Steam Client Now Enables Proton by Default for Games without Native Linux Builds

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.
- 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.
- Same, except seven.
- Just a few more games are needed and some applications and I'd be good to go as well.
Mint is love. Mint is life.
- I like Mint xfce, if it only had Wayland support.

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.
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.
- I've played a few that required some tinkering, like changing Proton's version.
- 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.
- 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.
- @AwesomeLowlander @princessnorah
  Secret World Legends
  Catherine Classic
  Just 2 examples which with default Proton have at least "issues"

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!

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.

The big break through will be when you get many more devices that you can just buy that have steam os.

It should also be enabled by default for many games that does in fact have Linux native build.

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.
- 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.
- Oh ok, thank you.

Oh. Well, no duh.

Did they ever explain why this wasn't on by default before? Was there a practical reason for it at all? It's one of those things you do once and never think about again, but it's weird that you even had to.

I guess maybe they thought that having some games try to launch and fail by default would look bad? They've recently added compatibility ratings to non-SteamOS Linux systems, so maybe that's the difference now? Still a weirdly annoying choice originally, though.

It was because Proton was still very new relatively speaking, the understanding being that it's potentially fussy and buggy enough that only people with an understanding they're running via a compatibility layer should use it to e.g. reduce game refunds.
I actually really liked the choice. Hopefully we can still at least turn SteamPlay off if we want to, and SteamPlay games are clearly labeled as such vs. native Linux versions.
- As far as I understand it the option remain on the menu, they just changed the default.
  I would have been less annoyed at the default being off if the client asked you if you want to switch it on when you click on a non-native game. They instead have the toggle hidden away in their already cluttered and annoying Settings menu, at least on the desktop version.
  Likewise, I think the answer to your issue would be to just give you a warning splash screen when booting under Proton the first time. That's fairly established UX language on Steam, they do the same when you hit the controller compatibility layer for the first time and when you try to play games with small UI elements on handheld.
- Its probly still buggy as fuk. I gave up on it.
I struggled with Steam on Linux to undo enabling Proton on a Linux-native game. I wiped a machine to go back to just the native setting. Still didn't work. Tried hacking the metadata in Steam. Didn't work. Could not disable Proton.
I get it that everyone is thrilled about this. I'm not.
- Steam automatically uses the native version if one is available, unless you override the compatibility tool to be Proton instead of the Linux runtime on a per-game basis. Nothing changed in that regard.
- Right click the game, click settings, click "compatibility" and choose "Linux Runtime" from the drop down.
  If it is not a Linux native game, it will not be an option.
- I never encountered that, but Steam can get weirdly stuck on a Proton update or setting if you start manually messing with its library folders. For as much as people like their contributions to the ecosystem it's still a private, for-profit storefront and they're not particularly keen on you fiddling with it or in supporting you when/if you do.
  That said, I haven't had that issue. In theory Proton shouldn't mess with your native software regardless of your options setting being on or off. Presumably even with it defaulted to on if you switch it off manually things would go back to showing all non-native software as "unavailable" again, right?