Don’t get me wrong; gaming on Linux has come a long way in the last few years. A decade ago, getting any game running on Linux that wasn’t designed natively for it was a massive headache at best and impossible at worst. Now, thanks to the efforts from several sources, such as Valve with Proton, it seems like 2026 may be the year of gaming on Linux after all.
But here’s something not everyone knows: when Fedora 44 comes out, people will likely notice improved performance in their games. And the best part is, you won’t need to lift a finger to use it.
Linux gaming still has a syncing problem
It’s not ideal
First, let’s check out why gaming on Linux isn’t quite there yet. Games require synchronization of many threads; when these go out of sync, you’ll see strange graphical or gameplay issues when playing, or even hard crashes. Because games are usually built for Windows, they naturally use the syncing tech that Windows has. This is a problem when bringing games over to Linux using Proton, because developers need to ensure that sync still happens.
The problem is, games on Microsoft’s system can use the Windows NT synchronization tool in the kernel. And because it’s in the kernel, it can handle thousands of requests just fine. Unfortunately, Linux developers previously had to adapt to these sync requests on the software level. Both Wine and Proton had some clever hacks that allowed them to emulate these sync calls, but because Linux lacked native kernel support for the specific way Windows handles them, gamers still suffered from performance bottlenecks.
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NTSYNC will hopefully fix all that
Windows sync problems will likely be a thing of the past
Fortunately, the Linux community has been hard at work making a solution. It’s called NTSYNC, and it was actually released onto the Linux kernel just under a year ago. Its main job is to replicate the Windows NT synchronization system as closely as possible. If done right, it should stop this syncing problem altogether.
To achieve this, NTSYNC sits within the Linux kernel itself. Other solutions have had to try to translate Windows sync calls into something Linux can understand on the fly. Meanwhile, NTSYNC doesn’t need to translate at all; it knows the ‘language’ Windows is using to sync threads and can replicate it on Linux.
Because it’s on the kernel level, there’s no need to pass all the requests over to a software layer to handle. This reduces the amount of strain on the CPU and makes it easier for your computer to ensure everything’s running harmoniously, which, as you might imagine, helps improve your game’s performance.
If you’re using Wine, you’ll likely notice framerate improvements when running Windows software through Wine. Proton already has esync and fsync that can do the same job, so you may not see a drastic jump in performance, but you may notice you can play games that would otherwise be incompatible. Both of these improvements are a pretty big deal, given that Linux distros designed specifically for gaming are taking off. Getting as close to Windows gaming parity as possible would ensure a major win for FOSS operating systems.
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Fedora 44 is getting an automatic NTSYNC feature by default
So you need not do anything
This is where Fedora 44 comes in. If you’ve not heard of it before, Fedora prides itself on being a ‘bleeding edge’ operating system without sacrificing stability. The result is an operating system that’s both recent and ironclad, which makes it a great choice if you want both new features and a PC that won’t crash all the time.
An implementation of NTSYNC has been approved for release with Fedora version 44, with a full release of the operating system arriving around April 14th. While earlier versions of Fedora allowed people to toggle NTSYNC themselves, version 44 will automate the process with zero intervention from you.
When you install an app on Fedora 44 that can use NTSYNC (such as Wine or Steam), it will be pulled in automatically as part of that installation. As such, only those who will use the NTSYNC tech will be offered it. If you want to give NTSYNC a try and see how it improves your performance, keep an eye out for Fedora 44 when it fully releases mid-April.
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Linux gamers will no longer have that syncing feeling
With NTSYNC’s implementation into the Linux kernel, it should improve performance for Wine users and compatibility for Proton users. If you can’t wait to give NTSYNC a try, Fedora 44 is shaping up to be the best way to get it before anyone else.