara, Asus Linux, PikaOS, and many more, will work together to "a unified set of gaming-focused components used across the Linux ecosystem" (via GamingOnLinux).

The various distros represented aren't all built on the same base OS, either; Nobara and Bazzite, for instance, are Fedora-based, while PikaOS is Debian-based, and ChimeraOS is Arch-based. Ubuntu, the most popular and well-known Linux distribution, is Debian-based, but Fedora tends to be a popular base for gaming distros, and Arch is what the Steam Deck's SteamOS is built on.

In other words, then, OGC has a large enough variety of developers to cover all bases and hopefully improve the overall Linux gaming experience. It should allow developers to work together on shared underpinnings.

A big part of this underpinning will be the shared OGC kernel, which Bazzite explains "operates on an upstream-first approach, meaning all patches shipped by the OGC will be at least in review for eventual inclusion into the Linux kernel. This means better hardware compatibility, fewer duplicated efforts, and a more unified Linux gaming experience for everyone."

For instance Bazzite says it will no longer use Handheld Daemon (HHD) but will instead use InputPlumber, "the same input framework used by SteamOS, ChimeraOS, Nobara, Playtron GameOS, Manjaro Handheld Edition, and CachyOS Handheld Edition."

One possible outcome of these kinds of changes is more Linux attention from game devs and platforms. The more these different operating systems use the same underlying gubbins (a technical term), the easier it should be for game devs and platforms to get software working on them. The effort to reward ratio—effort developing and integrating things into Linux, and a reward of more gamers playing your game or using your platform—should improve as everything becomes less disparate.

Plus, as Bazzite seems to suggest, there's strength in numbers when it comes to likelihood of getting things added into the Linux kernel.

This is just one more thing that's making me seriously reconsider my statement that there's "a way to go until I switch from Windows." GeForce Now on Linux has taken me some of that way, and I'm sure OGC will take me even further. Aw heck, go on then, hold my beer, let's give it another try (seriously).