Proton has been upgraded to version eight, bringing with it fixes for specific games and a boatload of bug fixes to the Steam Deck.
The Steam Deck’s intermediary layer, Proton, which translates Windows applications to Linux, has seen its next big update. While less of a substantial update than 7, Proton 8 brings some specific performance updates, fixes for games and the wider Steam Deck ecosystem.
Proton runs on Vulkan 1.3, and there’s a big warning stating that your device needs to be compatible. But, don’t fret. The Steam Deck has you covered. To find a GPU that doesn’t support Vulkan 1.3, you have to go back to 2013.
Proton is used on desktops running Linux versions of Steam, but for the most part, if you have a modern system, that warning doesn’t apply to you.
Valve works to bring the Steam Deck up to date
The patch notes are quite funny in some cases, as Valve’s Proton team has managed to fix the various bugs caused by developers and publishers. A vague bullet point simply states that they fixed the “2K launcher failure caused by launcher update”. With Linux still being a relatively small audience, a lot of studios miss that crucial updates can kill working apps on devices like the Steam Deck.
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A few games in the list of “now playable” titles have already been working on the Steam Deck, and it’s assumed these are performance increases rather than fixing the games outright. Dead Space (2023) is issued a Gold rating on ProtonDB and Valve themselves rate it as Verified.
Meanwhile, fans of the JRPG series Atelier and other Koei Tecmo games will be pleased to see the list filled with their roster of games. Titles like Atelier Meruru and Blue Reflection should now work out of the box on Steam Deck.
There should be a new update in your Steam Deck’s settings, once you’ve applied it you can follow our guide on how to change Proton versions.
Every game now playable on Steam Deck using Proton 8
Now playable:
- Forspoken
- Samurai Maiden
- Dead Space (2023)
- Creativerse
- Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition
- One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4
- Atelier Meruru
- Atelier Lydie & Suelle ~The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings~
- Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX
- Blue Reflection
- Atelier Rorona ~The Alchemist of Arland~ DX
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV
- ToGather: Island
- WARRIORS OROCHI 3 Ultimate Definitive Edition
- Exceed – Gun Bullet Children
- Gungrave G.O.R.E.
- Chex Quest HD
Every bug now fixed on Steam Deck using Proton 8
- Fixed 2K launcher failure caused by launcher update.
- Fixed Arabic fonts in FIFA 21 and 22.
- Improved CJK font support in many games including NOBUNAGA’S AMBITION: Souzou with Power Up Kit, Stardom 3 and Sword and Fairy 3.
- Improved sleep/resume functionality on Steam Deck for Tiny Tina’s Wonderland.
- Improved multi-touch support.
- Fixed native scrollbar being always visible in Final Fantasy XIV Online launcher.
- Fixed A Plague Tale: Innocence and A Plague Tale: Requiem showing on-screen keyboard when starting the game on the Steam Deck.
- Fixed rendering issues during cutscenes in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.
- Fixed Japanese keyboard input in Final Fantasy XIV Online.
- Fixed Football manager 2023 crashing when trying to return from a player profile.
- Fixed experimental regression: Fall in Labyrinth started crashing on some setups.
- Improved CJK characters rendering in many games including NOBUNAGA’S AMBITION: Souzou with Power Up Kit.
- Fixed Life is Strange Remastered crashing at the end of chapter 2.
- Fixed Alt+Tab not working on Gnome 43.
- Improved force feedback compatibility for BeamNG and Forza Horizon 5.
- Fixed regression with Mortal Kombat X performance.
- Fixed OpenGL launch option for Youropa.
- Fixed raytracing in Crysis Remastered.
- Improved multiplayer support in Company of Heroes III.
- Improved fullscreen support for The Last Blade 2.
- Fixed regression: Minecraft Dungeons was hanging when disconnecting from multiplayer game.
- Fixed Immortals Fenyx Rising missing/out-of-order audio lines in cutscenes.
- Fixed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launcher flickering on Wayland.
- Fixed Story Mode not working in Dead or Alive 6.
- Enabled nvapi for many games.
- Updated wine to 8.0.
- Updated dxvk to v2.1-4-gcaf31033.
- Updated vkd3d-proton to v2.8-84-g08909d98.
- Updated dxvk-nvapi to v0.6.2.
- Updated wine-mono to 7.4.1.
