Proton is a

compatibility layer In software engineering, a compatibility layer is an interface that allows binaries for a legacy or foreign system to run on a host system. This translates system calls for the foreign system into native system calls for the host system. With s ...

that allows

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

software (primarily video games) to run on

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

-based operating systems. Proton is developed by

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

in cooperation with developers from CodeWeavers. It is a collection of software and

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

combined with a

patched Patched (Ptc) is a conserved 12-pass transmembrane protein receptor that plays an obligate negative regulatory role in the Hedgehog signaling pathway in insects and vertebrates. Patched is an essential gene in embryogenesis for proper segme ...

version of

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

to improve performance and compatibility with Windows games. Proton is designed for integration into the

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

client as "Steam Play". It is officially distributed through the client, although third-party

forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a Eating utensil, utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with whic ...

can be manually installed.

Overview

Proton was initially released on 21 August 2018. Upon release, Valve announced a list of 27 games that were tested and certified to perform like their native Windows counterparts without requiring end-user tweaking. These include ''Doom'' (2016), '' Quake'', and ''

Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' in its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ser ...

''. Proton incorporates several libraries that improve 3D performance. These include

Direct3D Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware ...

-to-

Vulkan Vulkan is a cross-platform API and open standard for 3D graphics and computing. It was intended to address the shortcomings of OpenGL, and allow developers more control over the GPU. It is designed to support a wide variety of GPUs, CPUs and o ...

translation layers, namely DXVK for Direct3D 9, 10 and 11, and VKD3D-Proton for Direct3D 12. A separate library known as D9VK handled Direct3D 9 support until it was merged into DXVK in December 2019.

Compatibility

Being a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

of Wine, Proton maintains very similar compatibility with Windows applications as its upstream counterpart. In addition to the official list of compatible games, many other Windows games are compatible, albeit unofficially, with Proton. The user can optionally force use of Proton for a specific game, even if a Linux version already exists. This may be done when a game's native Linux support is lacking or unstable.

ProtonDB

ProtonDB
is an unofficial community website that collects and displays crowdsourced data describing the compatibility of a given title with Proton, on a rating scale from "Borked" (doesn't work) to "Platinum" (works perfectly). The site is inspired by the WineHQ AppDB, which also collects and displays crowdsourced compatibility reports and uses a similar rating system.

Release history

Valve has released nine major versions of Proton. The versioning scheme refers to the upstream Wine version it's based on, with an appended patch number. Proton generally lags behind its upstream Wine base by several releases. Unofficial forks, such as Proton GE, have been created to rebase Proton on recent Wine versions, which may improve or worsen compatibility with games compared to the official release. In December 2020, Valve released Proton Experimental, a

perpetual beta Perpetual beta is the keeping of software or a system at the beta development stage for an extended or indefinite period of time. It is often used by developers when they continue to release new features that might not be fully tested. Perpetual ...

branch of Proton that incorporates new features and bug fixes quicker than regular releases, which are eventually included in a regular release. The

Steam Deck The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer produced by Valve Corporation, designed to run a portion of games available on the Steam storefront client. Built upon the experiences gained from Valve's earlier ventures with Steam Machine and th ...

uses Proton to increase software title compatibility.

Proton 3.7 (August 2018)

First official release of Proton. Supported 27 games, including DOOM (2016), Quake, and Final Fantasy VI. Integrated DXVK for Direct3D 10/11 implementation via Vulkan.

Proton 4.2 (April 2019)

Updated to a newer version of Wine, improving compatibility and performance. Enhanced support for fullscreen mode and controllers.

Proton 5.0 (February 2020)

Based on Wine 5.0, bringing major improvements to game compatibility. Improved support for games with anti-cheat systems.

Proton 5.13 (October 2020)

Introduced compatibility for more games and improved support for existing titles. Enhanced media playback and networking features.

Proton 6.3 (April 2021)

Based on Wine 6.0 with additional patches. Improved Direct3D 12 support via VKD3D-Proton. Better game performance and compatibility.

Proton 7.0 (February 2022)

Built on Wine 7.0. Significant improvements to game compatibility and new features.

Proton 8.0 (April 2023)

Continued enhancements to game compatibility and performance. Updated DXVK and VKD3D-Proton for improved graphics support.

Proton 9.0 (May 2024)

Latest major release focusing on stability and compatibility. Improved support for newer games and technologies.

Proton 10.0 (April 2025)

Updated DXVK, VKD3D and Wine (to version 10). Unlike Wine 10, it does not provide a way to the native Wayland driver.

References

External links

ProtonDB
– community database for game compatibility data {{Valve 2018 software Compatibility layers Software derived from or incorporating Wine Software using the BSD license Steam (service)