protonscr

Deadlock fails to launch on Hyprland (Arch, NVIDIA) unless SDL_VIDEODRIVER=windows is set

protonclosed
ValveSoftware/Proton#9591 · opened 2026-03-19 by Charge03 · updated 2026-03-19 · 1 comments · github
CCharge03 2026-03-19 github

Compatibility Report

  • Name of the game with compatibility issues: Deadlock
  • Steam AppID of the game: 1422450

System Information

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070
  • Video driver version: 590.48.01
  • Kernel version: 6.19.8-arch1-1
  • Link to full system information report as Gist: (optional, can add later)
  • Proton version: Proton Experimental (also tested Proton-GE)

I confirm:

  • [x] that I haven't found an existing compatibility report for this game.
  • [x] that I have checked whether there are updates for my system available.

Symptoms

Deadlock fails to launch under Proton when using Hyprland (Wayland compositor).

When clicking "Play", Steam briefly shows "Running" and then returns to "Play" with no window appearing.

Proton logs show a crash very early during startup with:
STATUS_BREAKPOINT (0x80000003)
occurring inside tier0.dll.

No compatdata prefix or config files are created, indicating the crash happens before full initialization.

Reproduction

  1. Launch Deadlock via Steam on Arch Linux using Hyprland (Wayland)
  2. Game fails to launch (no window appears)
  3. Steam returns to "Play" state

Workaround

The game launches successfully when forcing:
SDL_VIDEODRIVER=windows %command%

Additional Notes

  • Vulkan is working correctly (vulkaninfo succeeds)
  • NVIDIA drivers are properly installed and loaded
  • Other Proton games launch without issue
  • Issue appears specific to Deadlock under Hyprland
  • Likely related to window/display initialization under Wayland/XWayland

Attached:

Kkisak-valve maintainer 2026-03-19 github

Hello @Charge03, this is not a Proton bug. Windows based games can bundle SDL and that bundled library built for Windows isn't expected to talk to the window systems of a different OS.

You've set the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable somewhere in your system and that's explicitly telling the SDL library to only try something it doesn't have instead of walking through a default set of video backends until if finds a usable choice.

Proton versions

Launch options

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