Among the many reasons for the success of the Steam Deck is the fact that Valve’s device can run several games that were previously only exclusive to Windows – with games becoming SteamOS/Linux compatible on the same day as their PC launch. This is only possible thanks to the Proton compatibility layer.
However, there are certain games that work better when GE-Proton (formerly known as Proton-GE) is being used. This is an “unofficial” version of Valve’s tool, built by the community. Development is led by Thomas Crider (also known as Glorious Eggroll), the same creator of Nobara Project, a turbocharged Fedora with a focus on gaming.
Among the main differences of GE-Proton when compared to Valve’s tool is better video playback support, enhancements for AMD FSR, Nvidia CUDA support for PhysX and NVAPI, raw input mouse support and more.
To make life easier for players who want to try GE-Proton, in addition to other layers of compatibility, such as Luxtorpeda, the developer known only as DavidoTek decided to create the ProtonUp-Qt application, which offers a simple and easy-to-use interface, allowing install GE-Proton with just a few clicks.
How to use ProtonUp-Qt to install GE-Proton on Steam Play
Step 1: Check the installation destination
When opening the application for the first time, make sure that the path to the Steam compatibility layers installation folder has been selected correctly in the “Install for” option. This is usually done automatically, but you can choose a different installation location. If that’s not important to you right now, just leave the default selected.
Step 2: Find the available versions
To install GE-Proton, click on the “Add version” button. Then choose GE-Proton from the “Compatibility tool” option. Under “Version”, you will find a list of all available versions of the tool (the latest version will be selected by default).
For more information about the changes brought by each version of the tool, click on the “Info” button. A new browser tab will open so you can check out the release notes for the specific version on GitHub.
Step 3: Install GE-Proton
After selecting the GE-Proton Compatibility Tool and the desired version, click the “Install” button to start the installation. Now all you have to do is wait for the download to complete, something that should only take a few minutes.
How to choose the GE-Proton compatibility tool on Steam Play
Now there is no secret. To enable GE-Proton on Steam for all your games that have Windows-only version, simply access your Steam client settings and go to the “Steam Play” section and check the “Enable Steam Play for all other titles” option.
Then, under the “Run other titles with” option, select the compatibility tool. After saving the configuration, it may be necessary to restart the Steam client.
In addition, it is also possible to activate GE-Proton per specific game. To do this, access your Steam library, right-click on the game you want to activate the compatibility tool and, in the menu, click on “Properties”.
In the new window that opens, click on the “Compatibility” section and check the option “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool”. Then simply choose the desired version of GE-Proton from the available compatibility tools.
How to install ProtonUp-Qt
You can download ProtonUp-Qt from the developer’s official website, where you will also find instructions on how to run the AppImage version of the application. If you prefer, you can also install the Flatpak version of the app, which is available through Flathub.
As you may have noticed, the ProtonUp-Qt is available in universal formats, which basically means that the app can be installed on virtually any modern Linux distribution.
So, make the most of the app and enjoy your favorite games, wherever you are; anywhere.
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