should be offering that option for every game which has a Linux version available for download
The vast majority of native Linux games on Steam are built against the scout runtime (which is the default assumption if there is no information to the contrary). For those games, yes, always offering "Steam Linux Runtime" (app 1070560) as a possible compat tool seems appropriate.
However, strictly speaking, it is not true to say that every native Linux game should offer this: we're starting to get a few native Linux games (starting with Retroarch and a non-default branch of Battle for Wesnoth) that use the "Steam Linux Runtime - sniper" compatibility tool (app 1628350) by default, require the sniper environment, and will not work correctly in the scout environment. This is visible on https://steamdb.info/app/1118310/config/ as a reference to SteamLinuxRuntime_sniper in the app_mappings. Games that were built to be run on sniper should not offer the "Steam Linux Runtime" compat tool as an option, because in general it won't work; they should only offer "Steam Linux Runtime - sniper" or some version of Proton.
I suspect these titles are intentionally not reporting Linux support or incorrectly configured. Some of them may have pulled their Linux build - it would still be installed if you grabbed it before the developer retired it.
Overlord and Overlord II had Linux removed from their OS lists on June 27th, according to history data on SteamDB, and I figure the publisher just doesn't want to advertise Linux builds they no longer officially support. However, the games' Linux depots still exist. I've just confirmed that, as of today, I can still download the Linux version of Overlord on my PC (and if that's a mistake then I hope they don't fix it). I just can't download the Linux version on my Steam Deck or run it with Steam Linux Runtime on my PC — because Steam apparently uses the OS list, rather than the actual availability of a Linux version, to determine whether Steam Linux Runtime should be offered.
How do you download the Linux depot with the Steam client for Linux desktop? I checked here and I'm only able to get the Windows/Proton build, which is the behavior I'd expect to see, and consistent with Steam Deck.
Hello @michaelneverwins, can you completely close Steam, then run steam -console in a terminal.
After that let Steam come up like normal, switch to the console tab, and type licenses_for_app 11450 (11450 is Overlord). This should give you a couple lines of output. The details I'm mildly curious about is what number is after License packageID and also that the depots: line includes 11457 and 11459 (Overlord's linux native depots).
@TTimo — When I wrote on November 12th that I could still install the Linux version of Overlord, I had just removed the game and downloaded it again (with the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" option disabled). I don't remember whether I even closed Steam in between uninstalling and reinstalling the game, and I certainly didn't try it from a fresh Steam install or anything like that. If you can get only the Windows version of Overlord on Steam for Linux, then maybe my situation is different for some reason. I had just assumed Overlord's Linux port was (at least theoretically) available to everyone who has the game, because I can still see the Linux depot listed on SteamDB.
@kisak-valve — This is neat. I never knew about the -console option. Here's the console output for licenses_for_app 11450 (with one part censored with Xs because the exact second of purchase could, I guess, possibly identify my Steam account):
License packageID 2464:
- State : Active (flags 0x200) - Purchased : XXX XXX XX XX:XX:XX 2012 in "US", Credit Card
- Apps : 11450, 12710, 12810, (3 in total)
- Depots : 11451, 11452, 11453, 11454, 11455, 11456, 11457, 11458, 11459, 12711, 12712, 12713, 12714, 12715, 12716, 12811, 12812, 12813, 12814, 12815, 12816, 12817, 12818, (23 in total)
The Linux-related depots appear to be there. It looks like I'm getting the app IDs and depot IDs for Overlord: Raising Hell and Overlord II as well; apparently the Overlord Complete Pack counted as one license.
This is what I have:
] licenses_for_app 11450
License packageID 744062
- Apps : 11450, (1 in total)
- Depots : 11451, 11452, 11453, 11454, 11455, 11456, (6 in total)
No 11459 .. I added and installed the other Overlord games but that didn't bring in the depot either. I assume you retain the access from before the configuration changes were made.
Hello, resurrecting this because we have very specific cases like the DooM games for which native binaries are available. So in the case we want to run them through Steam, we definitely would like to able to select the OS native runtime.
we have very specific cases like the DooM games for which native binaries are available
If you have some very specific use-cases, then it might be better to open your own separate feature request describing those use-cases, rather than replying to someone else's issue. Unfortunately the name "Doom" refers to at least two different games in the same series, Doom (1993) and Doom (2016), so please be specific about app-IDs or store URLs.
Are you referring to situations like the 1990s Doom, Quake and Unreal games, where Steam only has a Windows version of the game available to buy, but native Linux binaries (from the original developer, a third-party commercial porter, or the community) are available outside Steam and can be used to play the same game from the same data files?
I don't think that's a scenario that Valve is really aiming to support: you can add third-party native Linux binaries as a "non-Steam game", but when running a Steam game like Doom (1993) under its own app ID (2280 here), the only versions that Steam/Valve support are the versions that are actually sold on Steam (and for app 2280, Bethesda has only chosen to make a Windows version available, so the closest-to-official way to run it on Linux is via Proton).
I'm not sure when it happened — maybe with the Steam client update that made "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)" the default for Linux games, or maybe earlier — but the main issue I described in the original post appears to be resolved.
Steps for reproducing this issue:
- In the Steam client, open the "Properties" menu for Overlord (or possibly any other natively Linux-compatible game whose store page does not indicate native Linux compatibility).
- Go to the "Compatibility" tab and enable the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" option.
- Attempt to find Steam Linux Runtime in the drop-down list.
When I look at the "Compatibility" tab of the "Properties" menu for Overlord now, I do see "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)" — as well as "Legacy runtime 1.0" — in the drop-down list. With the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" option disabled, the game defaults to "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)" on my Linux PC, as expected per the aforementioned client update's Linux notes. It defaults to Proton 9.0-4 on Steam Deck, but I can see "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)" the compatibility tool list there as well (although I didn't try installing it).
I'm not entirely sure if this was due to a Steam client update, because SteamDB also shows some depot changes in 2023, and maybe they did something that affects which compatibility tools the Steam client deems applicable. However, the game still has a Linux version accessible in my library and its store page still shows only Windows compatibility, so it remains a valid example of what I was describing in the original post.
Oh, right. I had mentioned some other examples in the original post as well. I should re-examine those too.
Overlord II and STASIS also have both "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)" and "Legacy runtime 1.0" in their compatibility tool lists now, whereas before (at least according to my original post in 2022) they did not.
(Note that STASIS is slightly more broken on Linux than I remember, in that it defaults to the Linux version even on the main branch where the Linux depot has no files. So, in order to download anything more than an empty folder called EmptySteamDepot, one must either actively switch to Proton or opt into the Linux beta unlocked using the password found here.)
I'm not sure when it happened — maybe with the Steam client update that made "Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)" the default for Linux games, or maybe earlier — but the main issue I described in the original post appears to be resolved.
It seems plausible that this was resolved at the same time as the addition of the "Legacy runtime 1.0" compatibility tool, which required some behind-the-scenes changes to the compatibility tool mechanism so that it could work correctly.
What issue, if any, remains? (Steps to reproduce / expected result / actual result)
Or if this issue as you reported it has essentially been resolved, please close it.
If there are different issues that are only tangentially related to the original report here, they might be better as a separate report with a more narrow focus, especially if they are game-specific.
(Note that STASIS is slightly more broken on Linux than I remember, in that it defaults to the Linux version even on the main branch where the Linux depot has no files. So, in order to download anything more than an empty folder called
EmptySteamDepot, one must either actively switch to Proton or opt into the Linux beta unlocked using the password found here.)
This sounds like a game-specific issue or misconfiguration by the game developer, which should probably be reported to the game developer rather than to Valve. Or, if the game developer is trying to do something that the Steam client doesn't really support gracefully, it would perhaps be better for them to discuss their needs with Valve as a separate report and see whether a solution can be found.
Or if this issue as you reported it has essentially been resolved, please close it.
Sorry, I should have closed this with my last comment. All of the cases I identified in my original post were resolved as of last time I checked, and the comments from July 2024 look like a separate issue.
proton 9.0-4x1 2024-12proton 7.0-4x1 2022-10
Your system information
Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
Enabling the "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" option for a natively Linux-compatible game typically allows one to select Steam Linux Runtime as the compatibility tool for that game. Whereas selecting a Proton version from the list of compatibility tools would cause Steam to switch to the Windows version of the game, selecting Steam Linux Runtime keeps the game's Linux version installed.
This is particularly relevant on Steam Deck, because some games with native Linux versions nevertheless have Steam Deck compatibility ratings assigned to their Windows versions based on testing with Proton. This causes Steam Deck to run these games with the tested Proton version by default (even if the compatibility rating in question is Unsupported, as is the case with TIS-100 for example). For such a game, the only way to override the Proton version selected by Valve is to select another compatibility tool, which leaves Steam Linux Runtime as the only way to play the Linux version of said game on a Steam Deck using the tools provided by Steam.
However, the option to use Steam Linux Runtime does not appear for some natively Linux-compatible games — namely, it seems, for those whose Linux versions are not advertised on the Steam store. One example would be Overlord. The game's store page no longer indicates native Linux support, and instead shows Windows as the only officially supported operating system, but the game still does have a Linux version (currently installed via Steam on my Linux desktop PC). I can install and run the Linux version of the game (and indeed the Linux version installs by default), but when I select "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool", the only choices offered are Proton versions and any third-party Windows-to-Linux compatibility tools I've installed. There is no Steam Linux Runtime in the game's compatibility tool drop-down list. It also happens to be the case that Overlord's Windows version has been given a Steam Deck compatibility rating of Playable and runs with Proton 7.0-4 by default on my Steam Deck — and thus, with no Steam Linux Runtime in the game's list of compatibility tools, there is no way (as far as I can tell) to run the game's Linux version on Steam Deck (even though the Linux version is installed by default on any other Linux PC). The situation is the same for Overlord II.
Another (somewhat different) example is STASIS, whose Linux version is accessible only via a password-protected beta branch. Even with the beta Linux version installed, Steam Linux Runtime does not appear in the list of compatibility tools. Again the game is rated Playable on Steam Deck based on its Windows version and thus, with no Steam Linux Runtime option, trying the Linux version on Steam Deck is presumably not possible.
The fact that Steam Deck lacks the option to use no compatibility tool for natively Linux-compatible games that have Steam Deck compatibility ratings is arguably a bug, but that's a separate problem and this may or may not be the correct issue tracker for Deck-specific bugs anyway. The issue here is simply that Steam Linux Runtime is not available for all native Linux games. It appears that the Steam client is using the OS list displayed on a game's store page in order to decide whether Steam Linux Runtime should be offered, whereas it should be offering that option for every game which has a Linux version available for download.
Steps for reproducing this issue: