Well, we were kind of hit with this massive update to Proton out of nowhere. To my knowledge there was never a release candidate or Proton Next build for 8.0-1. But it’s great news nonetheless, as we’re getting quite the feature list with today’s update.

Included in the update are 18 newly playable titles, from Forspoken to Dead Space (2023), NVAPI support “for many games,” improved multi-touch support, improved sleep/resume functionality on Steam Deck, fixes for the 2K and Final Fantasy XIV launchers, alt-tabbing fixes with GNOME 43, and so much more. Also, Proton 8.0-1 upgrades Wine to 8.0, which in of itself is a huge upgrade from Wine 7 – improved controller hotplugging support, better steering wheel support with improved force feedback, and improved Direct3D performance!

The following titles are now playable:

Improvements:

  • Improved CJK font support in many games including NOBUNAGA’S AMBITION: Souzou with Power Up Kit, Stardom 3 and Sword and Fairy 3.
  • Improved sleep/resume functionality on Steam Deck for Tiny Tina’s Wonderland.
  • Improved multi-touch support.
  • Improved force feedback compatibility for BeamNG and Forza Horizon 5.
  • Improved multiplayer support in Company of Heroes III.
  • Improved fullscreen support for The Last Blade 2.
  • Enabled NVAPI for many games.

Bug fixes:

  • Fixed 2K launcher failure caused by launcher update.
  • Fixed Arabic fonts in FIFA 21 and 22.
  • Fixed native scrollbar being always visible in Final Fantasy XIV Online launcher.
  • Fixed A Plague Tale: Innocence and A Plague Tale: Requiem showing on-screen keyboard when starting the game on the Steam Deck.
  • Fixed rendering issues during cutscenes in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.
  • Fixed Japanese keyboard input in Final Fantasy XIV Online.
  • Fixed Football Manager 2023 crashing when trying to return from a player profile.
  • Fixed experimental regression: Fall in Labyrinth started crashing on some setups.
  • Fixed Life is Strange Remastered crashing at the end of chapter 2.
  • Fixed Alt+Tab not working on Gnome 43.
  • Fixed regression with Mortal Combat X performance.
  • Fixed OpenGL launch option for Youropa.
  • Fixed raytracing in Crysis Remastered.
  • Fixed regression: Minecraft Dungeons was hanging when disconnecting from multiplayer game.
  • Fixed Immortals Fenyx Rising missing/out-of-order audio lines in cutscenes.
  • Fixed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launcher flickering on Wayland.
  • Fixed Story Mode not working in Dead or Alive 6.

Updates:

  • Updated wine to 8.0.
  • Updated dxvk to v2.1-4-gcaf31033.
  • Updated vkd3d-proton to v2.8-84-g08909d98.
  • Updated dxvk-nvapi to v0.6.2.
  • Updated wine-mono to 7.4.1.

Please be aware, however, that your GPU will need to support Vulkan 1.3.

See the patch notes on GitHub. An update should be available for Proton in your Steam library. After downloading the update, restart the Steam client to start using it.

Cover image credit: Luminous Productions/Square Enix