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Proton 11.0 Arrives, Boosting Linux Game Compatibility Even Further
Valve has just released Proton 11.0, the new major version of its compatibility layer that lets Windows games run on Linux, SteamOS, and the Steam Deck. Released on July 7, 2026, this new version now relies on Wine 11.0 and improves game support, from 1990s and 2000s classics to fixes for EA titles. Here’s what you need to know!
Just over two months after the first beta of Proton 11, which hinted at brighter days for gaming on Linux, Valve has released a stable version. As a reminder, Proton is a compatibility layer based on Wine that translates calls from games designed for Windows so they can run on Linux without a native port. Thanks to this work, nearly 90% of Windows games are now able to run on Linux.
Technically, Proton 11.0 is built on recent software components. Its base is now Wine 11.0, and the FEX translation tool moves to version 2605 for ARM64EC builds, compared with 2604 in the beta. It notably allows x86 instructions to be translated on the fly to the ARM architecture.
Classic Games Revived and New Titles Made Playable
Retro-gaming fans will be pleased by the support for older classics. In fact, a series of games that previously only worked with the Proton Experimental branch are now joining the main branch. Among them are several landmarks from the late 1990s and early 2000s:
- Resident Evil (1996), Resident Evil 2 (1998), Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2.
- METAL GEAR SURVIVE, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and SHOGUN: Total War.
- DCS World Steam Edition, From Dust, Metal Fatigue.
In addition, several new games that did not work before are now supported: Unknown Faces, Gothic 1 Classic, X-Plane 12, Breath of Fire IV and Deadly Premonition.
EA Games, VR, and Big Titles: A Long List of Fixes
The other major part of Proton 11.0 is the patch set. First of all, Valve has added fixes so that many EA games are playable again: an update to the EA Desktop client had broken everything... On top of that, the Steam Overlay, which was no longer working properly with several of these titles, has also been fixed.
On the virtual reality side, with Proton 11, No Man's Sky VR mode is playable again and Microsoft Flight Simulator now has proper VR controller tracking. There are also fixes for other games, including major titles:
- HELLDIVERS 2 should no longer crash during missions with a large number of enemies.
- Far Cry 4 should no longer freeze randomly at launch.
- Titanfall 2 fixes a stuttering issue related to keyboard input.
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach receives a rendering fix for its launcher.
- Sea of Solitude no longer shows a black screen, while Crimson Desert and Satisfactory have their video playback issues resolved.
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition no longer has keyboard key detection issues.
Beyond the improvements made to games, Proton 11.0 also improves its interface. Specifically, Proton 11.0 fixes window enlargement under KDE and resolves an Arma Reforger scaling issue when switching display modes. Finally, controller handling has also improved, especially for hot-plug support for the 8BitDo Ultimate 2C and other controllers exposing multiple HID devices.
Find the full list of changes in Proton 11 on this page.
