If you play games on Linux desktop or Steam Deck, then you might have come across tools like Proton or WINE, which helps Windows-only games and applications to run on Linux. And although you can enable Proton from Steam, you don’t have any methods through which you can install forks of Proton or WINE on your system which sometimes fixes bugs and adds support for more games.
You can install such forks of Proton or WINE such as GE-Proton and GE-WINE on your system easily using the ProtonUp-Qt tool.
In this tutorial, we will learn about the usage and installation procedure of ProtonUp-Qt and also show you how to add it in different launchers.
Features of ProtonUp-Qt
ProtonUp-Qt can perform the following actions for you:
- Manage and install all the forks of Proton and WINE for a wide range of game compatibility.
- Installs the compatibility layer in such a manner so that all the launchers can easily detect it.
- It also offers a section in which you can check the ProtonDB rating of all your installed games.
- A single place to configure different compatibility layers for different games.
Installing ProtonUp-Qt on Linux
You can install ProtonUp-Qt from the AUR if you are using any Arch Linux based distributions by typing the following commands:
yay -S protonup-qt
If you are using any other Linux distribution, then you can install it from the Flathub if you have it enabled on your system, Just type the following commands in your Terminal:
flatpak install flathub net.davidotek.pupgui2
Configuration and additional steps
Now, launch ProtonUp-Qt from your Grid/Menu, and then you will see the following interface:
As you can see, I have ‘SteamTinkerLaunch’ already installed on my system, but if you want to install any compatibility tool, just click on the ‘Add version’ button and then select what you want (for example, the latest Proton-GE).
As you can see, It also provides a small description of the layer you want to install. Just hit install and then open your preferred game launcher (Steam, Heroic or Lutris). And then add your installed compatibility layer in the game launch options. To do this in Steam, go to Steam > Settings > Steam Play and enable all the checkboxes.
You can also add these settings to every individual game by modifying their properties.
Summary
The year of the Linux desktop is here, and with these tools streamlining the game compatibility on Linux, more and more people will switch to it.
I agree that it is still a bit much that you have to configure every game that is not supported on Linux, but keep in mind that these games were not built for Linux at all and Valve’s Proton is an Open Source tool which you can get for free that will run your games. How awesome is that?