https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=505869
Bug ID: 505869
Summary: Games flicker when window loses focus.
Classification: Plasma
Product: kwin
Version First 6.4.0
Reported In:
Platform: Arch Linux
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: normal
Priority: NOR
Component: compositing
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Target Milestone: ---
Created attachment 182449
--> https://bugs.kde.org/attachment.cgi?id=182449&action=edit
Flickering looks minor in video, looks much worse on screen.
SUMMARY
I have noticed some games flicker when I alt+tab and the window gains focus.
The worst offending case of this is Star Wars The Old Republic (Free to play
MMO), EVERY single mouse click I can observe this flicker. The mouse does not
get locked to the window and it is most observable here.
I tried turning on/off various desktop effects to see if any of them might have
an effect here. I noticed if I enable the Compositing status effect, the
Compositing watermark disappears when I see the flicker occur.
When the game loses focus, Compositing turns off and the flicker occurs. If I
enable the Show FPS effect, Compositing is always on and the flicker no longer
occurs.
I have attempted to take video, it only shows minor changes in color as the
mouse gets to the edge of the screen. The flicker "effect" is much worse when
observed with the naked eye.
I am unsure which version of KDE this problem started in, but I did observe it
some time after March 2025 in the 6.3.x series.
I have noticed this does not seem to affect games that are running natively. It
is only observed with games running with Proton. The problem occurs even with
older proton versions which have not seen updates in years, which is why I
reported it here.
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Use any game with Steam/Proton
2. Let the window lose focus
3. Observe Flicker
OBSERVED RESULT
Games have terrible flickering if they lose focus and compositing switches off.
Especially games that don't lock the mouse, potentially every mouse click
causes the window to flicker.
EXPECTED RESULT
No Flickering
SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.4.0
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.15.0
Qt Version: 6.9.1
Kernel Version: 6.15.2-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 24 × 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-13700K
Memory: 96 GiB of RAM (94.1 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor 1: AMD Radeon RX 9070
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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