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> If they overcome the anticheat hurdle and reach 100% of top games running with decent performance, there are plenty of people who have a computer that they us

> If they overcome the anticheat hurdle and reach 100% of top games running with decent performance, there are plenty of people who have a computer that they use exclusively for video games and web apps that will gladly forego paying for Windows. Windows is essentially free these days. You might have to pay for it once (and I got my Windows key from a grey market site for $15), but each Windows version update has been free after Windows 8. Any gamer that buys a pre-built computer will end up with Windows by default and isn't likely to wipe it to install Linux. And even the ones that build themselves are still likely to use Windows just because that's what they're used to. The overlap between PC gaming and Linux enthusiasm isn't as big as you think it is.

seabird 5y ago
Everything you said is definitely true as of right now, but if Microsoft somehow finds a way to extract a cut from every transaction on Windows (fears of this around the release of Windows 8 is what initially spurred Valve's Linux investment), Valve actually would stand a chance in hell of convincing people who use their computer for video games and webapps nearly exclusively to switch over to Linux if games and microtransactions worked and were cheaper. We're not really talking about the group of people that are into both PC gaming and Linux. We're talking about the group of people that are into PC gaming that would be fine with a Chromebook if they weren't playing games, and would consider Linux if games were cheaper on it.
- Zhyl 5y ago
  It's also worth noting that you said 'plenty' which is absolutely true. A rounding error for Windows install base would be a significant increase in Linux market share, and that is the sorts of levels I would anticipate with complete support and a successful launch of the Steam Deck (increase in market share by 1-2%)

seabird 5y ago

Everything you said is definitely true as of right now, but if Microsoft somehow finds a way to extract a cut from every transaction on Windows (fears of this around the release of Windows 8 is what initially spurred Valve's Linux investment), Valve actually would stand a chance in hell of convincing people who use their computer for video games and webapps nearly exclusively to switch over to Linux if games and microtransactions worked and were cheaper. We're not really talking about the group of people that are into both PC gaming and Linux. We're talking about the group of people that are into PC gaming that would be fine with a Chromebook if they weren't playing games, and would consider Linux if games were cheaper on it.

Zhyl 5y ago
It's also worth noting that you said 'plenty' which is absolutely true. A rounding error for Windows install base would be a significant increase in Linux market share, and that is the sorts of levels I would anticipate with complete support and a successful launch of the Steam Deck (increase in market share by 1-2%)