Nvidia is looking to improve gaming performance on its GPUs in Linux operating systems, as the company is currently searching for Vulkan and Proton talent. The new hires suggest that Nvidia is taking Linux seriously for gaming, following devices such as Valve’s Steam Deck making good use of Proton.
On the Nvidia Careers portal, you’ll find listings for a ‘Linux Graphics Senior Software Engineer’ and ‘Senior System Software Engineer, Vulkan Performance.’ These roles follow the company’s most recent foray into the world of Linux, namely its DGX Spark AI-focused mini PC. However, the responsibilities of these positions are less concerned with artificial intelligence, and instead concentrate on gaming.
In the description for the latter job, Nvidia wants someone to diagnose and resolve GPU and CPU bottlenecks in Vulkan and Proton titles. If you’ve ever played games on Steam Deck, you’ve probably used both Vulkan and Proton, as these tentpole technologies make much of modern gaming possible on Linux.
For those in need of a quick refresher, Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics API that serves as the main alternative to DirectX. Meanwhile, Proton is a compatibility layer that allows Windows software to run on Linux, primarily via DirectX-to-Vulkan translations.
While these roles will each play their part in bettering the gaming performance of Nvidia’s best GPUs on Linux, Nvidia will almost certainly be looking to boost performance on its N1/N1X SoCs in the short term. These long-rumoured Arm chips should arrive later this year in consumer laptops, presumably with DGX OS, essentially bringing a flavour of DGX Spark’s performance to mobile devices.
With Linux eating Windows market share, particularly among gamers, investing in gaming performance improvements for these open-source operating systems seems like a smart move for Nvidia. I’d certainly be more likely to hang on to my GeForce RTX 3080 Ti a while longer if it plays nicely with SteamOS. I just wish Valve would hurry up with a general release, as Windows 11 bugs have me champing at the bit to jump ship.
In any case, it’s clear there’s more gaming momentum behind Linux than ever before, and these Nvidia roles reflect that situation. Perhaps we’re staring down a future where the GeForce RTX 60 series runs best on SteamOS or another distro. I certainly wouldn’t put it past Microsoft to drop the ball here.
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