Steam Makes it Easier to Play Thousands of Windows Games on Linux

Last updated August 29, 2018 By Phillip Prado 25 Comments

It’s no secret that the Linux gaming library offers only a fraction of what the Windows library offers. In fact, many people wouldn’t even consider switching to Linux simply because most of the games they want to play aren’t available on the platform.

At the time of writing this article, Linux has just over 5,000 games available on Steam compared to the library’s almost 27,000 total games. Now, 5,000 games may be a lot, but it isn’t 27,000 games, that’s for sure.

And though almost every new indie game seems to launch with a Linux release, we are still left without a way to play many Triple-A titles. For me, though there are many titles I would love the opportunity to play, this has never been a make-or-break problem since almost all of my favorite titles are available on Linux since I primarily play indie and retro games anyway.

Meet Proton: a WINE Fork by Steam

Now, that problem is a thing of the past since this week Valve announced a new update to Steam Play that adds a forked version of Wine to the Linux Steam clients called Proton. Yes, the tool is open-source, and Valve has made the source code available on Github. The feature is still in beta though, so you must opt into the beta Steam client in order to take advantage of this functionality.

With proton, more Windows games are available for Linux on Steam

What does that actually mean for us Linux users? In short, it means that Linux computers can now play all 27,000 of those games without needing to configure something like PlayOnLinux or Lutris to do so! Which, let me tell you, can be quite the headache at times.

The more complicated answer to this is that it sounds too good to be true for a reason. Though, in theory, you can play literally every Windows game on Linux this way, there is only a short list of games that are officially supported at launch, including DOOM, Final Fantasy VI, Tekken 7, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, and several more.

You can play all Windows games on Linux (in theory)

Though the list only has about 30 games thus far, you can force enable Steam to install and play any game through Proton by marking the “Enable Steam Play for all titles” checkbox. But don’t get your hopes too high. They do not guarantee the stability and performance you may be hoping for, so keep your expectations reasonable.

As per this report, there are over a thousand Windows games that are playable on Linux. Follow this tutorial to learn how to enable Steam Play beta right now.

Experiencing Proton: Not as bad as I expected

For example, I installed a few moderately taxing games to put Proton through its paces. One of which was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and in the two hours I played the game, it only crashed once, and it was almost immediately after an autosave point during the tutorial.

I have an Nvidia Gtx 1050 Ti, so I was able to play the game at 1080p with high settings, and I didn’t see a single problem outside of that one crash. The only negative feedback I really have is that the framerate was not nearly as high as it would have been if it was a native game. I got above 60 frames 90% of the time, but I admit it could have been better.

Every other game that I have installed and launched has also worked flawlessly, granted I haven’t played any of them for an extended amount of time yet. Some games I installed include The Forest, Dead Rising 4 and Assassin’s Creed II (can you tell I like horror games?).

Why is Steam (still) betting on Linux?

Now, this is all fine and dandy, but why did this happen? Why would Valve spend the time, money, and resources needed to implement something like this? I like to think they did so because they value the Linux community, but if I am honest, I don’t believe we had anything to do with it.

If I had to put money on it, I would say Valve has developed Proton because they haven’t given up on Steam machines yet. And since Steam OS is running on Linux, it is in their best interest financially to invest in something like this. The more games available on Steam OS, the more people might be willing to buy a Steam Machine.

Maybe I am wrong, but I bet this means we will see a new wave of Steam machines coming in the not-so-distant future. Maybe we will see them in one year, or perhaps we won’t see them for another five, who knows!

Either way, all I know is that I am beyond excited to finally play the games from my Steam library that I have slowly accumulated over the years from all of the Humble Bundles, promo codes, and random times I bought a game on sale just in case I wanted to try to get it running in Lutris.

Excited for more gaming on Linux?

What do you think? Are you excited about this, or are you afraid fewer developers will create native Linux games because there is almost no need to now? Does Valve love the Linux community, or do they love money? Let us know what you think in the comment section below, and check back in for more FOSS content like this.

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About Phillip Prado

Phillip Prado is an avid follower of all things tech, culture, and art. Not only is he an all-around geek, he has a BA in Intercultural Studies and considers himself a serial hobbyist. He loves hiking, cycling, poetry, video games, and movies. But no matter what his passions are there is only one thing he loves more than Linux and FOSS: coffee. You can find him (nearly) everywhere on the web as @phillipprado.

To answer why Steam is (probably) still betting on Linux… Gabe N has already gone on record saying (hope I am paraphrasing it right) that he suspects MS is looking to become the single-source Windows software provider via their MS Store by deprecating Win32 to push everyone to UWP, which they would be able to lock down like iOS. This would make Steam, Origin, GOG, etc., go the way of Netscape.

Betting on Linux isn’t about the love of free (libre) software for Steam, as Steam exists to distribute non-Libre software, including Valve’s own closed-source titles, including some heavyweight DRM. It’s not about love for Linux or its users, either; Steam is a business, after all.

What I think Steam is doing is protecting their game sales (whether they be on Windows or not) by making sure MS will never have the leverage to push people into their nascent walled garden. I have no doubt that MS would do it in a second if they thought they could get away with it. If Linux is a legitimate gaming OS, MS will not be able to pull it off. MS can only do it if people keep thinking they NEED Windows and must put up with anything MS dishes out because there is no alternative.

The irony is that forward-thinking software publishers like Steam/Valve don’t need to have significant Linux sales to justify the added cost of developing for Linux. If it lets them develop the software they want and sell it how they want, whether independently, through Steam, or whatever else they may want, it protects their bottom line. If they don’t want to toe Microsoft’s line the way mobile devs must to develop for iOS, it makes sense to make sure that there’s competition.

There are a lot of people out there who would love to switch to Linux, but they’re held in Windows prison because something they feel they must have won’t work in Linux. A lot of them are gamers, and a lot of them have said that it’s only their gaming that keeps them tied to Windows, as the other stuff for which people use PCs work fine natively in Linux with the programs Linux has already. It’s hard to have faith in “build it and they will come,” but I think there’s more than a kernel of truth in that in terms of Linux software development. Linux is not just an enclave of people who think all software should be free in both senses of the word– a lot of us are just users who want to use PCs and for whom Windows 10 is just not going to cut it.

If software devs don’t want to develop for Linux natively, at least I’d hope they’d consider developing a Windows game that also works with WINE or Proton by design (instead of just developing for Windows without any concern for Linux and letting the WINE/Steam devs worry about whether it works in Linux). Expanding their potential market is good, right?

I for one have sworn off buying any Windows software that won’t work in Linux. I prefer native Linux software, of course, but if it works nicely with WINE or Proton, I’ll take it. I’ve bought more games in the last year than ever before, all of which work on Linux, most natively. I have one on Proton and two (of the ones I bought within the year… there are more that I bought before that) WINE right now, and I will surely be adding many more. So much for the idea that Linux users never want to pay for anything!

Elder Scrolls 4 is a terrible game to use to test the stability of non windows machines because it randomly crashes on windows. That game is buggy as hell.

Steam Play улучшает поддержку Windows-игр для Linux

Новая версия Steam Play доступна в виде открытой бета-версии и это означает, что все пользователи Linux, которые используют Steam, могут принять участие в тестировании новой функции.

Valve выпустила Steam Play еще в 2010 году, чтобы позволить геймерам играть в купленные игры на устройствах Windows, Linux или Mac OS X без необходимости оплаты по отдельности за каждую версию игры.

Не все игры Steam поддерживают данную функцию, но уже 3000 игр поддерживали ее с тех пор, как она была представлена восемь лет назад.

Одной из главных задач Valve в последнее время было улучшение совместимости с Linux. Компания внесла свой вклад в разработку Wine, который является прослойкой для запуска Windows игр и программ в среде Linux, и перешла к интеграции наработанных инструментов в клиент Steam, что уже позволяет запускать некоторые Windows игры в среде Linux.

Новая бета-версия Steam Play включает в себя модифицированную версию Wine, которой компания Valve Software дала название Proton, опубликовав его исходный код. Proton привносит поддержку Windows игр в операционные системы Linux. Valve перечисляет следующие возможности механизма Proton:

• Пользователи Linux могут запускать Windows игры, которые непосредственно не предлагались в Steam для Linux, т.е те игры для которых в Steam не осуществлялась поддержка Linux систем. Игры поддерживают Steamworks и OpenVR.
• DirectX 11 и 12 основаны на Vulkan, что улучшает совместимость игр и снижает влияние на производительность.
• Улучшения поддержки полноэкранного режима.
• Улучшения поддержки игровых контроллеров.
• Улучшение производительности многопоточных игр по сравнению с оригинальным Wine.

Доступен официальный список игр, который поддерживается в этой бета-версии:

• Beat Saber
• Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
• Doki Doki Literature Club!
• DOOM
• DOOM II: Hell on Earth
• DOOM VFR
• Fallout Shelter
• FATE
• FINAL FANTASY VI
• Geometry Dash
• Google Earth VR
• Into The Breach
• Magic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
• Magic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013
• Mount & Blade
• Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
• NieR: Automata
• PAYDAY: The Heist
• QUAKE
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• Tekken 7
• The Last Remnant
• Tropico 4
• Ultimate Doom
• Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® — Dark Crusade
• Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® — Soulstorm

Для стабильной работы Proton необходимо использование самых последних видеодрайверов Nvidia или Intel/AMD из состава Mesa 18.2.0.

Valve Software планирует расширить поддержку игр и на данный момент тестирует весь каталог Steam для определения работоспособности игр и устранения возможных проблем совместимости.

Пользователи могут воспользоваться функцией «Platform Wishlisting» с помощью которой разработчики определяют интерес к играм пользователей на различных платформах.

Пользователи Linux, использующие Steam, могут присоединиться к бета-версии и протестировать новые функции следующим образом:

1. Откройте клиент Steam в Linux.
2. В интерфейсе приложения выберите Steam > Настройки.
3. Аккаунт > Бета тестирование > Сменить — в выпадающем списке выберите Steam Beta Update.
4. Согласитесь на перезапуск приложения для применения новых настроек. Дождитесь обновления Steam до бета версии.

Для того что бы принять участие в тестировании всех Windows игр в Steam для Linux, нужно в Настройках перейти в раздел Steam Play и включить следующие опции: «Enable Steam Play for all titles» и «Use this tool instead of game-specific selections from Steam», если вы хотите протестировать игры на новых версиях Proton.

Просто выберите нужную игру для установки. Steam выведет уведомление при запуске игры, которое укажет на то, что игра будет запущена с использованием Steam Play.

Valve Software продолжает свой путь к Linux и улучшает совместимость Linux и Steam. Все же не стоит ожидать того, что все игры будут работать отлично с использованием новых механизмов совместимости, но есть высокая вероятность работы большинства Windows игр в Linux.

Valve Software отмечает, что некоторые игры могут никогда не заработать, например, из-за сложных схем DRM защиты. Тем не менее, улучшения, которые объявила Valve, являются важным шагом на пути к лучшей поддержке игр в Linux, особенно когда речь заходит о каталоге Steam, который сильно ориентирован на Windows.

Play windows games on steam

Steam offers thousands of games you can share with friends and family to play together online. Discover the best of them in our Remote Play Together Sale & Livestreams, now through Monday March 29th at 10am Pacific. Watch today’s livestreaming marathon to witness Remote Play Together in action, and even join our livestreamed games when we share links in chat on Steam, YouTube, and Twitch.

Yes, links! New to Steam’s Remote Play Together titles, you can now invite anyone to join your local multiplayer game with just a URL! Up to four players can instantly join in the fun. Only the host needs to own and install the game, while additional players can now connect through Steam Remote Play streaming technology using Steam or the lightweight Steam Link app. No account is needed to join your game from Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS or Android devices.

You want details? Here’s the drill:

Jump into any of [url]your own Remote Play Together games[/url] with local multiplayer support, or shop for new ones featuring hundreds of discounts all weekend long. Then, grab a link to your game from the Friends list and send it to anyone however you like.

Once your friend receives your link, they’ll be invited to install and run the Steam Link app, if they don’t already have it or the Steam desktop app installed. A USB gaming controller will be handy for those joining on a computer. No controller? You can grant your friend access to share control of your keyboard and/or mouse. On a phone or tablet, the touch screen can be used.