Over 2500 Windows games now run in Linux, thanks to Proton

[MEC-777]

 

It hasn't been very long since Proton was introduced and released as an automatic compatibility layer to allow Windows-only games to run in Linux. And now, over 2500 Windows games have been reported to run in Linux, and the list will keep growing. (The number stands at 2676 as of typing this). 

 

To bring some perspective to this, that is about half the total number of games reported on to the protondb website. Still, that's over 2500 Windows-only games that work, that haven't even been officially supported yet.  

 

From https://www.protondb.com/ :

Quote

 

The goal of ProtonDB is to gather reports from other gamers as they test games with Proton on Linux and provide aggregate scores of how well games perform. A growing pool of suggestions provides tweaks that you can try to get games working while Proton continues development. In addition to this, you may explore the Steam game catalog on this site to browse and discover a wide range of titles that were previously unavailable for use on Linux.

 

 

Check out the site for more information and to see a comprehensive list of games with a metal-rating system to show how well each games works, from 'near-perfect' to 'works with some issue's to 'doesn't work at all'. 

 

My thoughts:

This is awesome to hear. I wasn't expecting that many games to work without official support this soon. Gaming on Linux is on the rise and it's also now far easier than it's ever been in the past, thanks to Proton and the people at Steam. IMO, this is a great stride forward in showing that Linux is serious contender for a mainstream OS. 

 

Sources:

https://www.protondb.com/

https://www.techpowerup.com/249008/two-months-after-proton-over-2-500-windows-games-work-on-linux-through-steam-play

[WereCatf]

I made use of Proton myself recently: I have gotten a whole bunch of all sorts of stupid games on Steam that I have zero intention of playing, but I wanted the free trading-cards you get, if you play the game long enough. I have this Intel Atom-based mini-PC that I am not actively using for anything, so I installed Linux on it, then Steam, set up remote-control via VNC and let those games run there and collect my cards for me Interestingly, most of the games worked and there were only a handful that didn't, though it's likely they didn't work because of the shitty iGPU on that thing.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

this is great news. i hate Windows 10 so the sooner all of my stuff runs on Linux the better. 

[Doobeedoo]

While I'm glad it's improving and I do look forward for it to completely support all games with equal performance like Windows and other productivity software, I still find it very hard to become mainstream OS though. First, for those to happen it will take effort, time and support from devs. Second, fragmentation of Linux distros and certain quirks how it works that differs a lot vs Windows for average consumers to accept and feel comfortable. 

[Bananasplit_00]

most of what i want to play dosnt run last time i checked, but there probably has been one or two new versions since then so i guess imma boot up my G5 and give it a try  

[JoeCoke]

I have been toying with Ubuntu 18.04 in hopes of switching one day, and I can back it up, proton is amazing. Way more games in my library worked than what I expected. And this is just the beginning. Linux as a solid gaming platform is coming, and fast. Can't wait to see where we'll be in a year or two. Already most of the games I care for are running.

 

Now if only Adobe Premiere would run on Linux... Then I'd be so close to ditching Windows. Because I will NOT go to Windows 10.

[Trixanity]

Isn't this just a glorified Wine implementation? What's changed to make this any better?

[JoeCoke]

11 minutes ago, Trixanity said:

Isn't this just a glorified Wine implementation? What's changed to make this any better?

It's one click and you don't have to mess with settings. It's a million times better for non Linux people (like me and the vast majority of people).

[aezakmi]

Still can't run fucking Fallout 4 or Skyrim, FML.

[LAwLz]

1 hour ago, aezakmi said:

Still can't run fucking Fallout 4 or Skyrim, FML.

Skyrim has a gold rating so it should run well. 

Fallout 4 seems to have some issues though. Most of which seems fixed by disabling esync but that does come with a performance penalty. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Trixanity said:

Isn't this just a glorified Wine implementation? What's changed to make this any better?

They really did an Apple on this one and took someone else's free stuff and made is 1000x better. 

[MEC-777]

3 hours ago, aezakmi said:

Still can't run fucking Fallout 4 or Skyrim, FML.

Skyrim has been playable on Linux for quite a few years now. Though now it should just run with one click just as it does on Windows. 

 

Mind-you, Skyrim is not without it's known issues in Windows, lol. 

[AlTech]

Yay! .

 

Now I just need a way to run VS (and a few other games) and other stuff in Linux and I'll be able to move to Linux full time.

[Princess Luna]

Well SteamOS was a decent enough alternative if Microsoft screwed all up, which seemed like on Win8.

 

Nowadays though I am pretty sure Microsoft knows better and Windows 10 is by all means an actually good gaming platform, I don't personally see much appeal, as I have never been much into Linux... but like stated having alternatives only does us good, regardless what we use.

[mynameisjuan]

44 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

but like stated having alternatives only does us good, regardless what we use.

Not always. The whole under sell competitors works up to a certain point. But having a $100+ OS or a free option is bad for the market. People who pay for the OS "tends" to get good quality apps because people developing for a paid OS are willing to pay for apps. As people move to a free OS and devs move as well they begin to develop then realize no one tends to pay on linux. This pushes developers back as they need to make money to for their efforts. This can be seen on Android with tops apps only developed for IOS. 

 

Linux will never rise in market share because of this reason. While being a great browser and gaming OS now, the lack of quality apps will move people back. I use Linux on almost every machine but I still have Windows 10 machines for specific applications. Over all Windows is a more solid OS than linux in the desktop world no matter what hardcore linux fans say (I am a hardcore linux fan)

 

Proton is a great step and I accept it with open arms but this means nothing in the market.

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, mynameisjuan said:

Proton is a great step and I accept it with open arms but this means nothing in the market.

It does mean Microsoft can't just keep pushing it's luck being pretty much the only company to still charge for an OS nowadays.

[mynameisjuan]

2 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

It does mean Microsoft can't just keep pushing it's luck being pretty much the only company to still charge for an OS nowadays.

As long as its driver support and productivity apps, hell, number of apps period are still king, damn right it can. 

[AlTech]

9 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

 

It hasn't been very long since Proton was introduced and released as an automatic compatibility layer to allow Windows-only games to run in Linux. And now, over 2500 Windows games have been reported to run in Linux, and the list will keep growing. (The number stands at 2676 as of typing this). 

I just noticed that Proton isn't open source which is kind of sad

 Although I know its mostly Wine and stuff like that.

 

Edit: Oh okay. I stand corrected.

 

Proton is open source.

[MEC-777]

38 minutes ago, mynameisjuan said:

 

Linux will never rise in market share because of this reason. While being a great browser and gaming OS now, the lack of quality apps will move people back. I use Linux on almost every machine but I still have Windows 10 machines for specific applications. Over all Windows is a more solid OS than linux in the desktop world no matter what hardcore linux fans say (I am a hardcore linux fan)

It will rise if improvements and steps like this keep happening and MS keeps making foolish decisions that keep pushing people away. I am amazed at what Linux has become compared to what it was when I first started using it about 6 years ago. I have seen people switch to Linux, cold-turkey, from windows and these are not tech-savvy people, and they love it and have no problem with it. A big part of the lack of market share, IMO, is 2 main things; awareness and willingness to change/learn something a bit different and new. That being said, it's not even all that different from the perspective of how to use the GUI on a fundamental level. 

 

I'm not saying it's going to change over night. It is going to still take a long-ass time, as most big changes do. I am also a realist.  But I wouldn't say it will "never" rise. MS is treading on thin ice for many people I know who are on the verge of making the change and Linux is also on the verge of becoming exactly what they need. Again, may not happen over night, but I have seen significant change over the last 6 years and especially in the last 2 with regards to people's attitudes towards Linux among the PC and PC gaming communities. I see a lot more interested people with open minds to it now and a lot less resistance, in general, to the idea of Linux becoming a mainstream OS. 

 

I fully understand your points and they are good ones. Just throwing my two cents out there.  

[Misanthrope]

This is nice news. It would have been amazing news if this happened when it should have, 4 years ago when the Steam Machines were supposed to come out originally.

Once more all of the momentum of good faith and interest they gathered when initially announcing their push for Steam OS and Steam Boxes and their entire embrace of Linux was mostly squandered by Valve applying Valve time to fuck around with a fucking failure of a controller.

[asus killer]

i have mixed feelings, it's great but... as this only perpetuates windows, because this are not native Linux games, they are windows games that run on Linux. What i wanted to see was games made for Linux so we could all let Windows be a business thing. And worst it seems (correct me if i'm wrong) to perpetuate another gaming cancer, Steam, and it's monopoly and huge margins. 

So Yeaahh, but ohhhhh

[pipnina]

39 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

I just noticed that Proton isn't open source which is kind of sad

 Although I know its mostly Wine and stuff like that.

 

Seems to be open source to me. Looks like a slightly modified GPL2

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/blob/proton_3.16/LICENSE.proton

 

19 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

This is nice news. It would have been amazing news if this happened when it should have, 4 years ago when the Steam Machines were supposed to come out originally.

Once more all of the momentum of good faith and interest they gathered when initially announcing their push for Steam OS and Steam Boxes and their entire embrace of Linux was mostly squandered by Valve applying Valve time to fuck around with a fucking failure of a controller.

Worth bearing in mind that proton's components have been in development for over two years, and only just got released into the steam client two months back. They were likely waiting on their Linux driver work (which AFAIK was started in 2013 for the steam machines) to be mature enough for proton to be useful.

 

I read in an interview in a magazine about quantum computers years back, a scientist who said (regarding why quantum computers are taking so long) "Science does not move at the speed of the media". Likewise, software projects cannot always be moving at the speed of the internet. How long do yo think each Windows version is in development for before users even suspect it might be announced? Probably a good few years.

 

The point is, we don't know what Valve is working on, now or ever, until they release it to us. That's the way corporations work, but Valve to an extreme. They could be working on literally anything right now, mundane or mind-blowing, and we won't know anything about it until we have it in our hands.

[Canada EH]

9 hours ago, firelighter487 said:

i hate Windows 10

dont we all

 

but what could we do?

but we can do now!

[AlTech]

10 minutes ago, pipnina said:

Seems to be open source to me. Looks like a slightly modified GPL2

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/blob/proton_3.16/LICENSE.proton

Just noticed.

[yian88]

The biggest linux problem for desktop is not what people think.

These are the biggest issues i found with linux that if they are not solved linux cant evolve, thats what linux needs is evolution, not marketing or just games or just x, y,z software, linux needs to become a platform, not just a kernel with hacked togheter parts.

 

https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.the.desktop.current.html