Proton Experimental is getting a big change for video playback in games on Steam Deck/Linux

Valve has released a new update for Proton Experimental that includes a big change to how video playback is handled and hopefully brings a nice compatibility boost for Windows games on Steam Deck and Desktop Linux.

The update released today, October 23rd, has a changelog that points to fixed or improved video playback for the following:

• Gal*Gun 2
• SOULCALIBUR VI
• Call of Cthulhu
• All-Star Fruit Race
• Greedfall
• Onimusha: Warlords
• Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
• Indigo Park: Chapter 1
• Agony Unrated
• TELEPHONE FORUM

Pictured – Call of Cthulhu

In the linked GitHub issue, developer Arek Hiler mentioned:

Live true to His name Proton experiment will serve as a vehicle Introduce and test a new implementation of the media source. While it improves video playback in many games and allows us to fix more issues in the future, the change is significant and may result in regressions.

We have conducted extensive internal testing and have already made the changes available via the state-of-the-art beta branch. Now it’s time to take this experiment even further – into the standard Proton Experimental.

If you experience any regressions in video playback, please report them here.
There is a beta branch named old-media-source (Select Proton Experimental in your Steam library -> gear icon -> Properties -> Betas -> and select the branch from the drop-down list for beta participation.)

If you encounter any problems, please make sure they are not there old-media-source before reporting them here.

While the list above includes improved games, there are also some games that currently have known issues:

• Resident Evil 7 videos cannot be played.
• Resident Evil Village videos cannot be played.
• Quantum Break videos have green flashes and occasional crashes.
• In Shin Megami Tensei III there are occasional errors in video playback.

Due to changes like this, I always advise you to stick to the major versions of Proton, the latest being Proton 9, unless you specifically need Proton Experimental – as breakages can occur.

Article comes from GamingOnLinux.com.