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One of the issues that gaming on Linux has right now, and one of the main reasons why Windows is still the dominant platform for gaming, is because there are still games that resolutely will not work on SteamOS or any other Linux-based distro. And one of the main reasons for that is a lack of support for some of the biggest anti-cheat software in use today, specifically the kernel-level ones.
That means you get no Fortnite, you get no Battlefield, you get no Valorant, you get no FC26 (okay, that one's just for me). Nvidia gets this and has been explicit in the announcement of the new Arm-powered RTX Spark "superchip" for Windows on Arm that is working hard with all the leading anti-cheat developers to ensure the software works out of the box on its systems.
Nvidia has told me that: "We are working closely with game developers to ensure all the top games run great. Our ongoing collaborations are bringing Fortnite, VALORANT, League of Legends, PUBG and more to run on RTX Spark.
"One of the biggest challenges is native ARM anti-cheat that online games rely on. We are working with developers to bring support for major anti cheats like Easy Anti‑Cheat, BattlEye, and Denuvo among others. We'll have even more game news to announce over the coming months."
Nvidia's also told us that devs are working on both Prism-optimised versions of their games as well as wholly native game versions for RTX Spark and Windows on Arm.
RTX Spark is its new family of Nvidia SoCs, targeted at creators, AI devs, and gamers, and the top chip has the same level of graphics power as an RTX 5070. Well, depending on whether you're talking about emulated games or native versions, so actual performance could be above, below, or the same as an RTX 5070. Though Nvidia has noted that GPU-bound games will likely be less impacted by Microsoft's Prism emulation layer, which is kinda promising at least.
We're expecting RTX Spark laptops and mini PCs in the autumn this year, though don't expect the full 20-core CPU, 6188 CUDA core GPU, with 128 GB of unified memory to be cheap. Though we've been told there will be smaller versions of the chips, potentially more gaming-focused versions, from 16 GB all the way up to the top 128 GB versions. Watch this space, I guess.
1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16
2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L
3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed.
4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT
5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3
