Only a week after the previous 0.5.20 release, Lutris, a free and open-source gaming platform for Linux, has released version 0.5.21. One of the most notable additions is support for Valve’s Sniper runtime, allowing runners to execute inside the Steam Linux Runtime 3.0 container.
Lutris 0.5.21 also expands emulator support with new runners for ShadPS4 and Xenia. In addition, the Dolphin emulator runner now uses an AppImage build, resolving previous dependency issues with libavformat and simplifying deployment across distributions.
Hardware detection has been refined, particularly on multi-GPU systems. Lutris now correctly detects GPU UUIDs that previously selected the wrong device in some configurations.
It also prefers the most descriptive GPU name reported by vulkaninfo, resolving cases where Intel Arc GPUs were identified generically as “Intel Graphics.” Additional defensive checks were added to handle malformed vulkaninfo output lines.
User interface improvements are also part of the update. The sidebar now supports collapsible sections, uncategorized games can be sorted, and fallback icons are provided when an icon theme lacks specific assets. Fixes prevent ghost categories from persisting after renaming.
System information reporting has been enhanced as well. Lutris now displays the Python version in its system information panel and reads the host os-release file when running inside Flatpak, improving diagnostics in sandboxed environments.
On the compatibility side, the release includes a migration that moves Proton versions from runners/proton to runners/wine, streamlining internal organization. The Wine Wayland warning has also been corrected to trigger only when running under Wayland, avoiding unnecessary notices on X11 sessions.
Several bug fixes round out the release, including corrections to the VDF parser’s handling of escaped quotes, improved error handling for ZOOM Platform extras, and a fix to sync_media so it reports successful transfers rather than attempted counts.
For more information, see the changelog.
