Tushar Mehta / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Valve, maker of Steam, has released a new version of Proton, its compatibility layer for running Windows games on Android.
- Proton 11 beta brings performance improvements, better hardware support for already supported titles, and support for new titles.
- The update also adds a new profile for Arm hardware, suggesting a scope for better PC game emulation on Android devices.
Valve, the creator of Steam, has played an instrumental role in distributing PC games for well over two decades, especially to Windows users. More recently, the company has been interested in catering to platforms, including Linux, and has been working to ensure support for Arm-based architecture. While that has largely been to ensure its own hardware — the Steam Deck and the promised Steam Frame VR headset — does not face a drought of games, the efforts have been helping other platforms. Among them, Android has been a key benefactor, and Windows gaming on Android is now about to get better.
That is because Valve released a fresh update to the Proton compatibility layer, which enables emulating Windows apps and games, including Steam, on Linux. With version 11 (beta), several popular Windows games, including multiple Resident Evil titles, are now playable via Proton. The details of the update have been published to GitHub.
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The update, as pointed out by XR industry analyst Brad Lynch on X, Proton 11 beta is based on the latest version of Wine, the popular Windows app emulator for Linux. Wine 11, released last month, added support for NTSync, which reduces system overhead when running Windows games on Linux via a compatibility layer. This, in turn, enhances performance and can allow games to run much more smoothly.
Proton 11 beta now supports the following titles:
- Universe Generator: The Golden Sword
- DCS World Steam Edition
- Resident Evil (1996)
- Resident Evil 2 (1998)
- Dino Crisis
- Dino Crisis 2
- From Dust
- Blaite
- Don’t Die Dateless, Dummy!
- METAL GEAR SURVIVE
- Warhammer: Vermintide 2
- Metal Fatigue
- SHOGUN: Total War
- Unknown Faces
- Gothic 1 Classic
- X-Plane 12
- Breath of Fire IV
- Deadly Premonition
Some of these were already playable through Proton’s experimental version, while support for others has been added with the latest version.
Along with this, Valve has also issued an extensive list of bug fixes, patching dozens of previous concerns with already supported titles.
Additionally, Valve is adding a Proton 11 profile for ARM64 devices, which would allow games designed for x86 hardware to be easily emulated on devices with Arm chips. That includes Android phones, tablets, and Android gaming handhelds (through PC emulation tools like GameHub), as well as Arm-based Windows PCs.
Steam Linux ARM64 beta on Switch
Not just that, we’re already seeing reports of Proton’s update enabling Steam to run on devices that aren’t officially supported, such as the Nintendo Switch.
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