Valve released Proton 11 earlier this month, available in its final form after months of testing, bringing a long list of improvements, bug fixes, and better compatibility for Linux and SteamOS users. This includes those playing on a Steam Deck or Steam Machine, both of which come installed with SteamOS. Now, the company has taken the next step forward, as the Proton 11.0-2 Release Candidate is officially available for testing ahead of a stable release.

What does the update offer?

The new update focuses mainly on improving game compatibility, fixing recent regressions, and resolving issues that appeared after updates to several popular games. It also adds support for a handful of titles that were previously unplayable.

Proton 11.0-2 Release Candidate patch notes

• Now playable:
  • AsteroidsHD
  • Heroes of the Three Kingdoms 7
  • Konkan Coast Pirate Solutions
  • Otherworld Legends 战魂铭人
  • Portal Worlds
  • SMILE GAME BUILDER
  • Tetrageddon Games
  • Warhammer: Dark Omen (Classic)
• Fixed Proton 11 regressions:
  • Source SDK 2007 and Source SDK 2013 Singleplayer should no longer fail to find gameinfo.txt.
  • Natural Selection 2 should be able to connect to servers again.
  • The Talos Principle and The Talos Principle VR should no longer incorrectly show the login window on launch.
  • The King of Fighters XIII Global Match should no longer leak memory.
  • Resident Evil 2 should no longer have issue with using low resolution full screen mode on high resolution screens on certain setups.
  • Homeworld 2 Classic from Homeworld Remastered Collection should now behave correctly on alt+tab.
  • SHOGUN: Total War no longer should end up on a black screen after alt+tab.
  • Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered now has working input when set to fullscreen mode on SteamOS.
  • Addressed performance regression affecting Exanima on certain setups.
  • Improved rendering of the Imperiums: Greek Wars launcher.
  • Crysis 2 Remastered should no longer hang on game load when ray tracing is enabled.
  • Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced should no longer fail to launch with initialization error.
  • The Coma 3: Bloodlines is playable again.
  • Debug menu in SCP: Secret Laboratory works again.
• Fixed Diablo IV not being playable after a recent game update.
• Fixed Trove Public Test Server failing to launch after a recent game update.
• Fixed Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain not being playable after a recent game update.
• Fixed Marvel Rivals crashing after a recent game update.
• Fixed Arc Raiders not being playable for some users after a recent game update.
• Fixed Helldivers 2 not launching after a recent game update.
• Fixed Call of Duty (2003) rendering wrong colors in the main menu.
• Fixed Path of Exile crashing caused by specific text in chat.
• Fixed No Limits 2 Roller Coaster Simulation rendering wrong colors with Nvidia GPUs on Wayland.
• Fixed Rocket League incorrectly detecting re-plugged DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers as an additional device.
• Fixed Vagante freezing on character select on setups with using Wayland with Nvidia GPUs.
• Fixed Warhammer: Dark Omen (Classic) displaying low resolution map on certain setups.
• Fixed gamma issues in Exanima showing up on certain setups.
• Fixed Forza Horizon 4, 5 and 6 showing black screen on recent SteamOS versions.
• Fixed Forza Horizon 6 auto-closing after system suspend/resume.
• Fixed Rocket League, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 and Squad not starting when set to non-English locale.
• Improved reliability of controller hotplug.
• Fixed KeepUp Survival having bad performance and crashing on non-Nvidia GPU.
• Fixed audio distortion in the intro video of Warhammer 40,000: Dakka Squadron – Flyboyz Edition.
• Fixed not being able to interact with the “confirm” button in Lucid Blocks.
• Fixed Mirror’s Edge Catalyst freezing on systems without Nvidia GPUs due to nvapi presence.
• Fixed DIRT 5 crashing on CPUs with hybrid cores.
• Fixed sprites not rendering in Zombie Estate 2.
• Fixed Dark and Darker sometimes hanging on start.
• Fixed Escape from Monkey Island crashing on some setups.
• Enabled Xalia for Batman: Arkham City GOTY’s settings window.
• Fixed Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara not displaying available resolution correctly on some setups.
• Fixed video playback in Psycho-Sleuth Demo.
• Fixed audio issues in Portal 2 happening on 7.1 setups.
• Fixed sound in Idle Iktah.
• Fixed video playback in STAR WARS Starfighter.
• Fixed saves not working in Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart
• Fixed audio issues in DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS happening after device suspend.
• Fixed RPGMaker Engine games freezing after being minimized inside of gamescope.
• Fixed Moero Chronicle wrongly restarting the intro video every time the game loses focus during playback.
• Fixed intro video playback in Legend of Mana.
• Fixed visual distortions in pre-rendered backgrounds in Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster.
• Fixed War Thunder occasionally crashing when selecting “To Battle!”.
• Updated Wine Mono to 11.2.0.
• Updated to FEX-2607.
• Updated dxvk to v2.7.1-491-g0a70623de9c5 from proton-11 support branch.
• Updated vkd3d to 2.0
• Updated dxvk-nvapi to v0.9.2

Source: ValveSoftare GitHub

One of the biggest highlights is that several games are now playable again after recent updates caused problems. These include Diablo IV, Marvel Rivals, Helldivers 2, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Arc Raiders, and Trove Public Test Server. Valve has also added support for games such as Portal Worlds, Warhammer: Dark Omen (Classic), Heroes of the Three Kingdoms 7, Otherworld Legends, and several others.

The release candidate also fixes a wide range of issues affecting existing games. For example, Crysis 2 Remastered no longer hangs when ray tracing is enabled, Borderlands Game of the Year Enhanced launches correctly again, and Forza Horizon 4, 5, and 6 no longer display a black screen on recent SteamOS versions. Valve has also addressed controller detection problems in Rocket League, improved performance in Exanima, and fixed crashes in titles like DIRT 5, War Thunder, and Dark and Darker.

Beyond game-specific fixes, Proton 11.0-2 improves controller hotplug reliability, updates several core components, including Wine Mono 11.2.0, DXVK, VKD3D, DXVK-NVAPI, and FEX, and resolves various audio, video playback, rendering, and fullscreen issues across dozens of games.

If you want to try the update before it reaches the stable channel, you can do so through Steam. Simply open your Proton 11 details page, switch the version to “Release Candidate,” and download the latest build. This lets you test the new fixes early and help identify any remaining issues before the final release.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.