Valve has released an update to its project Proton 8.0-2, which is aimed at allowing the launch of Windows-based game applications in Linux and is presented in the Steam catalogue. The project, which is based on the code base of the Wine project, was distributed under the BSD license.
Proton 8.0-2 includes an implementation of DirectX 9/10/11 (based on the DXVK package) and DirectX 12 (based on vkd3d-proton), which works through DirectX calls to the API Vulkan. This package provides an improved support system for gaming controllers and the ability to use full-screen mode despite the screen resolutions supported in games. Additionally, ‘Eventfd Synchronization’ and ‘Futex/FSYNC’ mechanisms are supported to increase the performance of multi-flow games.
The new version of Proton 8.0-2, however, has identified issues in various games such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin: Enhanced Edition, Divinity Origin Al Sin II: Definitive Edition, Path of Exile, Elden Ring, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Memory leaks have been detected at the start of Trackmania and Ubisoft Connect, and the emergency completion problem in the EA launcher has been resolved.
Valve’s Proton 8.0-2 has significantly eased the process of launching Windows-based game applications in Linux, which broadens the flexibility of Linux as an operating system. This update offers a stable gaming experience for Linux users while remaining free under the BSD license.
Sources:
- https://github.com/valvesoftware/Proton/releases/tag/Proton-8.0-0-2c
- https://github.com/valvesoftware/Proton/
- https://github.com/hanskristian-work/vkd3d-proton
- https://github.com/valvesoftware/Proton/wiki/changelog