Forza Horizon 5 now runs on Linux, sort of

What you need to know

• Forza Horizon 5 on PC has been a mixed bag but the Linux community has been trying to get it working.
• After initial problems there now appears to be some progress in the bleeding edge Proton Experimental builds.
• NVIDIA users seem to be getting the rough end of the deal.

Forza Horizon 5 is one of the biggest games of the year and has seen unprecedented player numbers and rave reviews. The PC version it's fair to say has had some issues, but the fact it's available through Steam also opened up the possibility of playing on Linux, and therefore Steam Deck, thanks to Valve's Proton.

Initially, it was a bust, but these folks don't sit still for long and already there have been some positive developments. Improvements in the bleeding edge versions of Proton Experimental have enabled Forza Horizon 5 to be played on Linux with some positive reports.

There is, however, one massive caveat. Those enjoying the most success so far are all using AMD GPUs, while folks using NVIDIA cards are seeing the game crash as per the thread on the Proton Github.

Indeed, I tried Forza Horizon 5 on Linux myself using the same RTX 2080 I'd tried it on Windows with and had the same issue. The game loaded, the benchmark doesn't work, but the game would start and play really well until mid-way through the drive to the festival when it completely freezes.

Of course, the Steam Deck, which was meant to be arriving next month, has now been delayed into 2022, so there's more time for fettling before it arrives. But considering it runs on an AMD GPU and the success already just a few days after launch, we can at least be hopeful for some handheld Forza Horizon 5 next year.