• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Valve Apparently Working on Compatibility Tools Allowing Windows Games to be Played on Linux

Raevenlord

News Editor
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
3,755 (1.24/day)
Location
Portugal
System Name The Ryzening
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard MSI X570 MAG TOMAHAWK
Cooling Lian Li Galahad 360mm AIO
Memory 32 GB G.Skill Trident Z F4-3733 (4x 8 GB)
Video Card(s) Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti
Storage Boot: Transcend MTE220S 2TB, Kintson A2000 1TB, Seagate Firewolf Pro 14 TB
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG270UP (1440p 144 Hz IPS)
Case Lian Li O11DX Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) iFi Audio Zen DAC
Power Supply Seasonic Focus+ 750 W
Mouse Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L
Keyboard Cooler Master Masterkeys Lite L
Software Windows 10 x64
Keen-eyed Linux and Valve uses have noticed what could seemingly be a big reveal and shake-up to games' compatibility with the Linux platform. If you're a die-hard Linux fan, or even if you're just a curious dabbler in that operating system, you know that there aren't many concerted efforts of bringing game experiences to that operating system. A good port requires many more hours than game developers are willing to put into it - let alone compiling a native implementation of their game for that OS.

However, Valve, being the most important digital games distributor through their Steam platform, know there's an untapped source of income in that part of the market. And if developers won't do it themselves, then Valve seem to be willing to take the matter into their own hands. This speculation arises from Steam's GUI files, which when looked at with SteamDB's Steam Tracker, include a hidden section with unused text related to an (as of yet) unannounced Steam Play system, which "(...) will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems."





Adding more credence to the Linux compatibility tool (and we say Linux because it's the alternative platform to Windows which has the potential to offer more new users to Steam than any other), the GUI file suggests Steam Play will offer official compatibility with "supported tiles" while also letting users test compatibility for "games in your library that have not been verified with a supported compatibility tool." Of course, these last titles, being outside of the "whitelisted", supported titles, may not work as expected, and may present all sorts of technical problems. Still, some might not.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

W1zzard

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
27,803 (3.71/day)
Processor Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory 48 GB
Video Card(s) RTX 4080
Storage 2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s) 30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software Windows 10 64-bit
So Valve will manage what the whole Linux developer world couldn't? I'm having doubts
 
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
626 (0.17/day)
If this is true, and if it works properly, then it's big!
This would have me ditching Windows and dual boot for good, and I'm sure many others would too.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2014
Messages
22,417 (6.03/day)
Location
The Washing Machine
Processor 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI MAG Mortar b650m wifi
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin
Memory 32GB Corsair Vengeance 30CL6000
Video Card(s) ASRock RX7900XT Phantom Gaming
Storage Lexar NM790 4TB + Samsung 850 EVO 1TB + Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial BX100 250GB
Display(s) Gigabyte G34QWC (3440x1440)
Case Lian Li A3 mATX White
Audio Device(s) Harman Kardon AVR137 + 2.1
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 750W
Mouse Steelseries Aerox 5
Keyboard Lenovo Thinkpad Trackpoint II
Software W11 IoT Enterprise LTSC
Benchmark Scores Over 9000
I think they call these tools 'Project Half Life 3'

And they lumped their Steam Machine in there as well.
 
Joined
Jun 10, 2013
Messages
161 (0.04/day)
Location
H-town
I definitely wanted to jump to Linux due to not wanting to buy a Windows license, but some games I loved to play didn't work on Linux, let alone MMOs.
Modern times are good, indeed. Times have changed.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
14,078 (3.82/day)
Location
Sunshine Coast
System Name H7 Flow 2024
Processor AMD 5800X3D
Motherboard Asus X570 Tough Gaming
Cooling Custom liquid
Memory 32 GB DDR4
Video Card(s) Intel ARC A750
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB.
Display(s) AOC 24" Freesync 1m.s. 75Hz
Mouse Lenovo
Keyboard Eweadn Mechanical
Software W11 Pro 64 bit
So no full single player games that can be played offline away from Steam or Valve!
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
90 (0.04/day)
Processor Ryzen 1700X
Motherboard Asus x370 Prime-Pro
Cooling MSI Frozr L (Push-Pull)
Memory 3000mhz CL15
Video Card(s) RX 5700 XT Gigabyte OC
Storage 15TB of Mixed Storage
Display(s) 3440x1440
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar DX + Sennheiser HD 598
Power Supply 750W
So Valve will manage what the whole Linux developer world couldn't? I'm having doubts
It's possible now thanks to Vulkan and vulkan stuff such as DXVK and RADV.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2012
Messages
123 (0.03/day)
Location
WV
System Name Portable Gamer
Processor Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CPU / Noctua NH-L12 GPU / ARCTIC Accelero S1 Plus
Memory G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400
Video Card(s) EVGA NVIDIA GTX 960 SSC
Storage ADATA SP550 480GB SSD
Display(s) ASUS 23" LCD
Case SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply SILVERSTONE ST45SF 450W
Mouse Logitech G500
Keyboard CMStorm Trigger Z
Software Windows 8.1 Pro
Here's hoping they get this done! :roll:
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Messages
1,793 (0.46/day)
Probably just installs wine and maybe DXVK. I.E. Witcher 3 runs great on wine+dxvk and older dx9 games usually runs well on wined3d(Not even mention OGL games). Even that would be good, now I have to start windows version of steam when playing games through wine. If this makes windows games starting from native steam linux version, that would make things little easier.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
19,531 (2.85/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name White DJ in Detroit
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + Sony MDR-10RC, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
So Valve will manage what the whole Linux developer world couldn't? I'm having doubts

Isn't that world pretty fractious?

This will require a lot of work on thier part. Would be cool, but I'll not get excited.
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2016
Messages
1,042 (0.34/day)
Location
Pristina
System Name My PC
Processor 4670K@4.4GHz
Motherboard Gryphon Z87
Cooling CM 212
Memory 2x8GB+2x4GB @2400GHz
Video Card(s) XFX Radeon RX 580 GTS Black Edition 1425MHz OC+, 8GB
Storage Intel 530 SSD 480GB + Intel 510 SSD 120GB + 2x500GB hdd raid 1
Display(s) HP envy 32 1440p
Case CM Mastercase 5
Audio Device(s) Sbz ZXR
Power Supply Antec 620W
Mouse G502
Keyboard G910
Software Win 10 pro
Linux was not made for gaming, so all this is complete waste of time.
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
2,089 (0.29/day)
Location
gehenna
System Name Commercial towing vehicle "Nostromo"
Processor 5800X3D
Motherboard X570 Unify
Cooling EK-AIO 360
Memory 32 GB Fury 3666 MHz
Video Card(s) 4070 Ti Eagle
Storage SN850 NVMe 1TB + Renegade NVMe 2TB + 870 EVO 4TB
Display(s) 25" Legion Y25g-30 360Hz
Case Lian Li LanCool 216 v2
Audio Device(s) Razer Blackshark v2 Hyperspeed / Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e
Power Supply HX1500i
Mouse Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition
Keyboard Scope II 96 Wireless
Software Windows 11 23H2 / Fedora w. KDE
I think they call these tools 'Project Half Life 3'

And they lumped their Steam Machine in there as well.

Same fate as HL3 ..........
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
90 (0.04/day)
Processor Ryzen 1700X
Motherboard Asus x370 Prime-Pro
Cooling MSI Frozr L (Push-Pull)
Memory 3000mhz CL15
Video Card(s) RX 5700 XT Gigabyte OC
Storage 15TB of Mixed Storage
Display(s) 3440x1440
Audio Device(s) Asus Xonar DX + Sennheiser HD 598
Power Supply 750W
Linux was not made for gaming, so all this is complete waste of time.
You're talking as if Windows was made for gaming.

Gaming doesn't need an operating system, it needs an API and drivers that make it work.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
521 (0.20/day)
So Valve will manage what the whole Linux developer world couldn't? I'm having doubts
They have the budget! which the whole Linux dev didn't have because it's mostly time contribution.

If they release that, I would be as happy as if they release HL3.

So no full single player games that can be played offline away from Steam or Valve!
You can play in offline mode, but I see your point. Tho if they release it, I hope they license it open source.
 

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
24,035 (3.74/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name DarnGosh Edition
Processor AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32-38-38-96
Video Card(s) Asus Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage WD SN770 1TB (Boot)| 2x 2TB WD SN770 (Gaming)| 2x 2TB Crucial BX500| 2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse Logitech G502 X
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ
Linux was not made for gaming, so all this is complete waste of time.

you sound like the same kind of person that shits on a PS3 or PS4 because it has a secondary function as a blu-ray/DVD/Media player. but it was built as a gaming machine so.... '

all this is complete waste of time.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
521 (0.20/day)
you sound like the same kind of person that shits on a PS3 or PS4 because it has a secondary function as a blu-ray/DVD/Media player. but it was built as a gaming machine so.... '


I remember back then when the ps3 was the cheapest blu-ray reader on the market and yet, people still bought dedicated blu-ray reader because the ps3 was labeled as a gaming console.
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2017
Messages
595 (0.23/day)
So Valve will manage what the whole Linux developer world couldn't? I'm having doubts
You act as if fragmentation and lack of monetary investment doesn't hobble Linux completely in many key areas.

Valve have three things that Linux development can never guarantee: Time, money, and qualified talent.

Put the three together and large, ambitious projects can be undertaken that FOSS would struggle to get started on.
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
5,471 (1.05/day)
Valve cannot make Linux gaming take off. They won't.
Anybody who used Linux long enough knows it
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2017
Messages
521 (0.20/day)
Valve cannot make Linux gaming take off. They won't.
Anybody who used Linux long enough knows it
I still have hopes. If they can create a tool to make gaming on linux viable and easy, it might be just enough to boost linux popularity, just like when Windows 10 and their uap got released and valve released their OS because everyone was pissed at M$ policies.

It's slow, very slow, but I'm pretty sure one day Linux might become, not mainstream, but at least a platform of choice for gaming.

I imagine the PS5 being on a custom Linux, that would be awesome. The ports would be easy.
 

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
24,035 (3.74/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name DarnGosh Edition
Processor AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32-38-38-96
Video Card(s) Asus Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage WD SN770 1TB (Boot)| 2x 2TB WD SN770 (Gaming)| 2x 2TB Crucial BX500| 2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse Logitech G502 X
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ
I remember back then when the ps3 was the cheapest blu-ray reader on the market and yet, people still bought dedicated blu-ray reader because the ps3 was labeled as a gaming console.

I wouldnt of done this. if it had Blu-ray functionality, then thats what i would of used. Less clutter and saves money.
 
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
2,351 (0.46/day)
Location
Right where I want to be
System Name Miami
Processor Ryzen 3800X
Motherboard Asus Crosshair VII Formula
Cooling Ek Velocity/ 2x 280mm Radiators/ Alphacool fullcover
Memory F4-3600C16Q-32GTZNC
Video Card(s) XFX 6900 XT Speedster 0
Storage 1TB WD M.2 SSD/ 2TB WD SN750/ 4TB WD Black HDD
Display(s) DELL AW3420DW / HP ZR24w
Case Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL
Audio Device(s) EVGA Nu Audio
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Gold 1000W+750W
Mouse Corsair Scimitar/Glorious Model O-
Keyboard Corsair K95 Platinum
Software Windows 10 Pro

FreedomEclipse

~Technological Technocrat~
Joined
Apr 20, 2007
Messages
24,035 (3.74/day)
Location
London,UK
System Name DarnGosh Edition
Processor AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard MSI X670E GAMING PLUS
Cooling Thermalright AM5 Contact Frame + Phantom Spirit 120SE
Memory G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 6000 CL32-38-38-96
Video Card(s) Asus Dual Radeon™ RX 6700 XT OC Edition
Storage WD SN770 1TB (Boot)| 2x 2TB WD SN770 (Gaming)| 2x 2TB Crucial BX500| 2x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300
Display(s) LG GP850-B
Case Corsair 760T (White) {1xCorsair ML120 Pro|5xML140 Pro}
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V573|Speakers: JBL Control One|Auna 300-CN|Wharfedale Diamond SW150
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-850 80+ GOLD
Mouse Logitech G502 X
Keyboard Duckyshine Dead LED(s) III
Software Windows 11 Home
Benchmark Scores ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ
Top