{"id":338169,"date":"2021-09-10T15:00:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/"},"modified":"2021-09-10T15:00:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T12:00:28","slug":"what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"#What Is Proton for Steam, and How Does It Affect Gaming on Linux?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26d7e76c811\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a26d7e76c811\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/#What_Is_Proton_Compatibility_Layer\" >What Is Proton Compatibility Layer?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/#What_Can_You_Play_with_Proton\" >What Can You Play with Proton?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/#How_to_Use_Proton\" >How to Use Proton<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/#The_Future_of_Linux_Gaming_with_Proton\" >The Future of Linux Gaming with Proton<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#What Is Proton for Steam, and How Does It Affect Gaming on Linux?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-753147 size-full alignnone\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/What-is-proton-and-why-is-it-important.png?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/What-is-proton-and-why-is-it-important.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/What-is-proton-and-why-is-it-important.png?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Valve Proton and Linux\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Remember the days when gaming on Linux\u00a0was hard to imagine? Thanks to the Proton compatibility layer and firms focusing on Linux, gaming on Linux has gotten much better over the past few years. But what exactly is Proton, and why is it important for Linux gaming?<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_Proton_Compatibility_Layer\"><\/span>What Is Proton Compatibility Layer?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To understand what Proton is, first, we need to understand two technologies\u2014DirectX and Vulkan.<br \/>Think of them as driver <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lications for gaming. They\u2019re Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that help your computer communicate with graphics cards.<\/p>\n<p>While DirectX is a Microsoft-developed and Windows-specific closed source API, Linux uses the open-source Vulkan API. There are many other APIs like OpenGL, but let\u2019s focus on Vulkan and DirectX only.<\/p>\n<p>As DirectX is a Windows-only API and as Windows is one of the most popular operating systems globally, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> developers focus on optimizing their games on DirectX. Since Windows games can\u2019t be played on Linux, here\u2019s where Proton steps in.<\/p>\n<p>In simple terms, the Valve-made Proton is a Wine fork that uses libraries like DXVK (DirectX over Vulkan) to translate DirectX games to Vulkan. Think of it this way. Games talk to your graphics card using DirectX. DirectX gathers resources and allocates them to games.\u00a0DirectX contains Direct3D (which is responsible for rendering 3D graphics in apps). Proton converts these Direct3D calls to Vulkan-understandable calls using the libraries.<\/p>\n<p>The end result is a Windows-only game running on a Linux PC.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Can_You_Play_with_Proton\"><\/span>What Can You Play with Proton?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When Proton was launched in 2018, it could play only 27 games. However, in three years, the list of supported games has grown to about 16,000.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-753145 size-full alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ProtonDB-games-reports.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"ProtonDB statistics\" width=\"945\" height=\"573\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Proton is limited, however, in that it can\u2019t play games with built-in anti-cheat mechanisms. As the name suggests, anti-cheat mechanisms in games prevent players from cheating. With the rise of cheaters, gaming firms have partnered with anti-cheat mechanism providers to improve the gaming experience. Some of the popular anti-cheat providers are BattlEye and Easy by Epic Games.<\/p>\n<p>To find out what games are currently supported, head over to the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.protondb.com\">official ProtonDB website<\/a>. As of this writing, over 77% of the top 1,000 games are playable using Proton, in which over 21% run Natively (don\u2019t require Proton), 21% are rated Platinum (run out of the box), 56% Gold (run after tweaks), 66% Silver (run with minor issues and tweaks), and 71% Bronze (run but crash frequently).<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Use_Proton\"><\/span>How to Use Proton<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To enable Proton, head over to Steam Settings &gt; Steam Play &gt; Enable Steam Play.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-753143 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Screenshot-from-2021-09-02-09-00-41-e1631025089148.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Steam Settings\" width=\"650\" height=\"429\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for a detailed guide on running Windows games on Linux using Proton, we have you covered.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Future_of_Linux_Gaming_with_Proton\"><\/span>The Future of Linux Gaming with Proton<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s no denying that Desktop Linux has gotten better over the past decade. However, one area where GNU\/Linux was severely lacking was gaming\u2014until Proton showed up.<\/p>\n<p>Proton holds the key to revolutionizing Linux gaming to the point where Linux could compete with Windows. One development that could also help boost gaming on Linux is the<br \/>Steam Deck,\u00a0which was announced in July of 2021.<\/p>\n<p>For starters, Steam Deck is a handheld gaming console from Valve that runs Arch Linux (SteamOS with KDE Plasma, to be precise) and uses Proton to run Windows games. What\u2019s exciting is that Valve knows that games with anti-cheat features won\u2019t work on the console. As a result, it\u2019s working with the developers of Easy and BattlEye to make it possible to run Windows games that use the same anti-cheat mechanisms.<\/p>\n<p>The fact that Linux is open-source means that if Valve manages to get Easy\u2019s and BattlEye\u2019s support on SteamOS, the same could potentially be ported to other Linux distros. That would eventually strengthen the desktop Linux gaming experience overall.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s too early to predict exactly how things will change, but for now, the future of Linux gaming looks bright.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/752212\/what-is-proton-for-steam-and-how-does-it-affect-gaming-on-linux\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#What Is Proton for Steam, and How Does It Affect Gaming on Linux?&#8221; Remember the days when gaming on Linux\u00a0was hard to imagine? Thanks to the Proton compatibility layer and firms focusing on Linux, gaming on Linux has gotten much better over the past few years. But what exactly is Proton, and why is it&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":338170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/What-is-proton-and-why-is-it-important.png?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}