If Windows collapses, Linux gaming collapses with it. Linux gaming would lose its upstream source of APIs, drivers, game builds, and compatibility targets.
Proton only exists because Windows exists.
If Windows vanished, studios would not magically pivot to Linux. They'd pivot to consoles, because consoles are where the money is. GPU vendors would not suddenly pour resources into Linux. They'd pour resources into PlayStation, Xbox, Switch successors, and mobile.
Anti‑cheat support exists because Windows set the standard. EAC, BattlEye, Vanguard, Ricochet etc., are designed around the Windows kernel, security model, process isolation, and driver signing. If Windows disappeared, anti‑cheat vendors would not rebuild for Linux. They'd rebuild for consoles.
If you *think* Windows is dying, it's probably because normies are migrating to devices.
Linux is unfriendly. Even if it had current Windows market share, it intentionally doesn't provide a stable kernel ABI. -It would be a burden on GPU drivers, out-of-tree modules, and anything that relies on kernel interfaces. Even outside the kernel, Linux provides no stable userland ABI across distros. -A game built on one distro may fail on another.
Linus replaces subsystems every few years: Alsa to PulseAudio to PipeWire for example. Also X11 to Wayland, udev to systemd-udev, OpenGL to Vulkan. Every transition comes with regressions, new bugs, edge cases, and testing requirements.
Linux users don't pay and devs know it!
They don't just not pay, they are hostile to DRM, paid software, quick to accuse devs of malice, quick to complain about telemetry, participate in piracy more, demand source code, and negative review bomb over ideology.
Game engines for native games were gifted: id Tech, BGE (Blender Game Engine), Torque 3D/Torque 2D, Spring RTS Engine, Turbulenz Engine, Cocos2d, and parts of Unreal Engine 1 are what native Linux games often use. (Even native games could be affected).
Support costs explode when they have to cover every distro, subsystem, and kernel ABI. -Consoles would be the only practical route.
Even Apple doesn't bother with gaming. Windows is like a blessing to gamers.
If anything overtakes Windows, it will be a full-stack OS like Mac, or Harmony. There would be no lucrative Linux market.