Proton Experimental update enables gamepad input for all game launchers on Linux, SteamOS / Steam Deck

Valve released a brand new and exciting update to Proton Experimental for Linux, SteamOS / Steam Deck gamers. This brings some new fixes, as well as an interesting change for their Xalia integration.

Xalia, if you've not heard of it, is an open source tool that brings a gamepad UI for traditional desktop applications. Especially useful for Valve's Proton, since it can make working with launchers on Steam Deck, SteamOS and any Linux system playing games via Steam Big Picture Mode a lot simpler since you won't need to change any inputs. It's not just launchers though, some games have prerequisite installation steps which Xalia enables you to click through with a gamepad too.

For quite a few releases Valve have been tweaking how they use Xalia, gradually adding more supported games and updating Xalia itself from the upstream project. However, the Proton Experimental update for May 23rd simply enables it by default now. So it's not set on specific games, as Valve feel it's at a point where it will "work with most launchers using builtin Win32 controls".

With the wider release of SteamOS 3.7 for more devices, this seems like a great step for Windows game compatibility.

All the changes:

• Enabled NVAPI for The Last Of Us 2.
• Fixed games not starting when upgrading from a removed Proton installation.
• Enabled Xalia by default instead of only for selected titles. It should work with most launchers using builtin Win32 controls.
• Improved situation with Once Human having bad stutter on certain setups.
• Fixed Black Desert launcher rendering all black on Nvidia + Wayland setups.
• Fixed Dead Island 2 not detecting Epic Online Services and not allowing cross-play.
• Fixed Cornerpond not rendering transparency correctly.
• Fixed Monster Jam Showdown not being able to link Epic Games account.
• Fixed The First Berserker: Khazan displaying driver version warning with Intel and Nvidia GPUs.
• Fixed DLSS frame generation options being disabled in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

Source: Valve

How to get it?

It will show up as an update in your Steam Downloads, if you already have it installed. If you don't, just search for Proton Experimental in your Steam Library to install it. It will also download automatically if you go to run a game that Valve have set to use it.

See more in our guides section.