Quoting: Smoke39The purpose of Proton isn't to drive sales per se, it's to make Linux a more credible threat to Microsoft. If Proton emboldens someone to uninstall Windows, or to just use it less, or to try Linux for the first time, those are all big returns on Valve's investment, even if they never buy another Windows game.

The obvious purpose of Proton is to push Steam Machines and SteamOS... If all (or the majority of) Windows games "just work" under SteamOS, then there's even less reasons for Steam users to be using a Microsoft Windows-based operating system and more reason for them to be using SteamOS - which means more direct control/influence of PC gamers by Valve Software.

Realistically, SteamOS in its current state is a solution suitable only for Linux fanboys... With Proton, well it's potentially something that could compete directly with PCs and every console on the market.

That's an awfully big slice of the gaming pie that any company with half a brain would like a piece of...

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Quoting: Whitewolfe80There could be legit reasons whether its licence or a lack of skills required to port to linux

Yes, but some of these companies have already ported the game to Linux... Just not via GOG.com.

For example, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is available for Linux via Steam, but only Windows via GOG.com - yet both stores clearly indicate that it is the same companies behind both releases/store entries... In other words, the game (for Linux) is available, it just hasn't been uploaded to GOG.com.

Ask GOG.com and they say "Oh, but we don't have the license for Linux when it comes to <insert title>"... So rather than approaching developers and proactively saying something to the effect of "This game is available for Linux via Steam, why not us?", GOG.com are just throwing their hands up and saying "Not out problem."

Which brings me to my point... GOG.com have the (huge) advantage of DRM-free games, but it's ultimately Valve Software who are the driving force behind Linux gaming; GOG.com are just doing a half-assed attempt at supporting Linux because "it's the cool thing to do."

And it annoys me, because they (GOG.com) want everyone to think they're super pro-Linux, when in reality they just really aren't that interested... But that's a discussion for another day.

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Quoting: GuestNo Feral port, no money. At some point, we need to support those who support us, dude. I love the Tomb Raider reboot games but won't play Shadow without a native port, unless 3 or more years pass and Feral decides not to port it.

This.

They've already ported the first two games, so it's pretty likely they'll port the third game at some point... I don't like the fact that they're (the reboot "Tomb Raider" games) not on GOG.com, but I'll absolutely buy the other two games because Feral look after us, so the least I can do is look after them, by purchasing a full-price copy of the second and third games (with only rare exceptions, I refuse to purchase Linux games at a discount)(unfortunately, I was still-booting when I bought the first game though!).

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Quoting: Whitewolfe80Its not the ease of the port that is the hold up its license fees when cdproject red (gog) do the deal on a game unless the developer wants their game on linux or mac its not coming to linux and mac. Now whether gog push for that is a matter to ask someone over at gog but its not my theory on it, licensing issues has been what gog has said the problem was more than once on twitter.

Yeah, but a lot of the time it is the same company that has a Linux version of a game on Steam, but not on GOG.com... And every time, it's the same argument from GOG.com - "We don't have the licensing rights to distribute the Linux version".

If it was different companies (i.e. <Company 1> selling Linux/macOS/Windows version of <Title 1> on Steam and <Company 2> selling macOS/Windows version of <Title 1> on GOG.com), I can understand completely, but it's frequently the same company... This suggests to me that GOG.com aren't pushing the Linux thing too hard.

I love that GOG.com offer DRM-free titles and I'll always buy a game there first specifically because of this reason (I don't "do" DRM anywhere unless there is a guaranteed way to remove it)... But it's things like this that remind me Valve Software does so much more for the Linux Community than GOG.com ever will.

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Quoting: GustyGhost

Quoting: elmapulthey should add an icon to compatible games...
but i'm not sure if the steamOS icon is the right icon to use.

Tux should be brought back for Linux compatible games while Steamplay icon remains for translation layer games.

That's actually not a bad idea... The "Tux" icon for native Linux titles, and the "SteamOS/Steam Machine icon for titles which "just work" via Steamplay.

I don't see it happening that way, but I think it's a great idea that Valve Software should implement...

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Quoting: lucifertdarkOne day perhaps, right now all problems in games running under Proton are to be directed to Valve & not the developers. The Developers on the whole are hands off at the moment.

Isn't that part of the appeal though - for developers to be hands-off?

I mean, then Valve Software could push SteamOS/Steam Machines and say "most of our catalog runs perfectly", and they wouldn't need to sit there listening to the million excuses developers have for being anti-Linux...

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Quoting: PublicNuisanceI'm going to hold off buying the Steam version for a bit in hopes it comes to GOG. I'm a patient man.

I wouldn't hold your breath - I have a lot of games in my library or or on my "wish" list on GOG.com that have a native Linux version on Steam, but not on GOG.com... Many of which are older games easily ported to Linux.

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Exciting times!

I truly believe that if Valve Software stick at this - and (eventually) get the majority of the "Steam" catalog working via a simple "click" of "install" - it could be a game-changer... Outside of niche applications, a modern Linux-based operating system can do most of what a Microsoft Windows-based system can do these days (often to the same standard, too!), but games is one of the last big hold-outs.

Will it usher in the long fabled era of "the Linux desktop"?

I doubt it - there's a lot of wheels that need to turn for that to happen, and Microsoft have a L-O-T of resources at their disposal if such a thing ever did gain traction... But it will certainly narrow the divide by a considerable margin.

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Quoting: ArnvidrI don't remember where I found this, so apologies if it was in this thread already, but a list of people's results trying out any unsupported games are here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQ3_odz8JzEVK80vkku-b6FsICWb45xGf4VYnzYz5cNSMVQ-5BA2WoHBGAScw96MgLj1ONA7Cx0tyGa/pubhtml [External Link]

Quite a lot of games working perfectly fine!

Yeah, the "friendly" version of that data is available over at:
https://spcr.netlify.com/ [External Link]

And of course, there's a link on that page to the Google Docs (raw) data... For those that prefer such a version.

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Quoting: legluondunetWith Steamplay it's more than 1100 games available for Linux gamers (and soon MacOSX users).
source: https://spcr.netlify.com/ [External Link] (completely stable and playable).
I kept only less than 10 games in my Wine Steam prefix that don't work (yet) with Steamplay.

Make sure you all get in and test your games, reporting them accordingly - especially games which have few or no reports regarding their performance.

You'll need to enable Steam Play for all games in settings (Steam-->Settings-->Steam Play-->Advanced-->Enable Steam Play for all titles), restart and then install your games... But via the link above (click "Contribute!" at the top of the screen), it's a pretty straightforward process to report the status of your games; your specific system information can be found in System Information (Help-->System Information).

As the old saying goes, they "Can't fix it if they don't know about it!"

Quoting: lucifertdark

Quoting: Guest....did you just compare Valve Software to a nuclear arsenal? Because they really don't have that kind of power. At all.

90% (or more) of Valve's customer base is on Windows. Windows already dominates. That bulk is more important to Valve than the 1% of GNU/Linux users, but the latter is a good playground for Valve.

Windows as a gaming platform is rapidly going away thanks to Windows 10, Valve know this & that's why they are putting all their efforts into Steam OS & Steam Play.

Apple have made absolutely no attempt at grabbing some marketshare when it comes to PC gaming, and even their high-end computers are mostly rubbish when it comes to gaming... Not to mention the fact that most of Apple's range is financially out of reach for a significant portion of the population, even if they were (hypothetically) great for PC gaming.

That was more long-winded than I intended...

To get to my point, whatever the reasoning behind "Proton" (and Steam Machines, for that matter!), the PC industry could do with a little more competition because as the old saying goes, "competition breeds innovation".

Half-assed efforts at increasing competition - such as those efforts from GOG.com - do little in the grand scheme of things... Real efforts - such as those from Valve - actually make a difference when you look at the big picture.

Yeah people have been saying it's "the year of the Linux desktop" for as long as I can remember and realistically, that's probably a long way off... But when it happens - and there's a good chance it might - I guarantee Valve Software will be a part of the reason why it has happened.

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