Every article tag can be clicked to get a list of all articles in that category. Every article tag also has an RSS feed! You can customize an RSS feed too!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Surprisingly, Valve are running an event that is not trying to get you to buy new games. To be fair though, it's not the first time. The Steam Spring Cleaning 2020 event is now live.

Running from now until May 28, the idea is to get you to play through your existing games and clear out your backlog. This links in with their recent Play Next feature to suggest games to you, which graduated from Steam Labs to appear on the Steam Store and as a shelf in your Steam Library. It also pulls in Remote Play Together, for games to share online with friends.

Sadly, a downside is that for Linux gamers it might pull in games from your Library that can't be played (even with the Proton compatibility tool). Testing this myself, it turned out to be the case for me suggesting a few that were completely unplayable. Thankfully with three options each time, you might not get stuck when building up your Spring Cleaning badge. It does, however, highlight that Play Next needs to take into account titles you've set to Ignore on Steam.

Find the event over here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Event, Steam
14 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
15 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

Eike May 22, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
If it tries to force you to play something you don't want to, you can still use the steam_appid.txt trick.

*edit* Hm, didn't work for me though.
*edit2* Ah, starting from command line. Actually reading stuff is helpful so many times...!


Last edited by Eike on 22 May 2020 at 11:50 am UTC
tuubi May 22, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter
I only have a couple of games in my library that aren't Linux native, so no problems here. The only one I picked that didn't launch properly was a free adventure game from 2014 I've been planning to play but never quite got around to. Namely Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok. It does launch with the Steam Linux Runtime enabled, but there's no audio. It's an older AGS game though and those tend to be a bit problematic. I'm sure it'll run just fine with Proton.
Koopacabras May 22, 2020
Quoting: EikeIf it tries to force you to play something you don't want to, you can still use the steam_appid.txt trick.

*edit* Hm, didn't work for me though.
*edit2* Ah, starting from command line. Actually reading stuff is helpful so many times...!

you can use ArchiSteamFarm, configure the client press "c" and enter

play namebothere XXXXX(steamappid number).
randyl May 22, 2020
I love these events. At least one of the games sticks and I keep it installed. If nothing else it helps remind me what's in my library. This time it's Ys: The Oath in Felghana and Tales of Zestiria. Tales is a lot more complex than I had anticipated.
Salvatos May 22, 2020
Quoting: tuubiI only have a couple of games in my library that aren't Linux native, so no problems here. The only one I picked that didn't launch properly was a free adventure game from 2014 I've been planning to play but never quite got around to. Namely Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok. It does launch with the Steam Linux Runtime enabled, but there's no audio. It's an older AGS game though and those tend to be a bit problematic. I'm sure it'll run just fine with Proton.
I think you can find solutions in the Linux release thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/283880/discussions/0/343787283753197906/?ctp=1
tuubi May 22, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: Salvatos
Quoting: tuubiI only have a couple of games in my library that aren't Linux native, so no problems here. The only one I picked that didn't launch properly was a free adventure game from 2014 I've been planning to play but never quite got around to. Namely Heroine's Quest: The Herald of Ragnarok. It does launch with the Steam Linux Runtime enabled, but there's no audio. It's an older AGS game though and those tend to be a bit problematic. I'm sure it'll run just fine with Proton.
I think you can find solutions in the Linux release thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/283880/discussions/0/343787283753197906/?ctp=1
Thanks. I'll give it a read.
Nezchan May 24, 2020
Interesting. One of the games it wanted me to play was Serious Sam. Both the First Encounter and the Second in different rooms.

Turns out it doesn't count either if you play them using Fusion.
hoolaparara May 24, 2020
Well good start here, the first 3 games it recommended were 2 I had finished, Bioshock Remastered having of course finished the unremastered version, then Shadow Warrior where I finished the Humble DRM-free version. And the final game was a proton borked (although somehow it gets bronze on protondb) game Hitman: Absolution.

Add:
So apparently even if the game quits without showing up at all it counts. Fascinating 4th set of games it gave me, the original half life version of Counterstrike, Team Fortress and Day of Defeat. DOD & CS had no servers to play on with <500ms pings and the 4 CS servers I tried had passwords.

Add2:
What a blow out,3 games I tried didn't work with proton, 2 games were multiplayer with no players (let ballistic overkill spend 15 minutes looking for a game). One bright side was it reminded me I hadn't checked whether the recently free Aegis Defenders works in proton.


Last edited by hoolaparara on 24 May 2020 at 3:12 am UTC
einherjar May 24, 2020
Quoting: randylI love these events.

TBH to me they seem often to be absolutely useless. But if it is fun for people, why not.
Ehvis May 24, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: NezchanInteresting. One of the games it wanted me to play was Serious Sam. Both the First Encounter and the Second in different rooms.

Turns out it doesn't count either if you play them using Fusion.

Fusion is a bit of a weird solution. I had the opposite though. In the section for playing one of the first three games you bought, it triggered with the new game "Filament", which is obviously new. The system is a bit buggy.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.