DXVK

DXVK is an open-source translation layer which converts Direct3D 8/9/10/11 calls to Vulkan.^[1][2][3][4] It is used by Proton/Steam^[5] for Linux, by Intel Windows drivers,^[6][7][8] VirtualBox 7.0,^[9] and it can be used to run Direct3D-based games under Windows using Vulkan. DXVK has been confirmed to support over 80% of Direct3D Windows games "near flawlessly".^[10][11][12]

DXVK

Original author(s)	Philip Rebohle
Developer(s)	DXVK Project
Initial release	14 January 2018; 7 years ago (14 January 2018)
Stable release	2.6.1 / 7 April 2025; 41 days ago (7 April 2025)
Repository	DXVK on GitHub
Written in	C++
Operating system	OS Independent
Platform	x86, x86-64
License	zlib License
Website	github.com/doitsujin/dxvk

History

DXVK was first developed by Philip Rebohle to support Direct3D 11 games only^[13] as a result of poor compatibility and low performance of Wine's Direct3D 11 to OpenGL translation layer.

In 2018, the developer was sponsored by Valve to work on the project full-time in order to advance compatibility of the Linux version of Steam with Windows games.^[13][14]

In 2019, DXVK received Direct3D 9 support by merging with d9vk.^[15][16]

In November 2022, version 2.0 was released, introducing improvements to Direct3D 9 memory management, shader compilation, state cache, as well as, support for Direct3D 11 feature level 12_1.^[17][18] Vulkan 1.3 support is now required.^[19]

Released on January 24, 2023, version 2.1 implemented HDR support and improved quality for certain old games.^[4][20]

Released on May 12, 2023, version 2.2 added D3D11On12^[21][22] support.^[23][24][25]

Released on July 10, 2024, version 2.4 added support for Direct3D 8.^[26][27]

Released on November 11, 2024, version 2.5 features an overhauled memory and resource management which resulted in VRAM savings up to 1GB in certain games. Direct3D 8 and 9 received support for software cursor.^[28]

Controversies

The use of Wine/DXVK has gotten users banned from some online gaming platforms because these layers have been classified as illegitimate by their anti-cheat systems^{[29][30][31][32]} because game publishers have no way of verifying game integrity for people using Linux^{[citation needed]}.