About
Driver: San Francisco is the fifth main entry in the Driver series, an open-world arcade driving game set across a recreated San Francisco. Its signature mechanic, 'Shift', lets protagonist John Tanner instantly teleport between any vehicle in the city while in a coma-induced dream state. Critically well received for its sense of speed and inventive design, the PC version was delisted in December 2016 due to expiring licensed-music rights, and its always-online Ubisoft Connect servers were shut down in October 2022, removing online play and Uplay challenges.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- Driver.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- Proton 7.0-6
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Silver runs with minor issues
⚙ Setup notes
Ubisoft Reflections' 2011 open-world driving game with the 'Shift' body-jumping mechanic, delisted.
Proton: On Deck, force a compatibility tool and use Proton 7 — NOT Experimental, which boots to a black screen for many users.
Install: On first launch, let Uplay/Ubisoft Connect run its updates; it ends with a cryptic error window — close the game there, then relaunch and after a couple of launcher windows the game starts.
Performance: Cap TDP to ~6W and it runs flawlessly per ProtonDB.
Controller: The PC version has no native gamepad support (it's notoriously keyboard-only on PC) — on Deck it only works because Steam Input emulates a controller. Set the Steam Input layout to a standard gamepad: the default community layout maps the e-brake to fully pulling the left trigger, which fights the throttle.
Story-mode crash: A DirectX 9 compatibility issue (not DRM). Proton's DXVK (d3d9 → Vulkan) normally handles it; if it still crashes entering story mode, drop a dgVoodoo2 d3d9.dll next to Driver.exe.
Cosmetic: Recommended community mods: Post Process Re-Enabled (restores the console post-FX missing from the PC port) and the Uplay & Deluxe Events mod (restores the Deluxe/Uplay challenges lost when the servers closed).
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: Bring your own copy. deckport links nothing and does not describe defeating DRM.
DRM: The real blocker: the game required always-online Ubisoft Connect, and the official servers closed on 1 Oct 2022 — so online play, Uplay challenges and the Deluxe events are gone unless restored by community mods.
Proton: Use Proton 7 (Experimental black-screens for many); first launch needs you to let Uplay update, close at its error window, then relaunch.
Controller: The PC game has no native gamepad support — it works on Deck only via Steam Input emulating a controller. Switch the Steam Input layout to a standard gamepad: the default community layout binds the e-brake to a full left-trigger pull, which conflicts with throttle.
Performance: Cap TDP to ~6W for smooth performance.
Display: If you get a black screen in fullscreen, set Fullscreen = 0 in Documents/Ubisoft/Driver San Francisco/graphics.ini and use a borderless-window tool.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.