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Valve put up a new Steam Linux Runtime 4.0 with a move towards 64-bit (www.gamingonlinux.com)
submitted 10 months ago by cm0002@no.lastname.nz to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.world
88 comments fedilink hide all child comments

To ensure games run well on Linux either via Native Linux builds or Windows games with Proton, part of the magic is in the Steam Linux Runtime. A new version of it, the Steam Linux Runtime 4.0 was recently put up with some pretty big changes.

What's the point of it? It ensures Steam and games run through Steam on Linux work properly across all the many different Linux distributions. Another secret Valve sauce for Linux. Well, not secret at all but you get my meaning I'm sure.

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[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 40 points 10 months ago

The runtime is not Steam itself. That's more or less independent from the runtime. The runtimes are a collection of libraries that developers can develop against without having to include them themselves.

Kind of similar to the Visual C++ Runtime on Windows.

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

I know what a runtime is, but I'd like to check which version of it I'm running. πŸ™‚ Wouldn't be very difficult but I'm this instance I don't know how.

[-] Alxe@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

The runtime is for launching games, not Steam itself. You can check the runtime selection in Compatibility tab of Steam and of each game. If your Steam Flatpak install doesn't work, the issue is likely somewhere else.

I'd suggest trying to launch the flatpak from the terminal and seeing if there's any strange logging.

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I'd suggest trying to launch the flatpak from the terminal and seeing if there's any strange logging.

Already did that but I couldn't see anything that I could recognize as abnormal. The "Connecting" window shows up, actually. But it just stops loading for a second and then it just says "Reaping pid" in the console and it closes the process.

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

The runtime is for launching games, not Steam itself. You can check the runtime selection in Compatibility tab of Steam and of each game. If your Steam Flatpak install doesn't work, the issue is likely somewhere else.

Hold up, are you talking about the compatibility layer, "Proton"? I'm not sure that's what we're talking about here. Proton is up to version 9 and 10, not 4.0.

[-] technohacker@programming.dev 9 points 10 months ago

You can select Steam Runtime Versions in the Compatibility tab too, separate from Proton versions

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Oh okay, I guess that's in the main Steam settings, not per game as the other person suggested.

[-] Venat0r@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

You can select it per game as well, steam runtime 3.0 and now presumably steam runtime 4.0 should show up in the same drop down menu next to proton 1.0, proton 10.0 in the compatibility options

[-] SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 10 months ago

And also, should be noted, only for games with a Linux native version

[-] Venat0r@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

oh I was wondering what the difference was πŸ˜…

[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 3 points 10 months ago

No, it is a per game setting. When your game is a native Linux game it will use one of the Steam runtimes. If you had a Linux native game and selected Proton instead of a Steam Linux runtime Steam would download the Windows version of the game.

With Linux native games you usually don't have to touch this setting.

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Right but you can't change the native runtime per game. You can only change the compatibility layer (Proton) globally and per game. The runtime is static obviously, and either used or not used. I'm guessing Proton bypasses the native runtime by having the game interacting with it? Or maybe it is a translation layer? Both? Anyway, doesn't matter. πŸ™‚ What wasn't the problem.

But I'd still be interested in how to check which version I have, just to know.

Edit: hold on, does the runtime show up in the same list as Proton versions? That would explain what you all are talking about. And only for native Linux games. That's why I haven't seen it before I guess.

[-] Natanael@infosec.pub 0 points 10 months ago

The runtime is a container with libraries. Proton always runs inside the container by design. The runtime ensures the software environment is predictable, Proton ensures Windows binaries can run (by handling Windows API calls)

[-] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

So you can use those to develop on a platform and be sure that it work on the other too? Is this runtime steam-indipendent?

[-] derek@infosec.pub 8 points 10 months ago

Yes. Exactly.

Older stuff here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime

Newer stuff here: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt

The dev guide within that gitlab repo confirms that it can be used sans Steam: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/steam-runtime-tools/-/blob/main/docs/slr-for-game-developers.md

This applies to the new runtime as well: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/steamrt4/platform

[-] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 3 points 10 months ago

Oh that's cool, thank your for the link too

this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2025
553 points (99.3% liked)

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