Having the same issue, managed to get a dump using the PROTON_LOG option, however I can't seem to find anything "alerting" in the logs

Possibly "Hitman: Sniper Challenge" is also affected by #753. Same behavior as "Hitman: Absolution" described here.

Confirmed issue is with regards to copy protection - if HMA.exe is replaced with a modified "no-cd" version of the exe, it works quite well.

Just tried with DRM free version from GOG. Works fine as well.
Except some rendering issue where the actual skin of the people isn't rendered (eye balls and suit are ;)

Can't believe I'm doing this, been a decade at least since I was looking for that crap, anyway I found one modified "no-cd" binary (skidrow) , replaced HMA.exe with that one, still doesn't launch.
Any hint where I can find that modified binary which works? Some string or something which would help me find it.

Edit:
Installed it with Lutris in a Windows version of Steam + Dxvk, working fine.
Copying HMA.exe from that installation over to Linux version of steam didn't help.
After that I tried to copy the entire folder, thinking maybe some other files changed besides HDA.exe, that didn't help either.

Edit 2:
Found the one that's working (Prophet)

Supposedly copying the root folder from a Windows install is working for other people... I think just the HMA.exe is required. I have a feeling you do need to launch the game via Windows Steam at least once to patch the exe though. Not sure.

And Prophet was the one I used too.

Compatibility Report

• Name of the game with compatibility issues: Hitman: Absolution
• Steam AppID of the game: https://steamdb.info/app/203140/

System Information

• GPU: GTX 760
• Driver/LLVM version: NVIDIA 440.64
• Kernel version: 5.5.8-zen
• https://github.com/shoober420/linux-scripts/blob/main/home/shoober420/sysinfonvidia
• Proton version: 5.0-3

LOG:
steam-203140.log

Symptoms

Crashes at launch

Instead of using a shady cracked exe (firefox detects a virus) you can also use the gog binary: simply copy the whole "retail" directory into the gamedir (so nothing is overwritten) and start retail/HMA.exe instead of the original HMA.exe

What? the HMA.Exe that comes with the retail download does not work

the gog retail exe does work, but only from inside the retail directory, not as direct HMA.exe replacement:
"simply copy the whole "retail" directory into the gamedir (so nothing is overwritten) and start retail/HMA.exe instead of the original HMA.exe"
I would have replied earlier, but your initial comment was just "What?" which wasn't answerable

Updated to the latest Beta Client & Proton Experimental & the game now works perfectly without the replacement HMA.exe.

Can confirm, both Hitman: Absolution and Hitman: Sniper Challenge are playable with Steam Beta and latest Experimental.

Can confirm, both Hitman: Absolution and Hitman: Sniper Challenge are playable with Steam Beta and latest Experimental.

Not today anymore.

I tried Proton Experimental, Proton 8, Proton 7 ... It takes years doing "Updating Executable", then, "Cloud something", then, waiting years again, then the button come back to "Play".

edit : Ok, I think it works once you have restarted Steam.

1 July 2026

Bought the game a few days ago on Steam. Refuses to launch. For instance, I grabbed the Gnarly Repacks release and installed it. I then had Steam validate the files successfully. The game refused to launch. I have tried the launch_443_1 version from within Steam and different Proton versions to no avail. Game launches fine with the default crack.

Affects Hitman Sniper challenge as well.

PROTON_LOG:

steam-203140.log.txt

PROTON_LOG with LD_DEBUG=libs :

steam-203140.log-LD.txt

Using Slackware and I think I have the appropriate libraries installed.

Hello @ShadowOfTheDark669, WARNING: Low file descriptor limit: 4096 (see https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/wiki/File-Descriptors) from your Proton log is the likely hint to ponder first.

Done. No improvement whatsoever.

Steps:
Deleted old compatdata folder > Proton set to experimental > Validated game files > Game refuses to launch.

Fresh logs:
PROTON:

steam-203140.log.fresh.txt

PROTON with LD:

steam-203140.log.fresh-LD.txt

Thanks, your Proton log tells us it's trying harder to start than before giving you err: Failed to initialize DXVK., which hints that you have an unhealthy Vulkan render path. Please copy the contents of Steam Runtime Diagnostics from Steam (Steam -> Help -> Steam Runtime Diagnostics) and put it in a gist, then include a link to the gist in this issue report.

Here:
https://gist.github.com/ShadowOfTheDark669/64086e13da0057589a49c1bf541fc02a

Mesa 22.0.1, being 4 years old is almost certainly lacking driver features required by the bulld of DXVK bundled with Proton Experimental. https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/wiki/Driver-support points towards currently needing mesa 25.1 or newer. Personally, I'd test if an older Proton version is usable instead of attempting to shoehorn new mesa into an aged distro release.

I have tested this specific Mesa version to work on Proton-11 for several titles. Even Hitman Absolution works with DXVK 2.6.1 and NoCD crack. It is just the Steam version that crashes.

Proton 6-3.8 leads to crashes as well.

Blind guess, does telling Steam to verify the integrity of the game's files have an effect?

Sorry I am late.

Yes and no. Often times the game simply gets stuck on updating the executable. Verifying the game files allows it to progress to "Running" followed shortly by a crash.

Tried fresh Artix. Launches on first try.
The problem is likely caused by my custom mix or Slackware stock + custom packages.

Issue resolved.
Closing comment

Thanks @kisak-valve

Compatibility Report

• Name of the game with compatibility issues:Hitman: Absolution

System Information

• GPU:RX 6700 10GB
• Video driver version: Mesa 26.2.0
• Kernel version: 7.1.8
• Link to full system information report as [Gist]https://gist.github.com/pollux78/0cc678c4474d328a989a0589f5e557a4
• Proton version: Proton Experimental, proton 11.0-1, proton 10.0-4, proton 9.0
• LOG: steam-203140.log

Symptoms

Hitman: Absolution isnt launching anymore, it sits in the background and crashes

EDIT: Found the problem, steamrt3 enabled causes the game to not launch properly.

EDTI AGAIN: since disabling and reenabling steamrt3 its now working lmao.

Reproduction

1. Use steam beta, enable steamrt3
2. Try and launch hitman: absolution
3. Watch it crash in the background