Gaming Launchers

Arch-based only

For game compatibility, benchmarks, and Proton troubleshooting see the existing Gaming page (written for the apt/Ubuntu install). This page covers just the Arch-side launcher setup, pulled from a real PS5.

Steam

sudo pacman -S steam

No snap/flatpak needed on Arch - the repo package is the recommended path. Verified on the reference PS5: steam 1.0.0.85.

Proton versions available out of the box

Steam ships these once you enable "Steam Play" for all titles in Settings → Compatibility:

• Proton Experimental (bleeding-edge, use this by default)
• Proton 11.0
• Proton Hotfix

See Gaming for which one to pick per-game.

Heroic Games Launcher

Epic/GOG/Amazon Games launcher, no Epic client overhead.

paru -S heroic-games-launcher-bin

Verified on the reference PS5: heroic-games-launcher-bin 2.22.0. Uses its own bundled Proton-GE by default - manage versions from Heroic's Settings → Wine/Proton Manager, no separate tool needed for that launcher specifically.

ProtonUp-Qt

Only needed if you're not using Heroic's built-in manager, or want extra Proton-GE/Wine-GE builds for Steam non-Steam-game entries.

paru -S protonup-qt

Not installed on the reference PS5 by default - Heroic's built-in manager covered that use case there. Install it yourself if you add non-Steam games that need a custom Proton-GE build.

gamescope / gamemode / mangohud

Also not present on the reference PS5 install by default, despite being referenced in the Gaming performance tips. They're optional add-ons, not required:

sudo pacman -S gamescope gamemode mangohud

• gamescope - run games in a nested compositor, TTY-only mode is the lowest-overhead way to game (no DE running at all)
• gamemode - auto-applies CPU governor/priority tweaks per-game
• mangohud - FPS/frametime overlay