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Proton GE vs GE-RTSP

Proton GE vs Proton GE-RTSP​

Both are created by Thomas Crider (GloriousEggroll), the same person behind Nobara Linux. They serve different purposes.

Proton GE (General Purpose)​

This is the general-purpose, feature-rich powerhouse for running Windows games on Linux.

  • Takes Valve's official Proton and injects the latest versions of translation layers (DXVK, VKD3D), media foundation fixes, and per-game patches that haven't made it into official Proton yet.
  • Designed to be the "daily driver" for 99% of your Steam library. Nobara ships with this (often labeled as GE-Proton) out of the box.

Use it for: literally any standard gaming.

Proton GE-RTSP (VRChat Specialist)​

A specialized fork of Proton GE. "RTSP" stands for Real-Time Streaming Protocol.

  • Includes deep-level patches to translate system calls that prevent real-time video streams from working on Linux.
  • Almost exclusively used by VRChat players — many worlds feature in-game video players (AVPro/Unity) to watch YouTube, movies, or live Twitch DJ sets. On standard Proton or Proton GE, these video players usually break, freeze, or display a blank screen. GE-RTSP fixes this.

Use it for: VRChat, specifically if you want in-game video and music players to work properly.

Why aren't they combined?​

The RTSP patches are highly specific and invasive. Merging them into standard Proton GE could cause crashes or unexpected behavior in other games. Because it's a niche fix for essentially one game, it remains a separate download.

Installation​

Nobara (via ProtonPlus):

  1. Open ProtonPlus
  2. Under Proton-GE RTSP, click the download icon on "Proton-GE RTSP Latest"

Other distros: Follow the installation steps on the official GitHub page.

Once installed, set VRChat's compatibility to Proton GE-RTSP in Steam. Keep using regular Proton GE for everything else.