Steam Play - what is it?

Steam Play is a feature that allows you to run compatibility layers in the Linux version of the Steam client. Proton being one of them, based upon another called Wine, allowing you to play thousands of Windows-only games on Linux. Be sure to check out our constantly updated beginner's guide here. It's what the Steam Deck also uses to run Windows games on SteamOS.

Need help? We have a dedicated channel in

our Discord.

Latest Steam Play articles

Proton Experimental update enables gamepad input for all game launchers on Linux, SteamOS / Steam Deck by Liam Dawe
24 May 2025 at 8:53 am UTC
StarVaders is deck-building meets grid-based tactics and it's basically perfect by Liam Dawe
23 May 2025 at 4:30 pm UTC
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 gets NVIDIA DLSS 4 improvements and a Steam Deck / SteamOS fix by Liam Dawe
23 May 2025 at 11:10 am UTC
Dune: Awakening will have BattlEye enabled for Linux, SteamOS / Steam Deck by Liam Dawe
23 May 2025 at 10:08 am UTC
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II gets a first trailer and you can get a free copy of Gladius by Liam Dawe
23 May 2025 at 9:57 am UTC
+ View more Steam Play articles

FAQ

What is the status of Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye with Proton?

Epic Games announced that Easy Anti-Cheat now fully supports Linux as of September 2021 but developers need to opt-in. In January 2022, Valve announced Easy Anti-Cheat is now simpler.

BattlEye is easier, as developers just need to email them to hook it up.

What about Denuvo Anti-Cheat?

Read the full details of that in this linked article.

Can I use Proton outside of Steam?

Yes. Lutris can help with this but it's a bit complicated. Lutris has its own special Wine builds that are easier to use.

Where do I report bugs in Proton and broken games?

Onto Valve's GitHub page but try asking in our Discord first.

Want even more info?

Steam Tracker - historical data on the Linux market-share on Steam.
User Statistics - see what systems our users are running.