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It should also be enabled by default for many games that does in fact have Linux native build.
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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Linux Gaming
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I wish they* would add the ProtonDB rating to the store pages now when you're browsing from the Linux client (or as an account setting). The SteamOS compatibility rating just doesn't tell the whole story.
On the steam deck I have a plugin that shows it when I open the main page for a game.
Maybe it isn't on the storefront though, I can't remember.
Yeah, I've got the same plugin, but I don't think it shows on the store, just in the library.
I know its not the same and would be better to have it officially implemented by Steam, but meanwhile theres an extension you can use for seeing on the web browser (Chrome/Firefox)
That's cool as well, but that doesn't fix the store in gamemode, which is via the in-built browser in Steam. I just don't browse the store via anything other than the app itself, or the mobile app.
Have you run into many games that don't work on Proton? I've yet to encounter a single one myself, though I'm sure they exist.
Just chiming in as someone who's relatively new to Linux gaming for anyone curious or on the fence. In the 4 months or so of being on Arch Linux, I have encountered zero games that don't run despite playing a large variety of games.
I'm not saying they don't exist, and I'm not saying there aren't hiccups or bugs out there, but boy is it a lot closer to "completely seamless" than I think most people imagine.
Yeah definitely agree with this statement, with the one caveat being competitive multiplayer as anti-cheat is still such a mess. I think if Linux grows to at least 5% of gamers, we'll start to see developers take it more seriously. As it stands, a lot of those games have the developers specifically breaking anti-cheat on Linux.
I can see that, but I will point out that even on that front I haven't run into any issues. But here's a quick run down of what I've played and/or proton said is good vs not.
Works: The Finals, Dota, CSGO, deadlock, Arc Raiders, marvel rivals, overwatch 2 (I don't play this), rocket League (I haven't tried on Linux but proton says it's good), dune (haven't played), world of tanks (haven't tried but proton says it's good),
Doesn't work: Valorant, fortnite, rainbow six siege, warzone, rust (?), pubg, Apex legends, delta force.
Without running the numbers but looking at the stats page of steam, it's probably safe to say more than 75% or more of all current players would be unaffected by moving to Linux in terms of compatibility. That's a little unfair because CSGO does like 10 of these games in player count every day.
The non-steam games probably skew this percentage lower but still, it's not like the multiplayer or competitive multiplayer scene is dry and vacant on Linux.
I'm almost certain Fortnite doesn't work, Epic are really anti-Linux for some reason.
Ya sorry, I listed two groups without explaining what the groups meant.
Yeah, given there's the occasional windows game that won't work on a random Windows pc, it feels like we've already reached parity.
I've played a few that required some tinkering, like changing Proton's version.
Yes, there are lots that require fucking around but usually there's a way you can get them to work with a lot of messing around. Even then, sometimes the performance can be trash.
But ya for most popular games it's hard to find ones that don't work. Unless they're using shitty anti cheat software.
Huh weird, that really doesn't match up with my experience in the past couple years. Everything I've tried has Just Worked™ I guess the games I play are usually not very graphic-intensive, that might account for it.
Star Trucker has some stuttering that GE-Proton9-27 solves for me. Pacific Drive also had some crashing issues, played through that on GE-Proton9-25. It doesn't come up heaps, but I'm glad for GE-Proton when it does.
@AwesomeLowlander @princessnorah
Secret World Legends
Catherine Classic
Just 2 examples which with default Proton have at least "issues"
Microsoft did nothing because they thought they had the upper hand, then they started pleasing investors.
Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. Anyway, I’m using Mint "Cinnamon" since Friday and it’s amazing.
Been two years since I've touched Windows. Microsoft isn't needed.
Just a few more games are needed and some applications and I'd be good to go as well.
Really the only things I'm still using Windows for are work (even if I replace my workstation with Linux, which I'm working on doing, I still have to manage the Windows servers), and simulator games (peripherals work in Linux but often need extra fussing to get them working correctly so for now I'm just sticking with Windows on that machine)
You know, I hate using my work laptop. It's so sluggish and horrible to use with Windows on. And it's always the Microsoft software eating up the memory. Teams and edge being the worse offenders.
For server use Linux has been a better option for decades. But, windows was still pretty decent for desktop use. But Windows 10 started a bad trend and Windows 11 has made it far worse. I don't miss it. This system is dual boot, and I've not booted into windows on it, since November.
My work laptop is Mac, which isn't much better when it comes to bloated MS shit, but that's more the corporate world. If Linux would get on board with supporting corporate overlords spying on every minute of every day, we'd have shitty Linux desktop distros at work, too.
It's just that, for what most of us want to do on our computers all day, Microsoft doesn't offer anything. I can browse, I can run my home, stream movies, play games, and tinker with software all arguably better on Linux. Driver support being the only really spotty thing, but OS getting better at an incredible rate. And if I really fucking hated something, I give myself fair odds of being able to make myself a fix for it.
I remember when I first started playing with Linux, must've been around Windows 8? 7? I was like this would be great if I had nostalgia for Windows 3.1 and fumbling around learning DOS (or technically AmigaOS in my case) for the first time, but I wanted stuff to just work better and look better.
But Linux has caught up in every way except corporate bloat, and I love it for every day use. I have an SSD with my old windows installation laying around gathering dust. Thought I'd need it for emergencies. Haven't had an emergency it would help with — ever.
I think baseline Linux is much less CPU and memory intensive (that is before you start running your own user stuff).
If I just leave normal apps running in the background I rarely hear my fans spin up on Linux. But on Windows, I can just boot it, login and then randomly the fans spin up and CPU usage in double digits. Why?
I would agree probably if we ran teams on Linux it would be a resource hog. But you know for work I setup MS SQL server on Linux, and you know even though so far as I can tell they're doing more work on Linux to run it there, it seems to run faster and take less resources on Linux. That is subjective though, since I cannot tell if the usage level on the Linux SQL is comparable to the windows one. But from my limited uses it's definitely lower.
If you start with the OS eating your memory and cycles, there's less for the bloatware you have on a corporate machine to burn.
Same, except seven.
Mint is love. Mint is life.
I like Mint xfce, if it only had Wayland support.
NO FUCKING WONDER!
I was messing around with a new fedora install last night and when I clicked the “Linux compatible “ button nothing changed and I could not figure out why. Everything was just able to be installed. This is great!
The big break through will be when you get many more devices that you can just buy that have steam os.
Nice. Saves a step.
Now I wish there were a way to force Proton games to run in Gamescope. I usually add it as a launch option because it makes some games play nicer with the window manager.
I know it can be done with steamtinkerlaunch, but that is still kind of a workaround.
Global launch options would be HUGE
They are, I don't remember the details but I did something to have global ENV back on proton 4, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of ways now.
I wonder if it will default to Proton-GE or smth, if you install it before you open steam?
You set the version in compatibility options (per Steam, not per game).
Unless they changed something, it won't automatically update GE-Proton though like it does Proton Experimental.
Oh ok, thank you.
I mean, you can* absolutely also set it per game. I only switch over to GE-Proton if there's an issue with a specific game.
You can set the compatibility for all games in the Steam settings. One of the options is "Proton Experimental" which updates automatically and will use the newest version without having to manually select it each time.
That's what I'd like for GE-Proton.
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