Quoting: Wendigothe Publishers have 3 choices:

1) Do nothing and get a bad rating that affects their future sales of the game.
2) Make sure their game runs with Proton on all operating systems that Steam supports and hope that a future change in Proton doesn't break the game.
3) Do a proper cross platform port or develop future games with cross platform in mind and have control over the game's performance on Linux and OSX.

4) Demand Valve remove their game from Steam Play, or from Steam altogether if that is not an option, so they don't have to deal with the unwanted support requests and bad press.

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Quoting: Dunc

Quoting: Expalphaloga symbol used by the Knights Templar.

It's never going to be an Assassin's Creed game, but let the speculation begin... :D

Black Wind, Fire and Steel is a song by Manowar. Black Wind blows on black flags. And that star has 8 points, like a sailor's compass. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag confirmed.

;)

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Quoting: DuncBut I don't really follow games that aren't already on Linux very closely, so I'm struggling to think of recent ones with “forge” in the title.

I'm in the same boat. First title that comes to mind is Demon's Forge but that's PS3-era.

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Quoting: adolsonIf I'm a developer, I don't see why I should put any effort into a Linux version. Especially now that Valve has a solution in place that removes any effort on my part.

Look at how many games don't run or aren't really playable with Proton and there's your answer.

Quoting: GustyGhostEven though WE, here at GoL and the larger Linux community in general, plan to stick to our guns buying native ports, this does not mean that the same holds true for everyone who will now feel comfortable adopting Linux. The gamers who migrate because of Proton are ultimately concerned only with GAMES and will buy only with the mentality that they MUST have said game with no regard to whether the title is native or not.

1) All of us who came to Linux from Windows had a tipping point. We weren't born convinced that open source was the way and that we could live without xyz software that only exists on Windows. We dipped our toes in, found things we liked and things that chafed, considered it for a while. Eventually we found a setup or situation that was right for migration. Most of the first people who will adopt Linux following Proton's implementation won't be people who've never heard of open source before. They will be people who tried a distro or two and were interested but driven away by the lack of games. Having so many more compatible games all of a sudden will be that tipping point for them where they say "Okay, I can live without my handful of games that still don't run on Linux, because at this point they don't outweigh the benefits for me." Or the point where they start actively dual booting and only using Windows when necessary. We're not looking at overnight changes, we're looking at making progress towards a very complex goal and easing the transition for more and more people, which in turn gives more clout to all of us.

2) While we're all on this site for gaming, I'm looking at the bigger picture and seeing improvements to Wine and drivers as a great boon for all kinds of software. Let's not forget that gamers aren't the only ones who shun Linux because of a lack of compatibility with their favorite/mandatory software. If Wine and/or Proton progress to the point where professionals can use their .exe productivity software on Linux without a hitch, that's another important segment we can unlock. And again, once developers see that there is an attractive userbase that's adamant about running their software on Linux, they'll want to make sure it runs to its best and doesn't get overshadowed by any competitors that are trying to tap that market.

3) On both fronts, once people start using open source actively, they will be exposed to the philosophies and ecosystems around it little by little. Many may not care, but more advanced users will see the benefits of the libre way of computing. In time, this creates more people submitting bug reports, promoting libre culture and making donations to support volunteers. I, too, was once a Windows user that didn't care and used freeware and pirated software everywhere I could. Practicality came first, and mentality changed over time. Now I volunteer for OSS projects from time to time and donate to a few every year as well as supporting some orgs monthly. It's not everyone, but there are other people like this out there waiting for the right time to transition, and our strength is in numbers. Exposure is the first step, and everything that brings more people over to Linux gets the ball rolling at an individual level.

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Quoting: lucifertdarkI see this as a good thing, recently a developer stated they couldn't port to Linux because, in their own words, they didn't have a Linux pc, well that excuse is now null & void thanks to Steam Play, there's absolutely NO excuse for Developers to ignore Linux any longer.

To be fair that was a completely ridiculous excuse to begin with and they probably just don't want to bother. Installing user-friendly distros is child's play in this day and age, not to mention the availability of live CDs, dual booting and virtual machines. It's not like they need to buy a dedicated/additional machine or pay for licenses.

Quoting: aFoxNamedMorrisLiam, I'm pretty sure that only whitelisted Windows titles count as Linux purchases. Could be wrong, but I was under that impression from their initial announcement.

They said "Proton counts as Linux." Anything you run in Steam Play mode uses Proton.

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Quoting: BraqoonThey should add RAGE, worked out of the box on wine for me.

It froze on me during the second cinematic, but on the second run I was able to get to the gameplay and keep going for a little while. Steam Controller integration isn't great, though. Shame my mice are showing their age and won't do for FPS's anymore.

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Quoting: jarhead_hLinux only has to be the second biggest and we still get the AAA titles, the creative suites, Fusion360, etc. We'll be large enough to be catered to like the Apple cult. That's all we need.

I wonder about that. Perception is a hell of a drug. Even if Linux earns more share than Mac on the desktop, I wouldn't be surprised if it remains marginalized for a good while because it's free and liberating (vs Apple's high-paying consumers who are used to being restricted and led by a leash) and associated with nerds (vs Apple's image of luxury and style). I'm not saying we won't get there, mind you, but I'm not at all certain that being the second largest userbase will cut it on its own.

Quoting: oldeschoolLooks likes this is happening a bunch of people have been requesting a Linux port of City of Brass; the developer finally replied with a link to the announcement of Steam Play.

On the other hand, that doesn't have to be the end of the conversation. People can try it on Proton, find out what doesn't work, and report back to the dev. Knowing that they only need to fix a few issues that can't be handled by a default compatibility layer and seeing first-hand how many users are trying to play their game, what's to say the dev won't cave in and finally put some time into making their game more compatible with Linux, even if they don't truly port it? If they do, not only is it good news for their existing players who run Linux, but it puts the OS on their mind for future releases. Even if they won't port, they might consider choices that make their games more compatible with Steam Play, such as Vulkan. The snowball effect could be interesting.

This is an opportunity for Linux gamers to advocate the platform and work hand in hand with devs.

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Quoting: edo

Quoting: NatedawgI think this is great news!

I can see this discouraging some developers from making a Linux port, but these developers will likely be the same ones who are on the fence about making a Linux port anyway. The ones who have been natively supporting us will likely continue to do so.

Knowing the Linux community, I 'm pretty sure we will still make it a top priority to support publishers like Feral / Aspyr / etc.

but now there is no reason to not buy a game because it doesnt have a linux version, feral business model is in danger.
We will see how things goes.

You seem to be assuming that Proton magically makes/will make everything work perfectly. This is still just Wine doing the heavy lifting in the background, and plenty of things will still be broken. A dedicated port means actual guarantees that all features work on the target OS at release and will be supported going forward. Those are no small benefits.

To give a real-life example, it took years before Guild Wars 2 on Wine became truly playable for me with only one graphical glitch, and recently it started crashing randomly every few minutes. Continued support would mean I can buy the game with confidence and not be locked out of it randomly from one patch to the next. That would make me more likely to keep spending money on it, instead of gambling with a purchase. Unless and until Valve or anyone else manage to make Wine perfect, there is absolutely still room for native ports.

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Quoting: GuestA big issue here is, does Proton really mean "Linux support" ? I don't think it does. Here's why.

When you get a port to Linux, even if it's by a third party, a lot of work has been done to bring that game over to the platform... even if a D3D wrapper has been used etc (i'm not going to go into the "lazy wrapper" argument). The porter is selling you a product that is certified by them to work with Linux, and has official backing of the original developer/publisher. If something doesn't work, or breaks, there is an official support method available. It is someones job to provide help on getting it working, and to fix that if it doesnt....

I think Valve are being pretty clear about that and most people here realize it behind all their excitement. The mere fact that Valve are actively investing money and developer time in Wine is thrilling to me, and them making it easier to use in the process for people who don't like to tamper with configs is icing on the cake. There is no question that this is "just Wine integrated into Steam," but Valve are also clearly putting effort into making Wine better, and by all accounts they have been making considerable progress in the past half year alone.

Because it's an experimental feature by nature, I and many others here have already said they would continue to buy actual ports primarily. And there are those who won't buy newer Windows games even if they run well through Proton, out of principle. But easier access to games we all already owned and couldn't play without a fuss is a definite short-term win, and I feel like things are likely to be favorable to porters in the mid-term when the userbase grows and more studios become interested in having a properly supported product on Linux.

There may be rough waters ahead, but I'm optimistic for a rainbow on the other side :)

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Quoting: dhellion

Quoting: silentprocyonTL;DR... Outcome of Oracle feuding with Google is that APIs can now be copyrighted. It started with Oracle acquiring Sun, wanting to make lots of money from Java; not satisfied with just some money, they also attempted to launch their own smartphone venture that failed; after failing in the smartphone business, Oracle sought to make more money from Java by suing Google over the latter copying code from Java (which was not the case) and claimed they owned copyright of the APIs; Oracle had lost in court and appealed, then another court ruled in Oracle's favor over copyright, but ruled that Google's use is "fair use"; not happy with the "fair use" ruling and wanting $9 billion for copyright infringement, Oracle appealed again, battle is still going on in Federal court; might or might not reach Supreme Court.

This will be an epic battle.

And I feel like I want to take it on. I'd happily give money to Valve to help the proceedings if something like this were to happen, for the chance to see Microsoft break some teeth on Linux.

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