CachyOS founder Peter Jung declined to join the newly formed Open Gaming Collective, citing internal drama at founding member Bazzite and concerns about Web3 company Playtron's involvement.
The Open Gaming Collective launched earlier this week, uniting major Linux gaming distributions including Bazzite, Nobara, ChimeraOS, and Playtron. The group aims to centralize development efforts on kernel improvements, input managers, and gaming packages to reduce duplicated work across the fragmented Linux gaming ecosystem.
CachyOS, which alongside Bazzite has become a top choice for Windows gaming refugees seeking Linux alternatives, was notably absent from the collective's membership list. Jung explained the decision on Reddit, stating the initiative appeared rushed following Bazzite's internal management issues.
"To us all this 'initiative' looked like an emergency, rushed thing, so that Bazzite finds new kernel maintainers after kicking the maintainer who basically made most integration work for them," Jung wrote.
The reference points to Antheas Kapenekakis, former Bazzite maintainer and creator of the Handheld Daemon project, who was removed from the project late last year for repeated Code of Conduct violations.
The drama extends to hardware vendor GPD, which found itself caught between Bazzite's internal conflicts. GPD had been collaborating with Bazzite since the Win 4 handheld, with Antheas originally reaching out to establish the partnership. The Chinese manufacturer recently claimed an official Bazzite adaptation was coming for its Win 5 device, only for Bazzite founder Kyle Gospodnetich to deny the collaboration and ask GPD to stop using the Bazzite name.
Jung also expressed reservations about Playtron's involvement in the collective. "We neither want to be associated with 'Playtron' too," he stated, referencing the company behind GameOS, a SteamOS competitor tied to the Web3 handheld SuiPlay0x1. Playtron sits on the OGC board alongside other members including Fyra Labs, PikaOS, ShadowBlip, and Asus Linux.
Technical differences further separate CachyOS from the collective's focus. While many OGC members originate from handheld PC backgrounds, with Bazzite and ChimeraOS beginning as SteamOS alternatives for non-Valve devices, CachyOS maintains a broader desktop orientation despite offering a handheld version.
The Open Gaming Collective employs an "upstream-first approach," submitting improvements directly to source projects like the mainline Linux kernel rather than maintaining permanent forks. Bazzite will phase out its custom Handheld Daemon in favor of InputPlumber, a unified input remapper already used by SteamOS, ChimeraOS, and Nobara.
Industry analysts estimate the global PC gaming market generates approximately $40 billion annually, with Microsoft collecting licensing fees on most systems. Linux gaming distributions like those in the collective offer zero-cost alternatives that reportedly deliver performance within 5% of Windows on identical hardware.
Microsoft continues to expand its gaming ecosystem with initiatives like a free ad-supported tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming and partnerships to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to smart TVs.
Bazzite's underlying technology, built on Universal Blue's image-based deployment system, provides atomic updates that either succeed completely or fail without corrupting the system. This approach addresses dependency issues that have historically plagued Linux users.
Despite the drama, the Open Gaming Collective represents a major coordination effort among Linux gaming distributions, bringing together several prominent projects that had previously worked independently. The collective's success could challenge Microsoft's dominance in the PC gaming market, though anti-cheat software compatibility remains a persistent obstacle for multiplayer titles like the highly anticipated GTA 6.
CachyOS will continue development independently, avoiding what Jung characterized as unnecessary political entanglements. The distribution's solid performance and out-of-the-box support have established it as a reliable alternative for gamers transitioning from Windows, regardless of collective membership.
