The Linux gaming community has woken up to a new iteration from the Proton GE: GE-Proton 10‑17. It comes on the heels of 10-16, as a maintenance release that polishes details and updates key components. The most visible change is a quick fix for a crash in Warframe., And a DXVK general update and other key pieces.
If you're already using 10‑16 or are coming from previous versions, 10‑17 isn't meant to be a game-changer: it's a hotfix/refresh update to keep things in order. In these rapid GE-Proton cycles, it is common for a large jump to be followed by a minor correction., and that's exactly what we have here: stability, up-to-date components, and the occasional annoying bug that just disappears.
GE‑Proton News 10‑17
The 10-17 is literally a soda pop launch. The change note would fit on one line: DXVK and other core components are updated and a crash in Warframe is fixed, with the possibility of similar collateral issues being resolved as well.
What does this mean for you? Less risk of crashes in a popular game, and up-to-date shaders/API translations thanks to the DXVK update and company. If you are a Steam Deck or Wayland user, keeping the graphical translation stack up to date often results in fewer artifacts, small stability boosts, and fewer surprises when a game receives patches.
What's happening at Proton (and why it affects you at GE)
In parallel with GE-Proton, the official branch of Proton has released a torrent of changes in recent cycles. Although we're looking for "GE-Proton 10-17 Updates" here, It is important to understand that GE frequently integrates part of this upstream work.. In short, this is the most relevant thing that's moving the needle:
Expanded compatibility and fixed regressions
The list of games becoming playable continues to grow, ranging from recent titles to classics and VR. Titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY, Factorio, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 have been unlocked (and fine-tuned its video playback), No Man's Sky in VR after regressions due to updates, Rising Storm 2, various "Now playable" games in a row, and many Japanese/indie games. In parallel, Issues on new Intel CPUs have been mitigated due to OpenSSL issues (e.g. in Agony UNRATED) and tons of Proton 10 regressions have been closed: broken VR working again, mouse issues in DOOM 3/Quake IV, random crashes in Counter‑Strike when connecting to games, or METAL GEAR SOLID V crashes on video that no longer occur.
Very practical adjustments have also been seen at the experience level: Server lists on Enshrouded that stopped loading, erroneous driver/SSD warnings in several games, periodic Deadlock freezes, and titles that "wouldn't boot" due to minor path changes or Proton prefix updates, which have now been resolved.
In-game video, a priority front
Valve has placed a notable emphasis on video: VRChat with AVPro has received several rounds of love (less stuttering, seek and freeze fixes, wider compatibility, 60 FPS desyncs resolved) Other affected titles: Resident Evil Village (blue tint and freezes after cutscenes), Crashlands 2 (choppy video), The Heart of Influencer, Superscout, Roboquest, River City Girls (boss videos), Twisted Sails, ATRI – My Dear Moments-, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (quality/smoothness), Quantum Break (streaming), Ghostbusters Remastered (green line), Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier (black screen at startup) and more. The goal is that you don't have to touch anything., but if you encounter a failed intro, remember the GE 10‑13 variables explained above.
Drivers, input, and accessibility
At the entrance level, there are improvements for all tastes. DualSense over Bluetooth no longer registers false touchpad clicks, non-axis devices (buttons only) that were not detected correctly have been fixed, Xalia (controller support in Win32 launchers) has been activated by default and updated several times (up to 0.4.6), force feedback has been fine-tuned (Assetto Corsa EVO) and very few but annoying problems with DPI scaling, loss of focus when unplugging a controller, or Trigger failures in Space Engineers and games that use raw input. There are even advances in voice synthesis (manual download of Proton Voice Files) and screen reader in Diablo 4.
Performance, Wayland, and Everyday Life
Micro-optimizations have been made that are noticeable in specific titles: Better performance in Rocket League, Unreal Tournament 3, or Dirt Rally 2.0, less stutter in Once Human, and memory fixes in demanding titles (e.g., VRChat with AVPro or Burnout Paradise Remastered). On Wayland, Focus/Alt-Tab glitches have been fixed in KDE and GNOME, and fixed empty window creation in XWayland. On Steam Deck, many scaling/window fixes and Overlay improvements with EAC/EOS. The Proton prefix management to make the creation more reliable.
Services, launchers and multiplayer
Coexistence with third-party ecosystems is also progressing: Ubisoft Connect, EA Desktop/App and Rockstar Launcher have received fixes for installation, game launch, crashes, and persistent logins. In the online realm, EAC/EOS and Steam Networking They've improved compatibility, preventing crashes or ejections after updates (The Finals, Apex Legends, Hotshot Racing multiplayer, among others). That same upstream work ends up having a positive impact on GE-Proton when GE integrates those patches.
Components up to date
Official Proton has been rising frequently Wine, Wine‑Mono, DXVK, VKD3D‑Proton and DXVK‑NVAPI to releases that unlock new features and fix bugs. You'll see many of these bumps reflected in GE-Proton when you pull them, as happened in 10-16 and 10-17 with the updated "core components." In particular, VKD3D‑Proton has received relevant updates affecting compatibility and extension support.
Quick FAQ
- When to choose GE-Proton over official Proton? When a game crashes on Valve's branch and there is evidence that GE provides the fix. If all goes well with “normal” Proton, there is no obligation to change.
- Should I take a chance using GE-Proton in titles with anticheat? It depends on the game. EAC/EOS support exists on Linux and Proton, but some titles are very sensitive to changes. Follow ProtonDB's recommendations and use the tested version for that game; if GE is recommended, go ahead; if not, Proton Stable.
- What exactly does GE‑Proton 10‑17 bring? It's a hotfix/refresh: DXVK and updated components, Warframe crash fix, and minor refresh improvements.
- And what did the 10-16 do just before? Several key component updates, fix for Stellar Blade ue4ss mod, patch for the "unsupported operating system" window in Star Citizen and wine-wayland maintenance.
- I've been suffering from rotated videos or intros that don't play. Which version is best for me? GE‑Proton 10‑13 introduced powerful video fixes and added the variables PROTON_MEDIA_USE_GST and PROTON_GST_VIDEO_ORIENTATION, who are your best allies if something persists.
The sequence 10‑9 → 10‑13 → 10‑16 → 10‑17 leaves a fairly comfortable scenario: More stable video, better integration with Wayland, updated components, and small fixes that are noticeable on a daily basis. Although 10-17 is "just" a hotfix, maintains positive inertia and fixes a noisy crash in Warframe without asking you for anything in return. For those playing on Linux and Steam Deck, it's just the kind of small iteration you want installed when you sit down to play.
