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A quick run over some details from the recent ProtonDB data

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Every now and then, the people behind ProtonDB release data dumps from user generated reports of games tested in Steam Play.

What is ProtonDB? It's an unofficial statistics website, where you can note how good or bad various games run on Steam when played with Steam Play. It's a fun one to track, so with a new data dump I thought it might be interesting to try my hand at getting something out of the data for anyone curious.

The latest data dump is available here, which shows a total of 29,823 reports so it's getting rather massive. It goes to show just how many people are testing a wide variety of games!

First up, here's a look at how many reports are going in monthly:

Clearly less reports going into it as time goes on, which is quite interesting. Now, it doesn't mean Steam Play is suddenly any less popular of course, we do have to remember this is an unofficial website and given how many games have a lot of reports already, some may now just look to see existing reports.

Specific to this month, there were 3,119 reports. Here's a breakdown of those reports (one didn't seem to have a status set correctly):

As for the actual games being reported, here's the top 15 most reported games on ProtonDB through January:

Quite an interesting and varied selection there, with Yakuza 0 being no surprise since it was part of last month's Humble Monthly.

It's also nice to see so many people trying out (and enjoying) The Witcher 3, with it being the second most popular game. I'm not entirely surprised here, as I imagine a number of people purchased it originally when a big announcement was made about it coming to SteamOS/Linux which never actually happened in the end. It's another reason why Steam Play is such a great idea, for the times we are sadly let down and for those who don't care about port arguments who just want to play great games.

Here's a look at some more details like Linux Distributions. This one is a close-enough approximation, as the list of distributions is quite varied and messy on the naming, as it's gathered from Steam's system information output:

Note: Some distributions only come up as "Linux 4.x". For those, we're verifying using the Kernel string for both Arch, Fedora and Gentoo. Still looking over ways to do the same for others. All other distributions are bundled into "Other".

Next, here's a look at what types of GPU people are using when attempting to play games with Steam Play:

And again here with what CPU people are using:

Additionally, most reports (1,757 of them) were made using the latest available Proton Beta 3.16-6.

Hopefully I will take another look when they do their next database dump, if people find it interesting enough of course.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Steam Play, Misc
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67 comments
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Shmerl Feb 3, 2019
Quoting: HoriI don't think they want anything to do with Linux again.
AFAIK they received threats when Witcher 3 took too long to port + they were mad with Witcher 2's performance (and the fact it was Wine-wrapped, not native), and it got so ugly that they canceled it altogether.
They basically hate us now. Just beause some loud mouths couldn't accept the fact that we're such a small market that a lot of the stuff we get is basically charity, and they went to demand things like some kind of kings or something.

Stupidity of threats aside, that's not how businesses operate. It's not some kind of tantrum driven decision making. They got massively bigger amount of outrage from Windows gamers about so called "downgrade". Do you expect them to stop releasing for Windows now? So, view them as objective enough, but may be clueless and in need of convincing about the Linux market.


Last edited by Shmerl on 3 February 2019 at 5:32 pm UTC
Xpander Feb 3, 2019
My reports (some 2 months old because i have been slacking in January):
[


Also yeah i think Platinum should be given only when you don't have to touch anything, just hit play.
About performance, its hard to compare to windows, if you dont use windows, so there i think platinum is when it works with good fps enough for you on your hardware.
Shmerl Feb 3, 2019
The idea of ProtonDB is nice, but I think they should make a more clear disclaimer, that some games might work with Proton better, when non Steam versions are used. Some of them are garbage due to DRM, while their DRM-free alternatives from GOG work fine.

One such example is Lords of the Fallen. GOG version works fine, while Steam one is borked.


Last edited by Shmerl on 3 February 2019 at 6:39 pm UTC
HadBabits Feb 3, 2019
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoAnyway, the PROTONDB ratings system is subjective....
For me a game works fine or it doesn't.

But the definition for platinum, if you hover over the rating, is "Runs perfectly out of the box". Surely that implies that all you need to do is install and play. Not install, try to play, troubleshoot and find the appropriate launch options/proton tweaks, and then play proper.
mylka Feb 3, 2019
Quoting: Hori
Quoting: mylkasince witcher 3 is such popular on linux and CDPR sees how many proton gamers there are, i wonder if they make cyberpunk for linux like witcher 2... or at least support proton with vulkan
I don't think they want anything to do with Linux again.
AFAIK they received threats when Witcher 3 took too long to port + they were mad with Witcher 2's performance (and the fact it was Wine-wrapped, not native), and it got so ugly that they canceled it altogether.
They basically hate us now. Just beause some loud mouths couldn't accept the fact that we're such a small market that a lot of the stuff we get is basically charity, and they went to demand things like some kind of kings or something.

ignore linux forever because, they made a crappy port and cancled linux for w3

they dont have to officially support it, but behind the curtains they could support proton with VULKAN

there isnt a release date by now and linux has seen a lot of improvements since w2.
they can give it another try and look how it works
torrit Feb 3, 2019
QuoteIt's also nice to see so many people trying out (and enjoying) The Witcher 3, with it being the second most popular game. I'm not entirely surprised here, as I imagine a number of people purchased it originally when a big announcement was made about it coming to SteamOS/Linux

I bought the game only after I made sure it works out of the box. That's the experience I'm looking for.
I've put it over 160 hours already - best spent money ever!
The only downside is - I couldn't get SteamController to work properly (not a big loss though as my main gamepad Logitech F710 worked out of the box flawlessly).
If Proton keeps getting better I see no reason not to revive Steam Machines!
TheRiddick Feb 4, 2019
Good results, nice to see AMD at around %50 usage vs competition (or %25 market share is it?).

I have gone back to windows 10 for the time being since my GSYNC experience under Linux was mostly terrible, not able to run dual monitor setup with it, constant tearing issues, not working with several compositors, no compatibility with vsync(crash) and fullscreencompositionpipeline(disables gsync).

VRR (variable refresh rate) under Linux IMO is a absolute disaster! It's infinitely better under Windows, sadly. I do hope something can be done in the future, if xscreen/xserver is really completely useless for VRR tech then hopefully something can be done with Wayland, but from what I understand that is still a good couple years away from primetime, and doesn't even support VRR atm!

PS. I spent a couple days solid testing VRR under Linux with my setup, you may get a better experience if you just run a single monitor (who does these days?) and a compatible compositor, but I don't see any solution for getting rid of the tearing. Also you should enable gsync indicator otherwise there is no way to know it works, since nvidia settings often glitch out and the driver won't enable it.

Also nvidia-settings LOVED resetting my gamma settings... what an annoying bug (yes it would also edit my config file without asking). Going to wait for significant change/fixes before I return to Linux for gaming.


Last edited by TheRiddick on 4 February 2019 at 3:28 am UTC
Creak Feb 4, 2019
@TheRiddick maybe try with an AMD GPU for your next rig? FreeSync/VRR should arrive with Linux 5.0 (in a few weeks). But I don't know about dual screens... I prefer/got used to having just one (even at work, I traded two 1080 for one 4K).

Hope to see you back on Linux soon


Last edited by Creak on 4 February 2019 at 3:55 am UTC
Shmerl Feb 4, 2019
Quoting: CreakFreeSync/VRR should arrive with Linux 5.0 (in a few weeks)

Is anyone working on Vulkan and Wayland support for it?
TheRiddick Feb 4, 2019
Quoting: Creak@TheRiddick maybe try with an AMD GPU for your next rig? FreeSync/VRR should arrive with Linux 5.0 (in a few weeks). But I don't know about dual screens... I prefer/got used to having just one (even at work, I traded two 1080 for one 4K).

Hope to see you back on Linux soon

I actually have a 40" 4k VRR screen (works great under windows btw) and a 1080p screen rotated on the right for displaying discord and system statistic information when I play something fullscreen on my 4k. My system is a itx watercooled build and is considered experimental so I do like being able to keep a eye on it under load.

VRR does make games like Kingdom come under linux playable at 4k btw, without it the frame drops are noticable, that is a linux proton game so steam is doing some extra magic to display it. Under windows KCD flips the desktop resolution, resized windows and can mess with gamma settings, quite annoying.

As for AMD GPU, I dunno if freesync drivers when they come out will be better, probably if you can enable screen tearing options similar to nvidia's fullscreenpipeline stuff, but I'd be surprised if dual monitor worked with it. Would be nice.

Anyway Vega7 is not a GPU that impresses, we'll see what NAVI 20 brings to the table, ultimately I want a ITX compatible card and so far AMD have been releasing these big fat hungry cards... meh


Last edited by TheRiddick on 4 February 2019 at 8:26 am UTC
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