ProtonDB
Hacker ApprovedGame database in Games & consoles
Community site where people report whether Steam games run on Linux, with user comments on fixes. Critics say its ratings are often too optimistic, so read the comments.
Community site where people report whether Steam games run on Linux, with user comments on fixes. Critics say its ratings are often too optimistic, so read the comments.
45 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 36
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 36 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Lookup of game compatibility reports
“You can check compatibility reports from https://www.protondb.com/ for whichever games you're interested in.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too” “go to protondb.com, search for Diablo 4, and then filter the list of results by "Distro" for Ubuntu”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Diablo 4 on Ubuntu?” “ProtonDB.com is a great resource for finding out which "Proton" works best for a given game.”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “GloriousEggroll's Proton has been rebased on Proton 11” - Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Hate is a strong word, but I don't like Windows 11”
- Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “I spent a year on Linux and forgot to miss Windows”
- Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Windows Drops Under 60% in Global Desktop OS Share for the First Time in Years”
- Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”
- Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins”
- Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine”
- Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I dumped Windows 11 for Linux, and you should too”
- Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “CachyOS June 2026 Release”
- Comment from 2 Nov 2025 in “Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark”
- Comment from 14 May 2026 in “Linux gaming is faster because Windows APIs are becoming Linux kernel features”
- Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great”
- Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “I spent a year on Linux and forgot to miss Windows”
Comments with fixes and workarounds
“ProtonDB, community rating, separate comments for Steam Deck and PC, troubleshooting for Nvidia/AMD specific issues”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “I spent a year on Linux and forgot to miss Windows” “Shout-out to ProtonDB for the fix when things don't work out of the box”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Gaming on Linux has never been more approachable” “I check on protondb which versions work so I override it per game”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March” - Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “WSL 2 is getting faster Windows file system access”
- Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine”
Quick checks before buying games
“checking protondb before buying a game rather than after”
Comment from 2 Nov 2025 in “Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark” “more like couple seconds on protondb”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable” “I select games based on ProtonDB”
Comment from 13 May 2026 in “Linux gaming is faster because Windows APIs are becoming Linux kernel features”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Ratings often overstate how games run
“ProtonDB's rating is not a perfect indicator (BM:W is rated "platinum")”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it” “operating under an alternate definition of what "platinum" means”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse” “despite protonDB claiming limited compatibility, the game launched immediately with no problems”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Moonshine: Lets you stream games from your PC to any device running Moonlight” - Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March”
- Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Valve is running Apple's playbook in reverse”
- Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”
- Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”
- Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “Steam Machine game testing”
- Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop”
- Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine”
- Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProtonDBThis page | 36 | 9 | 80% | 9 | — | Approved |
| SteamDB | 6 | 9 | 40% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 47 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“go to protondb.com, search for Diablo 4, and then filter the list of results by "Distro" for Ubuntu”
“despite protonDB claiming limited compatibility, the game launched immediately with no problems”
“You can check compatibility of various titles with protondb if you're curious.”
“look at https://www.protondb.com/ to see if there is some startup option”
“Those that don't you can look up details on protondb.com.”
“more like couple seconds on protondb”
“ProtonDB.com is a great resource for finding out which "Proton" works best for a given game.”
“the rating still said "gold," so I stopped trusting the ratings”
“usually has advice in the top or second comment that works great”
“Make sure to check ProtonDB for the games you care about.”
“I select games based on ProtonDB”
“Sometimes the advice on ProtonDB works, sometimes it doesn't.”
“If you're not sure, you can check the status on https://protondb.com”
“Protondb is the definitive guide to what works and what doesn't and the numbers will align with the above.”
“the "gold" rating on ProtonDB/WineHQ means nothing, you have to check the comments”
“I check on protondb which versions work so I override it per game”
“Take ProtonDB with a grain of salt”
“plug them into protondb to see compatibility & read through the comments”
“ProtonDB checks known linux game compatibility && login with Steam to check your library!”
“ProtonDB is the right thing to check to find out if any given game is gonna run on Linux”
“ProtonDB, community rating, separate comments for Steam Deck and PC, troubleshooting for Nvidia/AMD specific issues”
“Look up protondb for game compatibility”
“Just check out protondb.com for compatibility reports.”
“community maintained website for checking game compatibility”
“You can check compatibility reports from https://www.protondb.com/ for whichever games you're interested in.”
“way too optimistic when saying that games are "playable"”
“FYI the ProtonDB medal system is not a good measurement of a game’s performance.”
“ProtonDB is full of "Platinum" games that are barely functional”
“Chances are you can run it if something is at least gold on protondb”
“ProtonDB's rating is not a perfect indicator (BM:W is rated "platinum")”
“Better to consider is the Proton verified count, which has been rocketing upwards.”
“operating under an alternate definition of what "platinum" means”
“there are countless games, marked as 'platinum' in ProtonDB, but do not work OOTB”
“Shout-out to ProtonDB for the fix when things don't work out of the box”
“I found it useful to consult protondb.com to see what others have gotten to work.”
“ProtonDB has a lot of "gold" ratings it really shouldn't”
“ProtonDB is a goldmine when a game doesn't work”
“You can check https://protondb.com/ to see how any given game runs.”
“checking protondb before buying a game rather than after”
“Or at least look up the games you care about on ProtonDB.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.