Native Linux Support for FiveM — It’s Time

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Hello, community and FiveM developers.

Since native Linux support for FiveM is ignored and mostly essential, I wish to start a serious discussion about it. I know this has been talked of in the past before.

Many users, including myself and countless others, are already moving to Linux or are seriously considering doing so for everyday use and gaming when Windows 10 support ends October 15, 2025. People are being turned off by Windows 11’s requirements and forced, flawed updates.

With Proton, Steam Deck, and Wine offering excellent interoperability, Linux gaming has expanded significantly in the meanwhile. While servers run Linux and GTA V plays smoothly on Wine/DXVK, what about the FiveM client? Windows-only. That is a huge growth and adoption bottleneck. It would be good if FiveM could at least run on the major distros (Arch, Ubuntu, Fedora) without limitations.

  • Linux is used by a portion of your community for control, performance, and privacy.
  • We use Linux servers, but in order to connect, we either dual-boot or employ workarounds.
  • This prevents developers and skilled users from taking full involvement.
  • Ignoring Linux is a strategic error and a missed potential for significant growth.

This isn’t about starting again or achieving perfect parity right away. It’s about embarking on the adventure. Some concepts:

  • Release a client or launcher that is compatible with Wine, either officially or experimentally.
  • Refactor any dependencies that are exclusive to Windows that prevent cross-platform compatibility.
  • Support rendering backends for DXVK and Vulkan.
  • Offer a roadmap or test build that covers Linux support.
  • Involve the Linux community; allow us to contribute, test, and troubleshoot.

FiveM has a fantastic community and is a wonderful platform. It must embrace cross-platform compatibility, beginning with Linux.

I’m interested in knowing your plans and opinions.

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Porting something to Linux isn’t done because the immense growth opportunity. It literally not done for the exact opposite reason that an overwhelming majority of players, especially new players, will come from windows based systems.

It’s also not trivial to refactor many of the pieces of FiveM, the AC being chief among them which cannot be outsourced to the community for obvious security reasons.

I’d rather the small, overwhelmed team focus on making FiveM better for the majority instead of pleasing a few with a high volume project.

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Hello!

“Porting something to Linux isn’t done because the immense growth opportunity. It literally not done for the exact opposite reason…”

1. The reasoning behind “majority = Windows” is naive.

Indeed, Windows constitutes the majority of the current player base, but that ignores the trajectory. The emergence of:

  • Proton and DXVK (which enable Linux’s Vulkan to run DirectX games),
  • A device that only runs Linux, such as the Steam Deck
  • Backlash against Windows 11 because of
  • TPM, secure boot, and compulsory upgrades
    Microsoft’s growing lock-in to cloud and AI

…demonstrates that neglecting Linux is equivalent to neglecting the next growth wave. Smart platforms make ahead investments.

2. Technical Obstacles Can Be Overcome

The claim that porting is unnecessarily complicated is untrue. Rewriting the entire engine from scratch isn’t the difficult part; instead, it’s:

  • Examining the components that are exclusive to Windows: especially anything that uses the COM, DirectX, or Win32 API interfaces.
  • Platform-specific layer abstraction: Refactor subsystems such as graphics, audio, and input into interfaces that can be used with Linux and Win32 (Wayland, ALSA/PulseAudio, Vulkan).
  • **AC" (anti-cheat) module: Indeed, this is the most delicate area. However, Linux-native and Proton compatibility modes are now supported by both EAC and BattleEye. It is possible to create an official Wine-based launcher with secure IPC and kernel bypassable stubs.

3. On Day 1, complete parity is not required.

Shipping a 1:1 native client tomorrow is not the goal here. A strategy should be:

  • Stage 1: Support for the Wine compatibility layer (a simple initial stage that primarily involves debugging and patching Windows functions).
  • Stage 2: Native renderer or DXVK support for the Vulkan backend.
  • Optional or experimental native client for major distributions (beginning with Ubuntu/Arch/Fedora) is the third stage.

Linux users are looking for long-term, sustainable solutions, not fast fixes or miracles.

4. The “small team” justification is insufficient for scaling, which is why it is crucial to modularize and open-source non-sensitive components. The community should be allowed to assist with the following while internal developers concentrate on AC, networking, and core sync:

  • The mobility of the launcher
  • The abstraction of the UI toolkit
  • Troubleshooting Proton peculiarities

A Wine/Proton experiment of FiveM could be reached in less than a few months. And that says it a lot.

Ignoring Linux is strategic stagnation, besides many games support MacOS now as well.

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The likelihood of this happening is very slim lol

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Did you use chatgpt to write all that nonsense but if you want to believe the “it’s the year for Linux”, you can go right ahead. Just don’t get upset when FiveM never comes to Linux, largely for the reasons I mentioned previously.

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I am hoping it is really taken into consideration giving that Microsoft is reckless, has no care for their users anymore and is going fully-cloud and locked down. Moreover, Windows 10 support has no workarounds after 15 October.

People are using Windows not because necessity - but because OEMs force it on devices.

How many would use Windows if they had a choice to install either Linux or Windows when they first started the PC?

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No, I didn’t use ChatGPT to write my points — though I do engage in technical discussions with other professionals, including using tools to validate ideas. Yet I have not seen that yet, unfortunately. I would like to have a professional discussion with someone who knows what I am talking about. I have done countless days and nights of research and found that it is possible.

I specifically tried to creare a Wine-compatible version of FiveM by adding all Visual C++ Redistributables, environments etc.

And to be crystal clear, this isn’t some idealistic “year of the Linux desktop”. It’s a factual assessment of platform evolution. Proton, DXVK, the Steam Deck.

FiveM runs on Linux servers. GTA V runs near flawlessly via DXVK. The missing piece is the FiveM client — and not because it’s impossible, but because the architecture (especially AC systems) was designed without abstraction in mind. Many EAC games already run fine under Linux.

If you think the conversation around Linux support is “nonsense,” then I’d respectfully suggest you’re underestimating the trajectory of this industry — and how cross-platform compatibility is becoming a demand, not a luxury.

You’d be surprised how much of your life is already running on Linux.

From your router to your smart TV, from the servers powering FiveM, YouTube to half the infrastructure behind modern games — Linux is already everywhere. It’s not some fringe OS; it’s the foundation of nearly every embedded, cloud, and enterprise system today.

Android is based on Linux - yet Rockstar Games has clients for Android, but not for the full desktop OS.

And if you gave openSUSE Tumbleweed a real shot, maybe because hey (let’s say you hate Ubuntu and maybe once tried to avoid Windows), you’d realize just how good it is. It’s fast, modern, and more capable than most people realize.

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Dude, I think you don’t understand why the majority of people don’t use Linux. It just isn’t feasible and is not user friendly. No one wants to constantly fiddle with translation applications and troubleshoot more than they actually play the game. Most of this community can’t even navigate a file explorer, how do you think they will handle even the easiest of Linux distros. SteamOS is also not a windows replacement. Embedded applications are no where near analogous to this conversation.

Windows 11 is not going to drive the masses to Linux, I promise you. No idea what Android has to do with anything, saying it’s Linux is like saying Apple is based on Linux also with completely different hardware and device specifications.

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GPU passthrough would be the best option sadly. It works great when you have it up and running - though it’s painful to setup.

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That has nothing to do with the reasons why FiveM isn’t available on Linux and also furthers my point, the amount of people willing to virtualize anything is even smaller than the limited amount of users on Linux.

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This is where you’re falling short on several levels. I’m tempted to say you haven’t used Linux at all - or at the very least, haven’t touched a modern distribution with a graphical software center like GNOME Software or Discover on KDE. That would explain your view, although I’ll admit that’s a bit subjective.

To begin with, the saying that Linux “isn’t feasible” or “not user friendly” has been disproved for more than ten years. Have you recently used Fedora KDE, Linux Mint, or openSUSE Tumbleweed? Better GUI package managers, integrated driver support, contemporary installers, and stability that frequently surpasses Windows are now features of these distributions. In 2025, the myth that Linux is just for engineers in basements is no longer valid.

Second, a lot of users aren’t technical, yeah. This is exactly the reason Valve created SteamOS and why Proton is now able to run a huge number of AAA games with no user input. Users just install, launch, and play—they no longer need to tweak. You have unknowingly used Linux if you have ever used a Steam Deck.

To claim that embedded Linux is unimportant is to misunderstand the point, as it demonstrates the scalability, resilience, and accessibility of Linux. It surpasses Windows in many ways, including flexibility, reliability, and user control, therefore it’s not a “replacement for Windows” in the sense of UI similarities. Indeed, Android is a Linux-based operating system with a proprietary kernel. That isn’t a comparable to the BSD-based macOS. Completely different architecture.

There is more to Windows 11 than just individuals “switching.” The issue is that TPM, CPU whitelists, and silent update control are causing users to be forced out. When forced to pay for new hardware or put up with Microsoft’s cloud-first lockdowns, many will search for alternatives. That makes the door open.

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You act like I haven’t used Linux before. Trust me, I have and actually still do, just not for everyday tasks because windows is the most adopted and supported when I need to get work done. I also use MaxOS daily.

You need to get out of your own bubble. As I said, steamos is not a full OS replacement for everyday use. Heaven forbid the steps I need to get any other platform loaded, which I have and is non-trivial for a normal user.

When everyone switches from Linux because of a windows 11 thing, send me your PayPal. I’ll donate the sum of 10 dollars per day until that happens. You under estimate the mass populace in their willingness to switch to something they understand even less

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I’ve been part of a community that has been on the FiveM platform since late 2019.

In November of last year, following the purchase of a new laptop, I transitioned to Linux Mint full-time due to privacy concerns and feeling like I was constantly fighting my computer over updates, settings, etc.

Since then, I’ve been unable to play with my friends on our FiveM server.

It has been a sacrifice that I’ve unfortunately had to come to terms with, but surely I’m not the only person in the FiveM community who has had to deal with this.

I have been able to load up and play any game I’ve wanted to, outside of FiveM, including multiplayer ones that have anti-cheat software, with zero issues and, occasionally, better performance than I was even getting on Windows.

Some of us in the community are willing to take on the burden of assisting with porting FiveM over to Linux, why not use that talent? The sensitive portions, like the anticheat itself, I understand that needing to be handled with care. But the rest of it, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t at least try.

A FiveM client that is native to Linux would only grow the broader CFX community in the long term. Folks that want to use Windows, will still use Windows. But, at least they would have the choice to change OS’s if they wanted or needed to.

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You keep repeating the same dismissive talking points while pretending to be above the conversation, yet you’re missing the entire trajectory of where computing is headed.

Linux isn’t struggling because it’s unusable — it’s sidelined because of OEM preloads, marketing monopolies, and habit. Windows isn’t more “adopted” because it’s better — it’s just forced onto devices by default. That’s not a technical merit, that’s a sneaky distribution advantage. It almost is self-explanatory.

Steam Deck, SteamOS, Proton, Vulkan, Flatpak — these aren’t hypotheticals. They’re functional, user-facing, and actively shifting the norm. And I don’t need to be in a “bubble” to see the industry momentum moving in that direction.

You say you “still use Linux” — great. But that doesn’t make you immune to having outdated opinions. SteamOS is being used as a daily OS by a rapidly growing user base, and that includes gaming, development, and general use. You don’t have to believe in the shift for it to happen.

As for your PayPal, no one asked for charity. But you might want to keep it handy. Because when corporations go full-cloud, full-lockdown, and full-DRM (Microsoft already is), the people you claim “don’t understand Linux” are going to learn real fast when their OS starts working against them.

Enjoy macOS.

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You keep repeating the same points. This is a discussion tested by time with the same arguments over decades. I’ll lean on actual experience.

I didn’t realize you were the authority on where computing is headed? You should go out and talk to normal people who have very little computer sense. People who are raised on Chromebook internet apps instead of full operating systems. Maybe visit a tech repair shop and ask what the average consumer is like.

I’m not saying Linux is bad or hasn’t improved, I’m saying there’s still a huge overhead for normal, everyday users to adopt it whether it’s OEM or not.

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You’re right about one thing — this discussion has gone on for decades. But so has every major disruption before it became mainstream. “Tested by time” isn’t a dismissal — it’s proof that persistence drives progress.

I never claimed to be an authority. I just happen to follow the actual shifts: Proton integration, anti-cheat compatibility layers being developed, government and enterprise adoption of Linux-based OSes, and a growing number of users who are already transitioning due to Windows 11’s restrictions. That’s not theory.

As for “normal people” — the majority are already using Linux-based systems every day: Android phones, Chromebooks, routers, smart TVs, Steam Decks. They may not know it, but they’re doing it. The experience argument only holds water if people actually had a choice. Give them the choice at install time, not post-purchase, and let’s see what happens.

I agree — Linux still has barriers. But unlike Windows, it’s being actively worked on by its own community to lower those barriers without sacrificing freedom or control.

Anyway, this isn’t about arguing. It’s about seeing what’s possible instead of clinging to the status quo just because it’s familiar. If your experience says otherwise, that is fair. But don’t confuse inertia with inevitability.

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Saying a tv, router and steam deck are equivalent desktop replacements is laughable. When was the last time you ran a word processor on your router or tv, now imagine trying to teach someone with no experience to run Doom on their Samsung fridge. Even a smart phone is pushing it. That is not a flavor of Linux the constitutes a desktop replacement nor is the UI and operations anywhere similar to the Linux distros you are suggesting.

This is why your argument that everyone can just use Linux is misplaced. It’s not a logical argument. It has nothing to do with inertia or inevitability. Linux accounts for less than 5% of all desktop operating systems.

You can argue that Linux support is very much appreciated and future development should attempt to accommodate it, but not because theirs a financial loss if they don’t.

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Absolutely. But times are changing. The barrier with the new excuse of the AntiCheat, and these in its operation walk on the ledge of invading the privacy of the user and its OS. At the same time it is true that there are hundreds of thousands of Cheaters, even a market of Cheats of payment, and a whole underworld of scammers and other shit.
Now it would be the future that companies as big and great as Rockstar and Steam agree to generate a good and effective system that at least is a defense against most of the Cheats. At the same time, hopefully the market and the business will move to healthier ways and not to force users to use a software by obligation (Windows) but the fair and logical thing would be ported games for multiplatform. I think that in the next few years, maybe 5 to 10 years will start a massive wave of multiplatform games natively, Steam platforms like Proton help a lot but we must be honest that Wine emulation and others will never be like a native game. It is time for companies to find a healthier business with users, without forcing them to use specific OS versions, and see that there is a big market and an excellent business being creative, generating mechanics and gameplay where the user will surely keep buying or spending money.

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Sounds like you just want to play games on console which is exactly what you are describing. Companies already make their games for multiple platforms when able.

But that is also a huge additional cost and overhead that could degrade overall game development if the studio can accommodate, just like trying to support the enormous amount desktop configurations, Linux not withstanding.

Cheating is not something that’s easy to solve, if you don’t think companies, especially live service games, aren’t trying to combat it, that’s naive. There is no magic bullet any one company or even one game can implement that would constitute an effective defense.

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There’s zero benefit in using development time to add this support. If you know your way around Linux, you know how to set up dual boot to play FiveM. I’d rather have a working anti-cheat and more features than support for an OS with fewer users than macOS.

Windows has about 72% of the market share, macOS is around 16%, and Linux at approximately 4%.

source: Windows vs macOS vs Linux | Crucial EU.