Hello @tognee, the workaround you mentioned is legally problematic and has been removed.
Good to know, should I edit the second part out as well as it is related to the workaround?
I don't have a strong opinion on that. The main detail is that this game would benefit from support for Media Foundation maturing.
You might get better behavior with Proton Experimental - experimental-5.13-20201218c.
I've also tried that, same exact behaviour
Log while using Proton Experimental
Looks like a missing codec issue. From the log:
err:mfplat:bus_watch ../../proton/gst-plugins-base/gst/playback/gstdecodebin2.c(4679): gst_decode_bin_expose (): /GstBin:bin0/GstDecodeBin:decodebin0:
no suitable plugins found:
Missing decoder: MPEG-4 AAC (audio/mpeg, mpegversion=(int)4, framed=(boolean)true, stream-format=(string)raw, level=(string)2, base-profile=(string)lc, profile=(string)lc, codec_data=(buffer)1190, rate=(int)48000, channels=(int)2)
Missing decoder: H.264 (High Profile) (video/x-h264, stream-format=(string)avc, alignment=(string)au, level=(string)4.2, profile=(string)high, codec_data=(buffer)0164002affe1001a6764002aac2ca501e0089f966a02020280000003008000003c4201000568e9093525fdf8f800, width=(int)1920, height=(int)1080, framerate=(fraction)60/1, pixel-aspect-ratio=(fraction)1/1)
I think the codec issue got fixed. Now the game hangs some seconds after the gameplay starts.
(I'm using the free demo as I had already refunded the game)
steam-1497570.log
When the game locks up the log says
err:sync:RtlpWaitForCriticalSection section 000000006E4ECAD0 "?" wait timed out in thread 0190, blocked by 010c, retrying (60 sec)
over and over again.
With this new Proton 6.3-5 RC testing version the game is now playable. The videos are like a television off the air but now it doesn't crash after the start. Another problem is that I can't put two discs and the disc being dragged isn't showing and the disc is also weird when I try to pull it. Otherwise the game is working fine


I think the codec issue got fixed.
Apparently that issue was fixed by Proton-GE, nothing to do with official Proton. So my issue still remains.
Tested again with both 6.3-5 and experimental, both gave the missing plugins issue.
steam-1331440-6.3-5.log
steam-1331440-experimental.log
I'm using EndeavourOS (based on arch) and I have all gst plugins installed (tried installing lib32 plugins as well, same issue)

I see that other users were able to play the game, but I still can't.
Any help would be appreciated!
Finally got the game running.
I copied over the lib and lib64 folders from proton-ge into proton experimental and then did and integrity check.
So now the game starts and with the bad and ugly plugins as well.
The only issues that I faced are that the cutscenes pick a random language every time and that the game sometimes freezes for 10-15 seconds.
Here is the proton log.
steam-1331440.log

Compatibility Report
System Information
I confirm:
steam-1331440.log
Symptoms
Game hangs before first cutscene, intro scenes can be skipped.
Reading on ProtonDB some users suggested to install
<Workaround removed by moderator>. This resulted with a Fatal Error pop up from UE4 that returned.Reproduction
Download the game and start it