I don't have proof of this, but I believe this may be linked to other Ubisoft games from this time period like #2143. Tracking this in a WineHQ bug:
Further addition: The most recent WineHQ compatibility report on this game suggests that the in-game audio works if compatibility is set to Windows XP, but this is probably bunk by now. I see an XAudio2 comment, so this game likely needs to be retried with a version of FAudio that is compiled with FFmpeg support. Please try [the latest release here](https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases] if the latest official Proton release still does not fix it. You will need to install this in your Steam home folder, restart Steam, and configure individual games to use a specific custom Proton version. Setting custom compatibility providers as the default does not work, probably for Good Reasons that aren't entirely clear to me.
I've just tested it with the latest Proton 4.2-5 & FAudio compiled with FFmpeg
steam-243470.log
After switching off the uplay overlay (it causes the game to crash instantly) the game runs with full audio in the menu & nothing in the actual game itself, the subtitles vanish after the car accident.
For me with Proton 4.2-7 the game crashes immediately after showing splash screen (tested with disabled in-game overlay option in Uplay).
$ inxi -bM
System: Host: localhost.localdomain Kernel: 5.1.0-step5-3d21b6525cae+ x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Gnome 3.33.2
Distro: Fedora release 31 (Rawhide)
Machine: Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX X470-I GAMING v: Rev 1.xx serial: <root required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 2304 date: 05/03/2019
CPU: 8-Core: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X type: MT MCP speed: 3618 MHz min/max: 2200/3700 MHz
Graphics: Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Vega 20 [Radeon VII] driver: amdgpu v: kernel
Display: wayland server: Fedora Project X.org 1.20.5 driver: amdgpu resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD Radeon VII (VEGA20 DRM 3.32.0 5.1.0-step5-3d21b6525cae+ LLVM 8.0.0) v: 4.5 Mesa 19.1.0-rc5
Network: Device-1: Intel I211 Gigabit Network driver: igb
Device-2: Realtek RTL8822BE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi adapter driver: N/A
Drives: Local Storage: total: 11.57 TiB used: 8.66 TiB (74.8%)
Info: Processes: 579 Uptime: 5h 01m Memory: 31.37 GiB used: 29.96 GiB (95.5%) Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.34
Running winetricks xact and setting the Version to XP still works (Wine-Staging 4.10). I was able to start and finish the Game with full audio.
Proton 4.2-7 winetricks xact & setting Version to XP works for me too, full audio as far as I played the game, my video card is rather low end so performance was rough but the game is now playable.
The problem with setting the version to XP is you don't get the benefits of dxvk(Vulkan) because in the xp version of the game the graphics is handled by dx9 and not dx11, so you will have to install d9vk into the games prefix and that will boost the graphics performance immensely.
It seems like this game is having a lot of stability issues under Proton. There's a high chance of the game crashing on boot and the game ceasing functioning afterward.
GPU: Intel CometLake-U GT2 (UHD Graphics)
Driver: Mesa 21.3.5
Distro: EndeavourOS
Kernel: 5.16.4-arch1-1
Proton: experimental-6.3-202201
In this zip file, we have two logs. One of them is for when the game functions correctly, and the other one is for when the game crashes and stops working.
logs.zip
19
In my case controller has stopped working for some reason. DualShock 4 did work at some point but there were framerate problems then and I did not play much.
Same issue with controller not working in Assassin's Creed Origins, but some other Uplay titles work fine with controller (Assassin's Creed Unity and Syndicate for example have working controller).
Edit: controller started working in Origins after disabling Steam input, but Watchdogs is not starting as game crashes upon starting..
If Steam input is disabled Watchdogs will crash. So it has to be enabled but controller will not work then..
Edit: With Proton 7.0 game starts without crashing if Steam input is disabled. But controller does not work either way.
At the latest Proton Experimental version Uplay crashes after entering credentials.

Uplay.exe_4.7.0.3415_2023-03-19_19-56-21.zip
Uplay.exe_4.7.0.3415_2023-03-19_19-51-59.zip
Uplay.exe_4.7.0.3415_2023-03-19_19-43-35.zip
Uplay.exe_4.7.0.3415_2023-03-19_18-23-20.zip
From the log, warn:seh:dispatch_exception "C:\\Jenkins_p4ws\\UPLAY-PC-STREAMS\\client\\release_heimdall-live\\shared\\libs\\common\\mg/common/Json.h(301) : ASSERT: Wrong value type\n" looks like a line of interest followed by an access violation (c0000005)
In game old u-play client. After changing to newest, i have used from watch dogs 2, game runs.
replace in
SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Watch_Dogs/support/GameLauncher
then delete bottle, for reinstalling it auto
Has anyone been able to get Uplay to not crash after logging in? Currently having this issue on EndeaovurOS with a Ryzen 5600G+RTX 2060 combo, running the game through Steam Proton Experimental and 7.0.6 all result in the same errors
Edit:
I got it working by downloading the Ubisoft Connect app and replaced the original Uplay exe inside the GameLauncher folder, renaming the Ubisoft Connect exe as UplayInstaller.exe then launched it again.
I'm having issues getting the game to run, Steam has installed Ubisoft Connect correctly however the game just closes while showing its loading/splash screen, meaning I don't even get to the main menu. Any tips?
I'm having issues getting the game to run, Steam has installed Ubisoft Connect correctly however the game just closes while showing its loading/splash screen, meaning I don't even get to the main menu. Any tips?
I was (until todays Ubisoft Connect update) running the game well with GE-Proton 8-9 ... however, since the update today Ubisoft Connect no longer launches with this version.
This game is unable to launch after update from proton experimental-10.0-20251017 to experimental-10.0-20251023. Game shows its splash window and exited, cannot go further.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H
GPU : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile
Distro: Arch Linux
Kernel: Linux 6.17.5-2-cachyos
Proton: experimental-10.0-20251023
edit: Regression is fixed in proton experimental bleeding-edge (no launch issue with it).
Do you still have this issue ?
I have not tested recently, and would not even be running them with Steam in any case. Since signing into them added this and WD2 to my Uplay account, I would be simply installing Uplay in its own prefix and running them there.
I considered buying WD2 on Steam when it was on sale, but it would be redundant, if I still have to use the Uplay launcher to play it.
I have not tested recently, and would not even be running them with Steam in any case. Since signing into them added this and WD2 to my Uplay account, I would be simply installing Uplay in its own prefix and running them there.
I considered buying WD2 on Steam when it was on sale, but it would be redundant, if I still have to use the Uplay launcher to play it.
Understood, thanks for the reply.
I had some issues on my end and practically eliminated all of them by creating a desktop shortcut with the contents ;
[Desktop Entry]
Name=GS_Steam-BPM
Comment=Launch Steam Gamepad UI inside Gamescope
Exec=/bin/bash -lc "steam -shutdown >/dev/null 2>&1; while pgrep -x steam >/dev/null 2>&1; do sleep 1; done; exec env -u MANGOHUD_CONFIG MANGOHUD_CONFIGFILE=/Games/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf gamescope -e -f -w 1280 -h 720 -W 1920 -H 1080 -F fsr --fsr-sharpness 11 --force-grab-cursor --mangoapp -- steam -gamepadui -steamdeck"
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon=steam
Categories=Game;
StartupNotify=true
And in the game's launch params I had ;
env WINEDEBUG=-all PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=60 DXVK_CONFIG="dxgi.MaxFrameRate=30" WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d11,dxgi=n,b" %command% -NOLOG -disablepagefilecheck
GE-Proton 9-4 and Proton Experimental.
Only thing I can't do I adjust any setting in the Display section without getting a flicker and a craash.
Just putting these here in case it helps anyone else later on.
proton experimentalx4 2026-07proton 7.0x1 2022-02proton 4.2-7x2 2019-06proton 4.2-5x1 2019-05DXVK_CONFIG="dxgi.MaxFrameRate=30"x1 2026-07MANGOHUDx1 2026-07WINEDEBUG=-allx1 2026-07WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d11,dxgi=n,b"x1 2026-07
Compatibility Report
System Information
I confirm:
it was 14MB log file size, so i uploaded it to gist: https://gist.github.com/fsyy/e090724494cc383cd01d7eda70786146#file-proton-log
Symptoms
if i start the game all is running well, audio in the menu and the intro is there. if i start the game i have no sound, at the beginning subtitles seem to work, but after a few scenes they also go away.
Reproduction
start the game and start a new game.