It has been 7 years since Valve revealed Proton, their compatibility layer to run Windows games on Linux systems. What an incredible time it has been.
Hard to imagine Linux gaming without Proton now isn’t it? Unless games use some funky video codecs or kernel-level anti-cheat, a lot of the time they do just work with the click of a button. We went from getting a handful of indie games and some AAA scraps from porting companies, to multiple tens of thousands of games — we’re spoilt for choice on what to actually play. Going by ProtonDB there’s at least 15,855 games rated playable by at least two reports, and Valve’s Deck Verified system shows 21,694 games rated at least playable for SteamOS / Steam Deck. Incredible numbers and that’s only what have actually seen some checks.
I still vividly remember the original announcement, shaking with excitement on what it would mean for the future. It has opened up a world of possibilities, where you (for the most part) don’t need to be attached to Windows to play some of the best games around.
Valve’s commitment to Linux and open source is very much self-serving of course, they are a company with goals. All of this was progress towards creating their own ecosystem with the likes of the Steam Deck / SteamOS and other potential hardware to come. Linux desktop users are mostly just along for the ride and reap all the benefits.
Thanks to all the work with Proton and the Steam Deck, the Linux user share on Steam is also on the cusp of breaking through 3% which is impressive considering the massive mountain that is Windows. You don’t beat or even get remotely close to such an entrenched system overnight, movement like this just takes time. Slow and steady wins the race right? Valve continue playing the long game here.
What’s truly incredible about Proton though is how it gives Valve a set platform to continue building on. So when we hopefully see a Steam Deck 2, or a Steam Machine TV console, it will be plug and play with all the existing games. Linking into why I love the whole idea of Valve using Linux with Proton, SteamOS / Steam Deck over traditional consoles is just having access to all the same games – no need to buy them again.
And with more publishers like Microsoft and Sony pushing their games on Steam too, we all win.
Here’s to Valve and Proton, 7 years on. Cheers!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
