Valve's in-house runtime environment Proton has received numerous far-reaching adjustments, optimizations and error corrections with version 7.0-4, so that more games can be played on the Valve Steam Deck. Titles like Elden Ring (review) and FFXIV are getting fixes, and the DirectX-to-Vulkan translator DXVK is getting an update.
Proton, Wine and Mesa for Linux gaming
Based on Wine Mono 7.3.0, the “DirectX to Vulkan translator” DXVK 1.10.3, VKD3D-Proton 2.60-1 and DXVK-NVAPI 0.5.4 Proton 7.0-4 continue to improve the gaming experience on SteamOS 3.3 and all other Linux distributions with appropriate repositories. According to the SteamDB games database, almost 2,100 games have now been rated Steam Deck Verified by Valve.
How exactly are the The editors examined the criteria for the “Steam Deck Verified” certificate and how they are weighted in October last year.
- Tested games: 6.449
- Games that are Steam Deck Verified: 2,057
- Games that are playable with Steam Deck: 2,665
- Games that are not currently playable: 1,727
Among the games that are Steam Deck Verified, i.e. that meet all the criteria for smooth operation on the game console, there are several AAA Games like the dystopian Death Stranding (review) or the dark horror survival game The Evil Within (review).
The RPG milestones The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (test) and Elden Ring can also be found in the “Steam Deck Verified” list and therefore run without restrictions on gaming PCs with Linux distribution and the Steam Deck.
While Wine follows the current 7.x development path and is just as essential for gaming on Linux as the free graphics stack Mesa 3D v22, Proton 7.0-4 comes with the following components.
- Wine 7.0
- DXVK 1.10.3
- DXVK-NVAPI 0.5.4
- VKD3D 2.6-1
< li>Wine Mono 7.3.0
Like the detailed release notes on the GitHub developer platform revealed, the following seven games are supported for the first time.
- Trove
- Chuzzle Deluxe
- Zuma' s Revenge!
- Aquarist – My First Job
- Karmaflow The Rock Opera Videogame – Act I & ActII
- The Rising of the Shield Hero: Relive The Animation
- Disgaea 5
In addition, crashes in the games Deathloop (Test), Fixed Street Fighter V, Elden Ring, Resident Evil Revelations 2 and Final Fantasy XIV Launcher.
DXVK 1.10.3 improved the compatibility
The update to the latest “DirectX to Vulcan Translator” DXVK 1.10.3 (GitHub) brings optimizations and fixes for Halo Infinite, Prey, Bioshock Infinite and the cyberpunk-style dystopian cat adventure Stray (review).< /p>
For more information, see Valve's official blog and the project page on the GitHub developer platform.
SteamOS 3.x for everyone is a long time coming
SteamOS 3.x, the release of which Valve had unspecifically announced as “sometime after the presentation of the Steam Deck”, is still a long time coming.
More than a system image for the recovery of the handheld PC has not yet appeared. The SteamOS official website is still shipping version 2.195 from July 18, 2019. The distribution's website hasn't been updated for years either.
Lutris brings Epic and GOG to the Steam Deck
While SteamOS 3.x isn't available to everyone yet, a BIOS update allows Windows 11 to be installed on the Steam Deck, and alternative game distribution platforms have also made their way onto the handheld PC. Open-source games manager Lutris brings Epic and GOG to the Steam deck.