The Proton is a bleeding-edge version of the GE Steam’s Proton. It adds several patches and fixes before the main Proton release. Proton Ge also has a counterpart for non-Steam games called Wine Ge. Many Linux gamers consider Proton GE and Wine GE to be essential software for Linux gaming.
Proton GE and Wine GE are also easy to install. You can install them either manually or through an app. Linux gamers can use this guide to get Proton GE and Wine GE easily. This tutorial will work for Steam Deck users as well as any desktop running a Linux distribution.
Installing Proton GE manually from GitHub
Let’s start with a manual installation of Proton GE, the bleeding-edge compatibility layer for Linux games. This guide primarily works for non-Flatpak releases of Steam.
First, you’ll need to visit the Proton GE GitHub page with your web browser. The repository page has a detailed readme on Proton Ge, as well as a link to the release of Proton Ge.
Click Release on the sidebar.
On the release page of the repository, download the latest version of Proton GE by clicking on the ge-proton [version].tar.gz download link. You are also free to download other releases of Proton GE.
Next, navigate to the Downloads folder of the Proton GE release. Unless you’ve moved it somewhere else, it’s most likely in the Downloads folder.
And that’s all you have to do! After relaunching Steam, the Proton will appear on the GE app.
By the way, Arch users can also use AUR to download Proton GE. Note that the Arch community, not GloriousAgarol, runs the AUR version. You can install the AUR version of Proton GE using Yay.
Installing Proton Ge for the Flatpak version of Steam
Users with Steam Flatpak will need to modify their installation process slightly. This is because Flatpak installs Steam in a separate directory.
A community-built flatpack version of the Proton GE is also available as an option. Again, note that this version is not run by GloriousAgrol.
Restart Steam so that you can enable Proton GE.
Installing Wine GE from Lutris
Wine GE is ideally suited for use by Lutris, a Linux gaming client. Both Linux desktop and Steam Deck users can run Lutris. It’s a useful app for playing non-Steam games.
To install Wine GE, you first need to download and install Lutris.
Next, hover over the Wine tab listed under Runners in the sidebar. Click the Manage Versions button in the open box-shaped box that appears.
A window will pop up for managing Wine versions.
Lutris automatically detects new releases of Wine GE. All you have to do in this window is scroll down to find the latest or desired release of Wine GE and click on its Install button.
Using protonup-qt to install and update Proton GE and Wine GE
If you want to avoid manually installing Proton GE, ProtonUp-Qt is the app for you.
With this app, you can install compatibility tools like Proton GE from a graphical user interface. ProtonUp-Qt works on Flatpak and non-Flatpak versions of Steam and Lutris.
After installing ProtonUp-Qt, click on the Add Version button. It will show a pop-up window prompting you to install the compatibility layer.
Select GE-Proton in the dropdown box under Compatibility Devices, if it is not already selected. Next, select the Proton GE version of your choice under Version, then hit the Install button.
Restart Steam or Lutris, and the Proton GE should be ready to use!
Enabling Proton GE and Wine GE
To enable Proton GE on the Steam game of your choice, open Steam and navigate to your game library.
Next, right-click the game and click Properties on the context menu that pops up. This will display the Steam game’s properties window. Click on the Compatibility tab.
Finally, tick the checkbox to force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool. Click the dropdown box below that, then select the version of Proton GE you have installed.
Exit the Properties window to save your changes. Whenever you open that game, Steam runs it with all of the Proton GE’s patches and fixes!
To enable Wine GE on Lutris, right-click on the game of your choice and click Configure on the context menu. A game configuration window will pop up. Click on the Runner Options tab.
Click the dropdown box next to Wine version, then select the version of Wine GE you have installed. Click on the Save button to save your changes.
Now, you can run that game with Wine GE enabled!
You can also enable Wine GE by default for all games on Lutris. To do this, hover over the Wine tab in the sidebar, then click the gear-shaped Configure button that appears.
A Wine Configuration window will pop up.