4 ms·

Nobody would have predicted cheaters would finally cause the year of the Linux desktop in 2023.

jsheard 4y ago
I do wonder what the ratio of genuine Linux gamers to opportunistic Linux cheaters is in the games which have enabled Proton anti-cheat support. If it skews too hard towards just being a crutch for cheaters then it's going to disincentivize developers from allowing Linux clients in competitive games going forwards.
- johnfernow 4y ago
  Maybe a balancing act would be allowing Linux gamers for casual matches but preventing them from playing competitive matches. Unfortunately, there still might be some cheaters to ruin people's fun, but likely significantly fewer since it wouldn't improve their rank. Long term, maybe Valve could work with Epic to create a driver to support Easy Anti-cheat on Linux that works with Proton so that devs don't need to create a Linux-specific version of the game. Unfortunately, that'd likely be a considerable amount of work and Epic currently has no incentive to help the Steam Deck be successful. However, that could change. PC gaming is so much more expensive to get into than when they first created the Epic Games Store. A PS5 is $400 — good luck buying/building a PC remotely as powerful as that for under $1000. A Steam Deck is also only $400, and while weaker, it is portable and can still handle almost all AAA games so far. The Epic Games Store is never going to be allowed on PS5, but it could be on the Steam Deck. Unless PC hardware prices go down, it's easy to imagine a future where PC gaming declines and consoles become more popular, which is not good for Epic (since their store isn't on traditional consoles.) But the Steam Deck, due to its low price, could very well compete with consoles, and Epic could have their store there. Obviously this future of Windows PC gaming declining is extremely far from certain, but it's nice to be prepared in case it does.

I do wonder what the ratio of genuine Linux gamers to opportunistic Linux cheaters is in the games which have enabled Proton anti-cheat support. If it skews too hard towards just being a crutch for cheaters then it's going to disincentivize developers from allowing Linux clients in competitive games going forwards.

johnfernow 4y ago
Maybe a balancing act would be allowing Linux gamers for casual matches but preventing them from playing competitive matches. Unfortunately, there still might be some cheaters to ruin people's fun, but likely significantly fewer since it wouldn't improve their rank. Long term, maybe Valve could work with Epic to create a driver to support Easy Anti-cheat on Linux that works with Proton so that devs don't need to create a Linux-specific version of the game. Unfortunately, that'd likely be a considerable amount of work and Epic currently has no incentive to help the Steam Deck be successful. However, that could change. PC gaming is so much more expensive to get into than when they first created the Epic Games Store. A PS5 is $400 — good luck buying/building a PC remotely as powerful as that for under $1000. A Steam Deck is also only $400, and while weaker, it is portable and can still handle almost all AAA games so far. The Epic Games Store is never going to be allowed on PS5, but it could be on the Steam Deck. Unless PC hardware prices go down, it's easy to imagine a future where PC gaming declines and consoles become more popular, which is not good for Epic (since their store isn't on traditional consoles.) But the Steam Deck, due to its low price, could very well compete with consoles, and Epic could have their store there. Obviously this future of Windows PC gaming declining is extremely far from certain, but it's nice to be prepared in case it does.