Steam has announced that Linux gamers can now play Windows games via its platform via a single click and no extra dependencies required. The new beta is part of the company’s effort to both allow more games to be played on Linux machines and also to encourage more developers to create Linux-compatible games.
The new Steam beta comes with a modified version of Wine called Proton. Wine is the Windows emulator for Linux, which has been in use for several decades. Proton takes a step further by incorporating support for Windows’s Direct X 11 and 12. With the new beta version of Steam, Linux users can run some Windows games (that have no existing Linux version) straight from Linux Steam.
For now there is a select list of games that can run on the new Steam beta without problems. The titles are:
- Beat Saber
- Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
- Doki Doki Literature Club!
- DOOM
- DOOM II: Hell on Earth
- DOOM VFR
- Fallout Shelter
- FATE
- FINAL FANTASY VI
- Geometry Dash
- Google Earth VR
- Into The Breach
- Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
- Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013
- Mount & Blade
- Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
- NieR: Automata
- PAYDAY: The Heist
- QUAKE
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
- Star Wars: Battlefront 2
- Tekken 7
- The Last Remnant
- Tropico 4
- Ultimate Doom
- Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® – Dark Crusade
- Warhammer® 40,000: Dawn of War® – Soulstorm
The team at Steam is hard at work expanding the list of games that can run with Proton. If you’d like to make sure your favorite game is in consideration, you can nominate it here. If you need to opt into the Linux Steam Client Beta, you can head here.
