4 ms·

That is a laughable characterization of the business decision Valve has made, and learning from history isn't worth much when the landscape has changed so much

That is a laughable characterization of the business decision Valve has made, and learning from history isn't worth much when the landscape has changed so much in the last five years. Have you actually tried to run games on Steam on Linux recently? Did you try it five years ago, and have an understanding of what it was like then? Proton and Steam on Linux _are a deterrent_, and within the last couple of years, it can be said with confidence that the strategy is viable and worth continuing. This was never about selling consoles -- Valve makes their money from their cut on sales and microtransactions.

pjmlp 5y ago
Proton is just the Windows compatibility layer for OS/2 story revisited, lets see how it will play out.
- Zhyl 5y ago
  Could you expand on that? I don't see the situations as being directly comparable at all. Maybe in technology terms, but the situational context is completely different as far as I can see it, especially as it pertains to Linux share of the Gaming market.
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Basically Proton allows game studios to focus on Windows and DirectX, just like what OS/2 got were ported Windows applications and only a tiny minority bothered to natively target OS/2. As the article itself mentions the Linux hardware on the survey is still at 1%.
    - Zhyl 5y ago
      But Linux market share has increased consistently since Proton was released (0.7% -> 1.3%), and the Steam Deck hasn't even been released yet. If the stats showed stagnation or decline I would agree with you, but they seem to be suggesting the opposite.
- seabird 5y ago
  It's true that this can still not go the way Valve wants, but it's like counting on me to do a standing double frontflip because it's not strictly impossible. The only thing in the way of near-100% compatibility is anticheat, and EAC and Battleye both plan on supporting WINE/Proton when Valve releases their hardware. EAC has actually supported WINE for a while now with a little legwork on the part of the developer, so it's not even a question of whether or not it's technically feasible. Once Valve achieves near-perfect compatibility, Microsoft can't change legendarily backward-compatible APIs for the sake of pissing in Valve's cornflakes. This doesn't mean that there will be a large Linux gaming market share now or in the future, but it does mean that Valve has an option if Windows starts to threaten their cut.
- hakfoo 5y ago
  I feel like Microsoft is spending a lot of time shooting themselves in the foot right now, though. In the days when "DOS/Win31 versus OS/2 with compatyibility" question was asked, OS/2 was the expensive choice, both to license and in terms of hardware requirements. With the high Win11 hardware requirements, Linux is actually more accessible as a supported platform, both on the low-end (i. e. you could strip it down a lot further for a device with small storage) and for a large number of older enthusiast PCs (6th and 7th generation Core or first-gen Ryzen) You also have an incredibly weak buzz for WIndows 11 right now. Some people are up in arms about stuff like "requires a Microsoft account on the affordable version" or "we've moved the UI in weird and confusing ways" but nobody is saying "it provides cool features A, B, and C to justify the hassle." A well packaged Linux launch could provide a compelling message just from the perspective of "here's an OS where all your games work, but it's not also a ticking support timebomb." TBH, I feel like the old early-2000s Linux style of "let's choose custom window managers and theme the crap out of everything" would also appeal to the gamer crowd, but I feel like that's sort of disappeared in modern desktop Linux.

pjmlp 5y ago

Proton is just the Windows compatibility layer for OS/2 story revisited, lets see how it will play out.

Zhyl 5y ago
Could you expand on that? I don't see the situations as being directly comparable at all. Maybe in technology terms, but the situational context is completely different as far as I can see it, especially as it pertains to Linux share of the Gaming market.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  Basically Proton allows game studios to focus on Windows and DirectX, just like what OS/2 got were ported Windows applications and only a tiny minority bothered to natively target OS/2. As the article itself mentions the Linux hardware on the survey is still at 1%.
  - Zhyl 5y ago
    But Linux market share has increased consistently since Proton was released (0.7% -> 1.3%), and the Steam Deck hasn't even been released yet. If the stats showed stagnation or decline I would agree with you, but they seem to be suggesting the opposite.
seabird 5y ago
It's true that this can still not go the way Valve wants, but it's like counting on me to do a standing double frontflip because it's not strictly impossible. The only thing in the way of near-100% compatibility is anticheat, and EAC and Battleye both plan on supporting WINE/Proton when Valve releases their hardware. EAC has actually supported WINE for a while now with a little legwork on the part of the developer, so it's not even a question of whether or not it's technically feasible. Once Valve achieves near-perfect compatibility, Microsoft can't change legendarily backward-compatible APIs for the sake of pissing in Valve's cornflakes. This doesn't mean that there will be a large Linux gaming market share now or in the future, but it does mean that Valve has an option if Windows starts to threaten their cut.
hakfoo 5y ago
I feel like Microsoft is spending a lot of time shooting themselves in the foot right now, though. In the days when "DOS/Win31 versus OS/2 with compatyibility" question was asked, OS/2 was the expensive choice, both to license and in terms of hardware requirements. With the high Win11 hardware requirements, Linux is actually more accessible as a supported platform, both on the low-end (i. e. you could strip it down a lot further for a device with small storage) and for a large number of older enthusiast PCs (6th and 7th generation Core or first-gen Ryzen) You also have an incredibly weak buzz for WIndows 11 right now. Some people are up in arms about stuff like "requires a Microsoft account on the affordable version" or "we've moved the UI in weird and confusing ways" but nobody is saying "it provides cool features A, B, and C to justify the hassle." A well packaged Linux launch could provide a compelling message just from the perspective of "here's an OS where all your games work, but it's not also a ticking support timebomb." TBH, I feel like the old early-2000s Linux style of "let's choose custom window managers and theme the crap out of everything" would also appeal to the gamer crowd, but I feel like that's sort of disappeared in modern desktop Linux.