Linux Gaming Check:

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

1. Introduction

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a first-person, open-world role-playing game (RPG) set in medieval Bohemia. It emphasizes historical accuracy, realistic combat, and a deep narrative experience. The game demands significant hardware resources and has been a challenging title for Linux compatibility.

2. Status Quo (ProtonDB Analysis)

• Tier: Unknown
• Community Reports: ProtonDB currently lists the game’s compatibility as Unknown. However, user reports indicate a mixed experience. Several users report the game running flawlessly out of the box with a custom Proton build (proton-cachyos-10.0-20260101) and experiencing full DualSense controller support and successful FSR4 implementation. Others have reported performance issues, requiring specific launch options like PROTON_USE_NTSYNC=1 to mitigate stuttering. Disabling EXPO has been necessary for some users to prevent crashes. Initial optimizations, including a large shader disk cache, have shown promise. However, performance on Linux appears slightly worse than on Windows for some configurations. The Steam overlay has been reported as unreliable.

3. 🚨 IMPORTANT: Current Hotfix (Update January 2026)

A critical set of issues has emerged, particularly affecting users with NVIDIA Turing GPUs (GTX 1650) and those experiencing controller recognition problems. These issues are primarily linked to recent Proton Experimental updates.

• Problem 1: Game Freezes After Maleshov Sequence: The game frequently freezes after exiting the Maleshov sequence.
• Problem 2: Controller Recognition Failure: Xbox and PlayStation 5 controllers are not recognized, especially when using Bluetooth.
• Problem 3: NVIDIA Turing GPU Rendering Issues: Rendering problems have been observed on NVIDIA Turing GPUs (GTX 1650) following the update to Proton Experimental 10.0-4.

Solution

The following steps address these issues.

1. Resolve Freezing After Maleshov Sequence & Controller Recognition:

   • Install Mesa Packages from Kisak PPA: This is the primary recommended fix.

     sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kisak/mesa
     sudo apt update
     sudo apt install mesa-25.1.2
     

   • Use Proton 10.0-1 (beta): Downgrading to this version is crucial.

   • SteamDeck Launch Option (Controller Recognition): If the above steps don’t resolve controller recognition, try launching the game with the SteamDeck launch option.

     SteamDeck=1 %command%
     

2. Resolve NVIDIA Turing GPU Rendering Issues:

   • Downgrade Proton: Roll back Proton to a stable version. Version 10.0-3 is recommended.

     • Open Steam.
     • Right-click “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II” in your library.
     • Select “Properties.”
     • Select “Compatibility.”
     • Enable “Enable Proton.”
     • Select “Proton Experimental” or “Proton 10.0-3” from the dropdown menu.

   • Generate Proton Logs: If the issue persists, generate Proton logs to aid in debugging.

     • Open Steam.
     • Right-click “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II” in your library.
     • Select “Properties.”
     • Select “Compatibility.”
     • Enable “Enable Proton.”
     • Enable “Enable Proton logs.”
     • Start the game and reproduce the problem.
     • The logs will be located at ~/steam-$APPID.log (where $APPID is 1771300). Include this log file when reporting the issue.

4. Verdict

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is playable on Linux via Proton, but requires careful configuration and troubleshooting. The recent issues necessitate a specific set of fixes, including downgrading Proton and installing Mesa packages from the Kisak PPA. Users with NVIDIA Turing GPUs should prioritize downgrading Proton. While performance may not match Windows in all cases, the game is generally functional with the recommended steps. Continuous monitoring of ProtonDB and GitHub issue reports is advised as the game and Proton continue to evolve.