I am looking for help on how to run closed source / pirated games on linux within a virtual machine. I would like to start by saying if I could walk into a shop and buy with cash, a game on a CD like in the old days I would. I have recently become very privacy conscious and until I figure out a way to anonymously and privately purchase things like this I am going to stick with pirating. Also, it is helping me to archive content as everything seems to be moving online and I want to stick with offline applications / media etc in my control.

Now, I am familiar with virtualbox but of course, it is no good for gaming. I have read about other applications that offer much better performance with support for GPU passthrough or similar (but how does this affect the security side of things when running pirated games). Forgive me, this is all quite new to me.

What I want is a virtual machine capable of gaming so that I can more safely run pirated games on linux. Also, I am very new to linux and some help in how I should actually go about running games on linux in the first place. I do not want to just install steam because it has closed source elements and being more privacy conscious now, I’m not sure I want to. Though I am aware I can use the proton layer to enable gaming support which I believe is fully open source. For my purposes lutris sounds like it may be the route to go. Thoughts on this welcome.

As a side note, I am thinking of signing up to GOG as they, to me, seem like a better alternative to steam where I can actually own a DRM free copy of a game that I buy. On a pirating note I thought locating signed, hash checked GOG installers to be a good option for security for dipping my toe into pirating games on linux. I am much, much more comfortable with detecting and removing malware in a windows ecosystem. Linux, completely foreign. So I am trying to be careful.

Once I get fully set up I plan to buy the games I enjoy on GOG, I think that will be the path I can be most comfortable with. At the end of the day I will own a DRM free copy of the game itself. That is the best I can do where I cannot get it on physical media I think. I already do this for CD’s and DVD’s etc.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

  • Helix 🧬@feddit.orgEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    You can run Steam in Firejail and only give it access to the folders it needs. The same goes for games. Almost no penalty in execution speed.

    Steam already runs games in a bubblewrap sandbox as far as I know.

    If you use GoG, you can install Heroic Launcher, which is open source. Then you can wrap the games you download with it in Firejail aswell.

    You can also run it in Flatpak and restrict folder access with Flatseal, but I often had issues with the Flatpak installation of Steam.

    If you have the money and can buy a DRM free game, please do so. Many games on Steam by Indie developers also have no DRM or only Steamworks DRM which can be circumvented by a sjngle .dll (or .so) replacement. Support Indie creators, but certainly do pirate games from larger studios.

    • nootux@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      Thank you for the suggestion of firejail. I will add it to my research list. Flatpak is something I am getting more familiar with already beginning to identify how it places restrictions on things compared to a system application even during my short experience of linux so far.

      Although there are still privacy concerns, I can see myself preferring to buy games through GOG, any games that I do enjoy I will be purchasing because ethically I want to support the content creators for the things I enjoy and own the stuff I purchase. There was a time I’d pirate and just not care, but I have matured, I do care now. I want to support those in ethical alignment and who create the things that I enjoy. It is thanks to pirating I have a much more diverse taste and will probably buy more than someone who did not pirate in the first place. Plus all the recommendations I have made over the years to others who listen to my advice who then make purchases.

      In the same way, once I find my footing and if I can find means to do so fitting with my privacy concerns I should like to donate to the projects that provide me with the things I find useful, for me. Like with linux mint and the open source software I use within. For now, I am spreading the word and helping others, getting more people involved where I can. Perhaps they can more easily donate where I cannot at the moment. Until I figure out the likes of crypto currency and means of anonymous purchase thereof, basically trying to find a private way to transfer money in a digital world my contribution is to the few I know, to help them into the world of open source and away from this big tech dominated dystopian future hell.

      So yeah, I’m not just pirating to get stuff for free, it is more complicated than that.

      Thank you for your thoughts and recommendations.