Valve shipped a Steam Client update on October 13 that changes what Linux does with a Windows program added to the library as a non-Steam game. Valve’s release notes say those Windows binaries now run in Proton by default, so a shortcut to a Windows installer or launcher starts under Proton without the user choosing a compatibility tool.
Steam on Linux now picks the compatibility tool itself and warns before installing games known to fail in Proton
The “Select compatibility tool” dropdown is now always visible. The recommended tool, or the Steam Runtime for native games, appears at the top of the list as “Default”, and aliases such as “Proton Stable” can be chosen from it. On desktop Linux, installing a game that is known not to work with Proton now brings up the SteamOS unsupported dialog, and the SteamOS compatibility dialogs show in the desktop interface for games not verified for that hardware.
Two input fixes change how Steam handles controllers. Virtual gamepads are no longer torn down when a game calls ISteamUtils::SetGameLauncherMode, a case that could leave games without controller hot-plug support with no input. Gamepad input is also reshuffled when the last running game exits instead of when a game launches.
The overlay and capture changes apply to Vulkan and D3D games. The overlay no longer crashes when a Vulkan game recreates its swap chain, and it now works in Vulkan games that open several windows. On Windows, Valve removes frame-rate hitches in D3D11 and D3D12 games when a screenshot is taken and lowers the cost of game recording for some D3D12 games. No figures are given for either.
Remote Play gets an experimental codec built for fast wired networks
The update adds PyroWave to Remote Play as an experimental codec for high-bandwidth, low-latency streaming, with console variables for tuning its automatic bitrate calculation and a command-line option that logs encoding performance. It comes from the PyroWave repository, whose author calls it an intra-only codec, practically a still-image codec, written in Vulkan compute shaders, with encode and decode under about 0.1 ms at 1080p and 0.2 ms at 4K. It targets bitrates of roughly 200 Mbit/s and up, and the stated use is local-network game streaming over Ethernet where bandwidth matters less than latency. That likely makes it a codec for a wired home network rather than Wi-Fi. The notes do not say what bitrate Steam uses by default.
Remote Play also gets much faster Vulkan capture, better color accuracy, clarity and brightness, an automatic switch to H.264 when HEVC is not available, and HDR switched off when streaming to the OLED Steam Deck.
Microsoft lists a mouse-stutter fix for some games in October’s Windows 11 security update
Microsoft’s notes for KB5127648, released October 13 for OS builds 26100.9711, 26200.9711 and 26300.9711, carry a line under Gaming: the update “fixes an issue that could cause mouse input to stutter in some games.” It arrives with the month’s security fixes rather than as a separate patch. The note does not name a game, an input device, a graphics API or the update that introduced the problem, so it does not say which stutter it addresses.