Duplicate of https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11298?

Duplicate of #11298?

Possibly, but that issue was happening in a game running under Proton, now I'm not sure if there's that much of difference, if I'm told there isn't much of difference, then I'll close the issue.

Do you have a LD_PRELOAD line in you startparameters? If so, try without it temporary to buy ingame..

Had this issue happen to me out of nowhere very recently, and it has required me to set SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 in order to get the overlay to work again. Normally TF2 starts in wayland and it used to work, unless it using wayland is a new thing.

Tested:

• With and Without GPU Accel
• Stable (1773426488 | Fri, Mar 13, 2026 1:52 AM UTC -08:00) and Beta (1774577504 | Fri, Mar 27, 2026 1:51 AM UTC -08:00) Update
• With and without experimental SteamRT3 client

OS: Arch
GPU: RX 9070 XT

steam-logs.tar.gz

I began to have this issue too yesterday, @JosSamLoh's solution works perfectly, so I presume it's an compatibility issue with Wayland. Tested with The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin and
Do you know if there's a way a use other tools like gamescope along with this environment variable? I need it to make some adjustments (like enabling FSR when I need it).

Tried the command below but the overlay didn't open:

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 gamescope -h 1440p -H 1440 -F fsr --sharpness 5 -f --mangoapp -- %command%

Also started having this issue in tf2 only under kde wayland
I tried SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 but it didn't do anything

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues/7935#issuecomment-4185967540
the fix here also fixed this for me

Normally TF2 starts in wayland and it used to work, unless it using wayland is a new thing

It will almost certainly be a new thing, probably since the Steam Runtime 3.0 'sniper' update on 2026-04-01, which switched the default implementation of the SDL 2 API from "classic" SDL2 to sdl2-compat.

The Steam Overlay is known not to work for native Wayland titles: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/8020. This is a Steam Client limitation. I suspect that this issue should be treated as a duplicate of #8020.

I tried SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 but it didn't do anything

To confirm, the correct way to force a SDL game to use X11 is to set its Launch Options to:

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 %command%

Is that what you did? Or if not that, then what?

[rolling back to a previous version of sniper] also fixed this for me

This is a workaround, not a fix. Eventually the previous version will be overwritten by the current version.

A less intrusive workaround would be to set Launch Options to either

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 %command%

or

STEAM_COMPAT_RUNTIME_SDL2=classic %command%

If one of those works but the other does not, please report back which one worked. This will help to find a proper solution.

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11642#issuecomment-4200448345

I have tried both and both work, it seems like the first one didn't work before because I put it in at the end of my launch options after %command%, my launch options are now these
MANGOHUD=1 MANGOHUD_CONFIG=fps_only STEAM_COMPAT_RUNTIME_SDL2=classic %command% -novid -nojoy

This is likely to be fixed by a future update to "Steam Linux Runtime 3.0 - sniper".

Until then, the least intrusive workaround, if it works, is to use

SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 %command%

This can be combined with other options and environment variables if they are required for other workarounds or tweaks, for example @terrorbyte69420 might use:

MANGOHUD=1 MANGOHUD_CONFIG=fps_only SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 %command% -novid -nojoy

Environment variables need to be before the %command%, and options need to be after.

It seems that @JosSamLoh and @Deuchnord already used this workaround successfully, so that's good evidence that we're on the right track.

@GavinFF-SS, please could you confirm whether this workaround avoids the problem for you, too?

I presume it's an compatibility issue with Wayland

Yes, the Steam Overlay is not compatible with apps using native Wayland (#8020).

This is likely to be fixed by a future update to "Steam Linux Runtime 3.0 - sniper".

Since last week's new beta, all versions of SLR 3.0 - sniper default to using X11 for compatibility with the Overlay:

• default and previous release branches (SteamLinuxRuntime_sniper/VERSIONS.txt says 3.0.20260218.209091): default is "classic" SDL, which always defaulted to X11 anyway
• beta branch (SteamLinuxRuntime_sniper/VERSIONS.txt says 3.0.20260415.224995 or newer): default is sdl2-compat, but SDL 3 has been patched to prefer X11 > Wayland

This should fix the Overlay, unless a user has specifically forced use of the Wayland backend (not recommended). Explicitly setting SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 or STEAM_COMPAT_RUNTIME_SDL2=classic shouldn't be necessary any more.

The fact that the Overlay assumes/requires X11 and doesn't work for native-Wayland apps/games is https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/8020, which is not a new thing, and I think it should be treated as out-of-scope for this particular issue.

Can confirm TF2 now starts with X11 by default, overlay works again.

SDL video target is 'x11'

Steam overlay is not working here anymore since a week or two. SDL_VIDEODRIVER does nothing.

@DwayneHawkins:

Steam overlay is not working here anymore since a week or two. SDL_VIDEODRIVER does nothing.

I think it would be best if you open a separate issue with full details of versions in use, what game you are trying to run, and relevant logs.

The original issue reported here by @GavinFF-SS is believed to have been fixed: we haven't had confirmation of this from @GavinFF-SS, but it did work for (at least) @JosSamLoh.

If there is some other problem with the Steam Overlay that is affecting you, then it will need separate debugging and a different solution.

@terrorbyte69420:

unfortunately it happens in Halo MCC too apparently

Similarly I think it would be best if you open a separate issue with full details, so that it can be investigated separately, instead of letting this issue report scope-creep beyond the original reporter's situation.

Please be as clear and specific as you can about what works, what doesn't work, and anything that is unusual or a non-default configuration on your system, including any workarounds that you're already using. Too much information is usually better than too little information, and we are more likely to be able to solve an issue if we don't have to guess at exactly what you mean by "it happens".