Steam Play – Valve’s name for its cross-platform initiative – is getting a major update, with built-in tools allowing you to run Windows games on Linux. We saw the first hints of the feature last week, and today Valve has confirmed it. It’s available right now in beta, so if you want to test the compatibility features on your own Linux install you don’t have to wait.
A frustration with Linux based Operating Systems for gamers is often the lack of compatibility for Windows-only titles. Valve’s latest venture hopes to ease that pain, announcing Proton – a modified version of the popular open-source Windows-on-Linux compatibility software, Wine – now integrated with Steam Play.
Currently in beta, only a handful of newly compatible Steam games are available to try out on Linux. There’s no plans for Mac support announced at this stage. You can opt-in to the beta via your Steam settings now, a nice excuse to download Ubuntu and fire up Star Wars Battlefront II (2005).
If all goes well with the beta, we could see a much larger range of formerly Windows-only games available via Steam Play on Linux in the future.
Source: Valve’s “Steam Play” uses Vulkan to bring more Windows games to Linux | Ars Technica