PS. Imagine how good Steam Machines 2 will be! Just don't ask for Steam Machines 3.

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I believe that Valve have seen the future of proprietary computing and they really don't like it because it's a direct threat to their business model. Apple makes a butt-ton of money out of their app store because it's central place most people go to for paid software on MacOS. They've been slowly locking down their platform to make it harder and harder to get software elsewhere, and it won't be long until it requires a crack to get software from outside the App Store. Microsoft is in a harder situation, but they're moving in that direction too, with things like Windows subscription and Office 365.

If these companies are successful and locking down their products, let's be honest the vast majority of regular users won't want to go through the hassle of switching to Linux. Game devs will be forced to sell through the various app stores and Microsoft and Apple will both take big cuts (I think it's 30% at the moment). Valve's business model would die, and they'll either have to shrink considerably and go back to developing games (haha!) , or see the company go under.

Steam play and all the associated Technologies or a way of protecting against that. Sure, Steam Machines weren't that successful, but if Microsoft and Apple start charging huge amounts to use their operating systems and make it impossible to play games you've already bought through Steam, suddenly they're much more viable product. "Hey look guys we've done all the hard work, buy this machine or use this OS and all your Steam games will keep working. Oh also you can also keep buying more games at our steam sale prices!" It's also a huge Boon for tiny developers that wouldn't have any clout to negotiate with Microsoft for a place in the Windows Store.

I really applaud Valve for their efforts, especially in keeping it open source, and think it's a great thing for open source, gaming in general and the Linux community. In the short term it might mean one or two Linux ports don't get made, but in the long-term I think developers will begin to realize the importance of Linux as an open platform resistant against money-grabbing efforts by Microsoft and Apple.

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I wonder if we should be talking about gaming on linux in a slightly different way.

The platform really is in an incredible place at the moment - especially as the writer mentions only ten years ago we mostly had penguin-themed games to play (not that I didn't enjoy many hours of bobsledding in Tux Racer!). There's now so much to choose from!

If you want to be a gamer on linux in the sense that you want to use linux and find games you like, there's really no reason not to switch. Pretty much every genre is represented, with many games of each, and even some AAA games at comparable performance. Wine will take care of almost any classic titles if you want that nostalgia factor.

If you want to be a gamer in the sense of being on the cutting edge and keeping up with the latest trends and technologies in gaming, then maybe Linux isn't for you, or not as your main gaming OS. If you want access to <i>specific</i> titles, it can be problematic, and even when there are ports, they're often late by a month or two, which also applies for updates and DLC to those games. I get that for some people this is a really important part of their hobby, and in this instance Linux doesn't work for them.

Instead, what I try and share with people about Linux is the freedom it offers - I'm in full control of what's on my computer, and it's never going to do anything like what the author mentions and force an update at an inconvenient time (and if for some reason any distro tries that, you can all but guarantee there will be a fork that doesn't within days). That freedom includes so much software and many games to choose from that I'll never feel like there's something I can't do, or a type of game that I can't play with my computer.

While I'm grateful for Wine, and Steam Play, and their associated technologies, sometimes I think focusing on them (the "Brutal Truths" ) holds us back from talking about what the platform really has to offer. What do y'all think?

EDIT: This post isn't really directly in response to the linked article, but something I've been mulling over for a while brought to the forefront of my mind after reading it.

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The "Seat of Lucifer" might be considered Pergamos or Babylon. Pandemonium is another name that comes up. Any thoughts?

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The one game I would absolutely love to see Planet Coaster on Linux. As a huge fan of the RCT series it would fulfill my dreams of a proper 3D version (RCT3 was okay but always pretty buggy for me, and PC appears to have done it much better anyway).

Unfortunately Frontier don't seem to want to support Linux, and since PC was developed on an in-house engine it seems very unlikely we'll get it. Even more unfortunately it doesn't look like it'll run under WINE anytime soon either.

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I'm really really impressed by all the progress Wine has been making recently. Can someone let me know when it's possible to play Planet Coaster? And maybe Fallout 4...

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The picture is of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov [External Link], the quote refers to his work The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh [External Link].

So, any games that are about Russians, Opera, or Invisible Cities?

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How does it compare with RCT2/Open RCT2? The style of Parkitect looks nice, but I am hard pressed to imagine they could top the gameplay of Chris Sawyer's masterpiece.

I just wish that Planet Coaster would release a Linux version, or at the very least remove the DRM that breaks any attempt to play it with Wine. That is a game I really want to play!

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Planet Coaster!

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Quick Soldier Info was what piqued my interest. Looks helpful, thanks!

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