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The Reason Some Games Are Delayed For Linux In Humble Indie Bundles
Posted by , 21 February 2014 at 10:42 pm UTC / 11977 views
There is an "ask me anything" going on in reddit-land right now with the folks from the current Humble Bundle, I decided to ask the question a lot of people have been wondering.

liamdaweParsap/Humble Team - Is there a reason HIB's are pushed out with Linux ports either missing or in beta, why can they not be pushed back to a later bundle which will inevitably come? It's not like HIB's will stop anytime soon.

Jeff Rosen. Humble Bundle CEOIt is important to remember that we are actually the reason that many games are ported to Linux. It is painful for us and our reputation among developers to convince someone to drop everything and port their game to Linux, or hire a Linux porter, or have us port it in house for them... and then despite good faith efforts on all parties, it just doesn't happen the exact right amount of time.
It really sucks to see a developer doing everything right, following all of our advice, and then be like "sorry... could you uh, go ahead and move to this other surprise bundle? Thaaaaanks."
We do indeed do this sometimes, and it really, really sucks. This might have already happened to one of the games in question already.
Source
A bit of a cocky answer, but it finally gives us some insight as to why we have delays in Linux titles or Linux titles coming out in a beta form.

Humble feel it would harm their reputation to ask a developer to sit out and wait for the next bundle for the sake of a Linux version.

I think it harms their reputation with Linux fans to have a game completely missing for the sake of what sounds like their ego's.
It certainly doesn't make me jump for joy at them even with multiple other titles, considering the "Humble Indie Bundle" is their last area for cross-platform, it seems completely against their own tagline to not push a game back if it doesn't have a Linux version ready.

Take their latest HIB11, their tagline is and I quote:
HIB11Get six incredible cross-platform games.
I can count five. Having one with only a Windows version doesn't count as a cross-platform game, or has the meaning of cross-platform changed recently?

I do very much appreciate Jeff taking the time to answer my question, and hope they do continue to be a force for Linux gaming. This is just to point out some things I find annoying, and from our comments section, so do you.

What do you think guys? Has this fixed the issue of games not appearing for you?
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Comments
Guest commented on 21 February 2014 at 10:48 pm UTC

I think you need some relaxing tea

migizi commented on 21 February 2014 at 10:51 pm UTC

I both see the value in their decision and pitfall of it. I've been buying the bundles since they started. They are a great way to get a lot games for a cheap price. Many of the games I have multiple copies of because I just like to support them. But anyways, they are helping Linux by getting more games to the platform. We know this isn't an easy task for many developers because they know nothing outside of Windows. They only know how to compile inside Visual Studio. The downside is you now have a game for Linux that may not get the best support. When SPAZ first came to Linux I had issues getting it to run. I even started talking with the developer (great group by the way). They had to talk to the guy that did their port, which kind of pointed me in the right direction. Good and bad I'm happy they are helping bring more games to Linux through these bundles. I won't complain that it takes longer to get to Linux. I'm happy they are supporting the platform.

liamdawe commented on 21 February 2014 at 10:51 pm UTC
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SilviuI think you need some relaxing tea
Erm, okay?

dimko commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:15 pm UTC

I think he meant you are you harsh. I think that too to be honest.
What they say makes sense. I remember torchlight. It came out really bugged, but then stuff was fixed, so I sorta let them get away with it personally.

liamdawe commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:18 pm UTC
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dimkoI think he meant you are you harsh. I think that too to be honest.
What they say makes sense. I remember torchlight. It came out really bugged, but then stuff was fixed, so I sorta let them get away with it personally.
Exactly how have I been harsh? I haven't, all I have done is laid out that facts with a small bit of my own opinion.

alexThunder commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:19 pm UTC

SilviuI think you need some relaxing tea

Agreed As long these ports aren't delayed for several years, I'm fine with it.

I think good games don't age. And there are other games to play in the meantime.

stan commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:28 pm UTC

I’m totally with liam here, and maybe more . Since there has been so many broken or un-fun games in the past, and of course most developers think demo versions are for losers, I always buy bundles by giving everything to the EFF. Then I try the games. Those that actually work and I can see myself playing get additional money. So non-existing games get no money, even if they release it 2 weeks later and happen to be great.

Orkultus commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:30 pm UTC

I would of asked for a button that took my Money and paid for a person to port the games.

Anonymous commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:32 pm UTC

alexThunder
SilviuI think you need some relaxing tea
Agreed As long these ports aren't delayed for several years, I'm fine with it.

I think good games don't age. And there are other games to play in the meantime.
Has anyone get Splot yet? ;-)
Will Vessel be complete someday?
Remember Dungeon Defenders!
And Remember the ***** wine ports like LIMBO.

HIB does a gret job for us. But sometimes I think, that they don't love their linux custumers very much.

scaine commented on 21 February 2014 at 11:41 pm UTC
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I'm with Liam too. Humble values took a nosedive after their acquisition and now even the HiB is giving Linux short shrift. It's great that they started the ball rolling, but now Linux appears to be an afterthought for them.

The more those standards slip, the more the slider to the left for the Humble Tip. I gave $35 for the last bundle, a little more than usual, but I slid it down to two dollars on the Tip for two reasons - Antichamber wasn't on Steam, Giana was dropped.

I've subsequently had Antichamber crash to desktop a couple of times too, the resolution support is flaky and the screen tear is pretty bad - seems like a rush job.

I love Antichamber, and I'm delighted that I can play it on Linux, but if this is folk's first impression of the game under Linux, they're not going to love it as much as me. I wish the Humble guys would have polished it up instead of releasing it half-assed.

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