Thanks for the info. That's a shame, I really want to use native builds when available. Especially since Silksong runs so well. Is there any hope for a fix, even if unofficial?
this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2025
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I’m sure Cherry is going to be working rapidly on numerous bug fixes over the next month.
Yes, but OP makes it sound like the Hollow Knight issue is not fixed either. I didn't even know HK had rumble, but I def felt the Silksong haptics when I played it at Gamescom. I wonder how we can make Team Cherry aware of this, or whether they are already aware?
I never had an issue on hollow knight. Both on PC Linux and steamdeck. Might be an older issue?
I never had an issue on hollow knight. Both on PC Linux and steamdeck. […]
I'm not sure what the exact replication bounds are for the bug; maybe your configuration simply doesn't experience the issue? Or perhaps you inadvertently configured Steam to force proton somewhere?
Actually, I remembered that on PC at least (arch btw) it wouldn’t even launch natively, so I forced proton.
[…] Might be an older issue?
For reference, the source that I cited was a report from last month ^[1]^. Also, I personally verified that, in Hollow Knight, controller rumble worked with Proton enabled, and didn't work with it disabled.
References
- Type: Post. Author: "Cobwebblocks". Publisher: ["ProtonDB". "Howllow Knight".]. Published: ~2025-08. Accessed: 2025-09-05T06:41Z. URI: https://www.protondb.com/app/367520#q_spejhJmH.
No rumble on native version
Despite that, the game has been extremely stable for me so far. I currently have about 8 hours of playtime, and this controller thing has been pretty much the only bug/issue that I've encountered.
[…] Is there any hope for a fix, even if unofficial?
Maybe, but, given that the same issue exists in Hollow Knight ^[1]^, I think it's possible that it may remain, at least for a while.
References
- Type: Post. Author: "Cobwebblocks". Publisher: ["ProtonDB". "Howllow Knight".]. Published: ~2025-08. Accessed: 2025-09-05T06:41Z. URI: https://www.protondb.com/app/367520#q_spejhJmH.
No rumble on native version
Thanks for the info. […]
You're welcome 😊
[…] I really want to use native builds when available. […]
Out of curiosity, how come?
I work at a game studio that provides Linux-native builds of our game. I don't speak for them but in my opinion this gives us an opportunity to take advantage of Linux features such as better input systems, performance, dev tooling, and in the future maybe APIs like Wayland. While the Windows build does work via Proton, it's limited to what Microsoft allows us to do with the Windows API. We also have to use a non-standard-compliant compiler (msvc) and overall maintaining a Windows build damages code quality, performance, dev speed, and end user experience. Our Linux userbase is already small enough, imagine if all our players started using the Proton version. It'd become impossible to justify spending as much time on the Linux builds as we do, and they would probably stop being available. So, although I see WINE and Proton as a net positive, I fear it will slowly kill Linux development and eventually all games will be limited 100% by what MS decides, despite technically playing them on a free platform.
Yeah, proton is a bit of an odd dual edged sword like that. Obviously the dream would be the Linux market share getting large enough that it's a no-brainer to focus on that version and make it as excellent as possible, and proton is essential for that, but at least for now, proton is so good that it makes it hard to justify a native version.
If you can't maintain a high standard of excellence for your Linux port, savvy players will just use your Windows version through proton anyway, because it's already a high quality port. Easy to understand why many studios forego a native Linux version altogether.
I enabled proton 9.0-4 (steamdeck btw), and loaded up my save and let myself take damage a couple times, still no rumble. I honestly was so excited to play an hour yesterday that I didn’t notice if I felt any rumble or not but I don’t feel it now. Taking damage triggers it right?
I enabled proton 9.0-4 (steamdeck btw), and loaded up my save and let myself take damage a couple times, still no rumble. […] Taking damage triggers it right?
I tested it just now, and yeah there's rumble on taking damage. There's also rumble when hitting an enemy, when striking environmental objects, and binding (for clarity, that is not necessarily an exhaustive list; it's just what I can recall at the moment).
Maybe Silksong unfortunately just has poor support for the Steamdeck at the moment. I found this which seems to support that theory:
^[1]^
I'm not sure if it's possible on the Steamdeck, but have you tried enabling Steam Input?
References
- Type: Application. Title: "Hollow Knight: Silksong Controller Layout". Publisher: "Steam". Accessed: 2025-09-05T08:14Z. Location: "Steam">"Library">"Hollow Knight: Silksong">"Controller">"View controller settings".
Thanks, I’ll try fiddling with it. I’m busy as hell and don’t have much time to play so I haven’t even checked the in game settings to see if it’s enabled. I’ll keep poking around. Thanks for quality reply.
Thanks […] Thanks for quality reply.
You're welcome 😊
This was also the solution to me for a weirder problem, running on Bazzite with an 8BitDo Ultimate 2, I was sprinting randomly, especially when cresting ledges, and the dash button was inconsistent.
Extremely frustrating, the game feels significantly better with sprinting working as intended via Proton (I used GE-latest, but I assume it works with most proton versions). Would be nice to see the native version fixed, but proton is perfectly fine for now, and "external controller on Linux" is likely a lower priority bugfix.
Same here - I couldn't believe how bad the sprint was, until I enabled Proton. Suddenly, the movement feels just as tight as it did in Hollow Knight!
I played it with an 8bit doe controller and when I pressed the sprint button my character would permanently look up lol
I switched to windows 10 and it worked fine, I'll try running the game on Linux another time
Yes! I had that issue as well. I managed to sidestep that one by screwing with gamescope, scopebuddy, steam input, switching the controller to 2.4GHz, and restarting the game several times.
Once I unlocked Sprint everything fell apart again, and that's when I did some googling and realized I was running the native Linux version.
Is the native port a bad port then? ):
Native ports almost always have problems. It's a big reason there's such a large group that just say to use proton instead of wasting time on a native port.
Which both sucks cause having a good native port is rad. But also honestly the most realistic way to avoid these kinds of problems.
Not to mention that the native version is likely to be unplayable or perform much worse then it does now in a few short years because of changes to dependencies. Or quirks between distros.
Linux is a nightmare for native gaming long term.
Yeah for me imo Linux gaming just isnt there yet especially if you want to play games off steam, atleast in my experience, maybe I'm doing It wrong but yeah
Seemed flawless besides the external controller issues. It's already steam deck verified, after all, so hopefully this is a quick fix for them.
But yeah, until that patch comes, I'll be forcing proton :/
Yeah true, bar controller issue my game ran fine bar some frame drops but that just might be my hardware
Regardless my god this game is AMAZING is so big and all the content is such high quality
Ugh, it's incredible. Hollow Knight has been one of my favourite games for years, and thus far my expectations for Silksong have actually been exceeded, not just met. Utterly loving it.
Me to man, but now I've hit the 20 hour mark like DAMN it's starting to get hard lol, I beat hollow knight but now I'm doubting I'll beat this game haha
I usually turn off rumble anyway.
I modified the post's title to try to account for comments like yours 😜:
PSA: If [~~you are experiencing no~~][your] controller rumble [isn't working] in Silksong, then try forcing Proton in the game's properties on Steam