Marvel Rivals is the next big multiplayer shooter and potentially the next "big thing", with a Steam free to play release now live. What is it? Pretty much Marvel Overwatch.
The good news, is that it does actually work on Steam Deck and Desktop Linux thanks to Proton. Not only that, this is not a case of it accidentally working either, it's supported. Straight from the developer in their Discord one of their team said very clearly: "Yes Steam Deck supported. Bugs on black cutscenes".
There's clear issues right now though. So here's how to get it working on Steam Deck.
When you go to play it on Steam Deck / Linux you may encounter errors about drivers and the operating system, which can be safely ignored. On Steam Deck, I just needed to use the touch screen to tap the confirmation boxes and then hit play on the launcher.
After it's loaded shaders, at least with Proton 9.0-3, you will end up seeing black screens with audio playing, which the developer mentioned in my quote above. The good news, is that's an easy fix!
How to fix Marvel Rivals on Steam Deck
Go into Desktop Mode (STEAM button - Power - Switch to Desktop) and run Marvel Rivals from there. Once it loads the launcher you can control the mouse by holding down the STEAM button and using the Right Thumbpad to move the mouse, with Right Trigger as your mouse button to hit the buttons in the launcher and you can then get into the game properly.
The initial black screen is supposed to show their privacy acceptance screen and agreement screen, which only seem to work in Desktop Mode. Here you can use a mixture of touch-screen and mouse input to get through it.
After that though, it wants you to enter a username, and since you're in Desktop Mode you can't bring up a keyboard overlay on top of the game properly. So hit the Power button once, select Log Out and it sends you back to Gaming Mode. Then launch the game again, and it will work properly.
You'll still see some black screens though, but if you swap Marvel Rivals over to Proton Experimental (Properties -> Compatibility) they seem to be fixed with it.
So it's a bit of work, that will likely be made easier with updates to Proton from Valve and updates to the game. I'm sure Valve will figure out what causes the black screens with the agreement acceptance and get it fixed.
Performance on Steam Deck is not especially great, and cut-scenes lag quite a lot. Actual gameplay is playable enough though, once you turn the settings onto Low and put FSR onto Performance.
Pictures below on Low / FSR Balanced:
Over on Desktop Linux, sticking with Proton Experimental as noted above to sort any black screens, and the experience is about what I expected. No issue getting it working there. You still get the driver / operating system version errors to click away but the privacy acceptance screens show up as normal, and you can get into Marvel Rivals without an issue at all.
Picture below on Kubuntu 24.10 Desktop, Ultra settings:
I've been enjoying trying it out, as a fan of games like it, and so far the gameplay is actually really fun, as are the designs of all the characters with their abilities. Looking forward to playing more of Marvel Rivals on Linux.
Don't forget to keep an eye on our anti-cheat compatibility page for updates on all games for Linux / Steam Deck. Any feedback on that page goes to the forum.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
hardpenguin Dec 6
Woah! I did not expect that, all existing ProtonDB reports said it doesn't work. Thanks for sharing it, I am definitely gonna try it (and possibly report back to ProtonDB).ProtonDB reports are 4 months old, plus ProtonDB seem to do some sort of approvals process as new comments take about a day or so to appear. Not that their process is actually any good, since people comment with all sorts of launch commands that do nothing (and sometimes don't even exist...). ProtonDB is a good resource, but only when used correctly.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 6 December 2024 at 11:14 am UTC
hardpenguin Dec 6
ProtonDB is a good resource, but only when used correctly.Agreed!
Edit: I seem to got it running. I ran Protontricks and chose Marvel Rivals, then "Install a Windows dll" and selected vcrun2022 and repaired it.
Last edited by GetBeaned on 6 December 2024 at 2:29 pm UTC
Not sure how invasive this anti-cheat is on Linux, but some might want to skip this one.
EDIT: To be clear, GamingOnLinux and AreWeAntiCheatYet both disclose the anti-cheat (although AWACY lists it as speculative). But the Steam Store Page, at time of writing, does not.
Last edited by sonic2kk on 6 December 2024 at 4:46 pm UTC
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