Sid Meier's Civilization VII is almost here, and it's shaping up to be a considerably more console-friendly experience than its predecessor was at launch. With Firaxis and 2K Games placing importance on fluid gamepad control, the future of Civ 7 on Steam Deck (and other PC handhelds like the ROG Ally and Legion GO) already looked bright. And today it looks even brighter with the game's newly updated PC requirements for the native Linux version.

Here's the baseline hardware you'll need to run the official Linux version of Civilization VII. This setup should deliver 1080p/30FPS at the low graphics quality preset:

Curiously, the minimum requirements for the Windows version shows an Nvidia GTX 1050, while on Linux the developer lists a GTX 1060. Still, it's refreshing to see a PC game in 2025 that isn't abandoning millions of gamers with steep minimum requirements like hardware-level ray tracing.

How does this translate for Steam Deck users? At first glance, it may seem like they're out of luck. After all, the equivalent desktop GPUs to the Steam Deck are widely acknowledged as being the Nvidia GTX 1050Ti or the AMD Radeon RX 570. Those are just below the graphics cards listed for Civ 7's minimum Linux requirements. But consider that Steam Deck is also running at a lower resolution -- 1280x800 versus the desktop standard of 1920x1080. Thus, I feel confident saying Civ 7 will run smoothly on Deck -- it should even end up becoming Steam Deck certified.

And don't worry, Ubuntu is not a hard requirement. Rather, people running Ubuntu should ensure they're using 22.04 or higher, and that's mainly down to having updated software libraries to ensure a reliable gaming experience on Steam. Certainly, any current Linux distro (like Fedora, Zorin OS, Bazzite, or Mint) running a modern kernel should fit the bill.

As Firaxis did with Civilization VI, the developer is once again gracing Linux users with a dedicated version of Civilization VII. (MacOS users will also get a dedicated port, provided the Mac is powered by Apple Silicon). It's honestly a surprising decision given the state of Valve's Proton, the compatibility layer that helps Windows games run (and run well) on Linux and the SteamOS-powered Steam Deck.

When Civ 6 released in 2018, Steam Proton was in its first few months of existence, the Steam Deck didn't exist, and the state of Linux gaming had barely begun its positive upward trajectory. A native Linux version certainly made sense then, especially for a game that was -- at the time it launched -- a decidedly PC-forward experience.

Firaxis doesn't need to do this in 2025, just as Hello Games didn't need to produce a constant stream of major content updates for No Man's Sky after the game had more than earned its years-long comeback story. But goodwill goes a long way.

There's another reason, though. Proton isn't foolproof or bulletproof. We frequently see game updates that break the fragile state of compatibility with Linux. Sometimes this results in degraded performance; sometimes it results in the game no longer running at all.

With a dedicated Linux version, there is no guesswork about which Proton version to use. No unintentional breakage. The developer is in full control of ensuring gamers have the best experience possible. And with Linux gaming on the rise, this is a good look for game developers to have.

Civ 7 releases February 11, 2025, and I'm very much looking forward to testing performance of both the Linux native version and the Steam Proton version.