Quoting: razing32OK , seems I may have been living under a rock based on what I read in the comments in an article thread.

I always bought games via browser and would eventually play them on Linux.

But from what I read you should play them in the first 2 weeks of purchase for them to count ?

Did I misread/misunderstand ?

I think there's a bit of misinformation going around.

1) If you add a Steam key to your Steam library then at the time it gets added, the game reports the OS of the Steam client to the game publisher. (So, avoid adding game keys to Steam on Windows or Mac).

2) Some reseller websites report the browser OS of the purchaser back to the game publishers. This is the case with Humble, not sure about the other resellers. Not sure, but would expect Steam to report browser OS to game publishers too, when purchasing on Steam's online store.

3) For best support of porting companies, try to buy the game from their online store.

4) If I buy a game from Steam, I tend to buy it on the Linux Steam client, so Steam can report back the purchaser's OS to the game publishers. Just in case!

5) If someone on Windows were to buy you a Steam game as a gift, and you accept the gift. It is probably best to install and run the game within two weeks, to make it clear to the game publishers that the key is being used on Linux.

6) Even if you don't install and play within 2 weeks (and it could get counted as a Windows purchase) - When the game does eventually get played the game publishers get informed which platform it is played on.

7) Not sure the status of GOG or itch.io purchases, but I'd say that if you buy on their online store with Linux browser then it gets reported as a Linux purchase.

It's a bit of a mine-field, so sharing my understanding on it.

Quoting: GuestI have read that in the case of steam game, they count the number of minutes played on every OS. For the the first two weeks after the purchase. So, if you want your sale to be counted as a Linux sale, you have to play it more on Linux than on any other OS.

exactly what i have gathered.

platform of purchase will count and then the most time played platform within 2 weeks of the purchase will lock it.

edit:
a) if it was bought on via linux client (probably browser under linux counts also) and not played or installed on any OS then it counts as Linux sale

b) if it was bought via linux client (probably browser under linux counts also) and was played for few minutes under windows within first 2 weeks it will count as windows sale

c) if it was bought via windows client (probably browser under windows counts also) and was played under Linux within the first 2 weeks then it will count as Linux sale

Quoting: GuestI have read that in the case of steam game, they count the number of minutes played on every OS. For the the first two weeks after the purchase. So, if you want your sale to be counted as a Linux sale, you have to play it more on Linux than on any other OS.

Edit: It seems i cannot post anymore on this thread.

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/how-steam-computes-linux-sales.4675/

You know what is kind of crap about this? If you buy the game because it shows it supports Linux, and then the Linux build is broken and you end up playing it on Windows instead. This would show you bought it for Windows support, not Linux. Then again I generally just don't play it in this case until it is fixed, but there have been quite a few games (Hero Siege comes to mind) that has broken gamepad support in Linux, so you're almost forced to play under Windows.

One other thing to mention...

While publishers do get numbers from steam.. Some will also get the numbers on their own.

I have been playing Oxygen Not Included lately... And it has a telemetry/Data grab/statistics functionality. It can be turned on/off through the options panel. It doesn't say, but it likely includes OS/Distro information in the data slurp.

If I had that data coming in, I would believe the numbers my own games are giving me... but still look for steam numbers as a comparison. However, they will only get your stats if you allow the data slurp to happen.

I'll admit, I am reluctant to allow this data slurp... But I do allow it in this case... after all, at least Klei is up front about it. But, this is linux, some portion of the people are here because of Windows data slurp and it would not surprise me if the general reaction is to avoid data collection in general.

Ha, just thought of something to confuse this even further. Let's say you have a desktop system upstairs running Linux, and you have a Windows tablet downstairs, if you stream the game from your Linux machine but are playing it on Windiws, what does it count as? Or the other way?

I would assume whatever the host is, but you never know...

Has there been any information about what makes it count as a Linux sale on GOG? As g000h suggests, the only logical way would be to identify it by which OS the browser used to buy it reported, as I see no other way of them getting hold if it (no Galaxy on Linux), but it'd be really nice to have a somewhat definitive answer. Have tried lokking through the "sales statistics" articles, but haven't found clear cut answer for GOG (may be I've just overlooked it, though).

Quoting: stretch611I'll admit, I am reluctant to allow this data slurp... But I do allow it in this case... after all, at least Klei is up front about it. But, this is linux, some portion of the people are here because of Windows data slurp and it would not surprise me if the general reaction is to avoid data collection in general.

Quite agreed with you here. For Pillars, I allowed telemetry, due to wanting to contruibute to both letting them know it was Linux, and potentially help them making future games better. It's a solid difference between Windows wanting to go NSA on you, and explicitly being asked and allowing a game you like to gather performance telemetry, imo :)

Quoting: AppelsinHave tried lokking through the "sales statistics" articles, but haven't found clear cut answer for GOG (may be I've just overlooked it, though).

AFAIK, GOG does not rely on browser or client for this. Instead, it monitors how often different versions of the game have been downloaded (e. g. if you downloaded Windows version on Linux -- it is Windows sale). And GOG does not "finalize" purchases, monitoring user's activity (downloading patches or updated versions) instead and reporting this statistics to developers ("Hey, your game was downloaded 100000000001 times for Windows and 4 times for Linux!" :) )

Quoting: Alm888AFAIK, GOG does not rely on browser or client for this. Instead, it monitors how often different versions of the game have been downloaded (e. g. if you downloaded Windows version on Linux -- it is Windows sale). And GOG does not "finalize" purchases, monitoring user's activity (downloading patches or updated versions) instead and reporting this statistics to developers ("Hey, your game was downloaded 100000000001 times for Windows and 4 times for Linux!" :) )

Cool, thanks :) Kinda bit more flexible approach than Steam, then. Just download the Linux version, and I'm golden.
Have they posted info on this anywhere on their website? Or have devs themselves contributed this info?