Bazzite is a Fedora-based Linux distribution designed to be similar to Valve's SteamOS version 3.0. It offers support for handheld PC devices, including the Steam Deck. Bazzite is named after the mineral of the same name, as Fedora Atomic Desktops historically had used a mineral naming scheme. It aims to deliver a seamless out-of-the-box experience for both casual and advanced Linux gamers.
History Bazzite started in December 2022 as a personal project of Kyle Gospodnetich. Bazzite was, according to Gospodnetich “born out of my love for Linux and my love for gaming” and remained in its initial stages until early February 2023. The project was later brought into Universal Blue after Kyle was invited to join the organization. Since then Bazzite has been under Universal Blue with Kyle Gospodnetich as its approver and maintainer.
Then Bazzite 1.0 released back in November of 2023 as a custom image of Fedora 38, optimized for Linux gaming on PC and Steam Deck.
As of version 41 (based on Fedora 41), Bazzite supports "most x86_64 PCs from the last decade" as well as numerous gaming handhelds, including the Asus ROG Ally or the Lenovo Legion Go.
Features
Bazzite provides a gaming-focused Linux experience with out-of-the-box support for platforms like Steam, Lutris, and the Heroic Games Launcher. It includes builds optimized for the Steam Deck and other handheld PCs, featuring controller support and hardware integration. Built on Fedora's rpm-ostree system, Bazzite uses an immutable design with atomic updates and rollback functionality. It supports both GNOME and KDE Plasma desktops, and comes with preinstalled proprietary Nvidia drivers as well as support for the Mesa 3D stack. Bazzite uses a Flatpak-based, sandboxed application ecosystem.
Installation As of latest Bazzite releases (44.20260902), a PC with at least 2 GHz quad-core processor, 8 GB of RAM, a graphics card that can utilize Vulkan 1.3 or higher, and 50 GB of free space in GPT-partitioned storage on a solid-state drive (SSDs) is recommended as a minimum system requirement. Only x86_64 architecture is officially supported.
Live images are the typical and the only official way for users to try and install Bazzite. They are provided by Bazzite on the website, where users can select the images with either KDE Plasma or GNOME, and whether to have preinstalled Nvidia drivers, and burnt to a DVD or USB Drive and then booted. Users can then use the Anaconda installer to install Bazzite on the hard drive.
Editions Bazzite is available in three main editions tailored for different devices and use cases.
Desktop Edition Bazzite Desktop Edition is the main edition of the operating system. It is specifically focused for desktops and laptops with a focus on gaming with preinstalled utilities such as Steam.
Handheld Edition (Bazzite-Deck) Bazzite-Deck is designed for handheld PCs and Home Theater PC setups. Similar to the experience offered from SteamOS for the Steam Deck, Bazzite-Deck gives users a controller-friendly environment and console-like experience via pre-installed Steam Gaming Mode. It shares many packages that SteamOS includes, so that after installation is finished, it is ready for gaming.
Developer Experience (Bazzite-DX) Bazzite Developer Experience (stylized as "Developer eXperience") targets software developers. This edition is installed by using its rebasing feature to rebase the current Bazzite installation. It comes preinstalled with Docker, Visual Studio Code, and container-centric terminal emulator.
Development Bazzite was built by Kyle Gospodnetich in 2023 as a personal project. Later on he merged the project with Universal Blue. The project is focused on creating custom, immutable operating system images based on the Fedora Atomic Desktops which are GNOME and KDE Plasma. It aims to be “ready-to-use” delivering pre-installed applications such as Steam and Lutris, as well as system drivers and custom tweaks directly into the base system image when it is installed.
Bazzite relies on containerization to maintain its immutable design. Therefore, it lessens the risk of tampering with the core system and enables atomic rollbacks if the user wants to revert to a stable state of the operating system. Bazzite utilizes rpm-ostree for image-based updates and atomic rollbacks, alongside Distrobox and Flatpak for package management.
Community
Since its initial release, Bazzite has garnered a following because of its design on creating the best gaming OS. Many users agree that Bazzite is a viable operating system because it contains less or no bloatware and its gaming performance matches that of Windows. Eurogamer said: "Bazzite provides a great SteamOS-like experience for Windows handheld users." Most gaming handhelds use Windows or SteamOS, but Bazzite is a feasible alternative because of its immutable design preventing users from ruining their operating system and its console-like experience.
As of late September 2026, nearly 100 thousand people are actively using the different editions of Bazzite and is still rising
Bazzite has official accounts in Reddit, X (Twitter), BlueSky, Lemmy, and in Discord. There is a Universal Blue forum where announcements and updates are posted.
Releases The official release of Bazzite was version 1.0.0 back in 2023. Ever since the Bazzite team has steadily released several versions supporting the desktop and handheld versions.
In August 2024, Bazzite 3.7.0 was the last version released with a version number, changing the version numbering scheme to match upstream Fedora version starting from Bazzite 41 in April 2025. +VersionRelease DateKernelGNOMEKDE Plasma4402 / 09 / 20266.19 OGC (desktop) / 7.2 OGC (Deck/ Handheld)506.64320 / 04 / 20267.2.3-ogc3.1496.54219 / 10 / 20256.13.9-103486.3.44109 / 04 / 20256.11.x476.240 (3.7.0)28 / 08 / 20246.9.x466.140 (3.0.0)24 / 04 / 20246.8.x466.02.3.023 / 02 / 20246.7.x455.272.0.208 / 11 / 20236.5.x455.271.3.012 / 10 / 20236.4.x445.271.0.017 / 08 / 20236.4.x445.27
References and notes
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