In a recent interview with PC Gamer, lead producer Brandon Adler of Obsidian said, "I don't think it was worthwhile developing for Linux. They are a very, very small portion of our active user base - I think around one and a half percent of our users were Linux."
While he did add that is was easy to get the game running on Linux, he cites additional logistical problems like QA and a development team with no previous experience developing for the platform.
These comments stand in slight contrast with statements made in June to Mac Gamer HQ where the interviewer asked "Do Mac and Linux sales justify the extra work involved?" and got back "Yes. Any time you can get the game out on multiple platforms is a huge win for sales because obviously your audience is expanded to include many more people." Although one could argue since the site is a Mac site, the response was equally Mac-slanted, despite the mention of Linux.
As with any such statements, I wonder if the aforementioned added burden can be quantified in time/money spent, and how that compares with the income gained form the 1.5% Linux sales. Surely, it was just a matter of it feeling like a larger burden than it really was due to it being new for the studio?
Smaller studios with reservations about Linux development should really consider outsourcing these efforts, or at least be open to licensed ports. I'm fairly sure the likes of Aspyr/Feral would be more than happy to reap the rewards of managing such ports, especially when the effort is purely QA and support, rather than actually needing to port engines.
Editor Note: If any developer creates a Linux version before Steam Machines are released and expects more than 2% of sales from it, they're doing it wrong. You're doing it for the future and for the long run, not for a quick gain which you won't get right now. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
While he did add that is was easy to get the game running on Linux, he cites additional logistical problems like QA and a development team with no previous experience developing for the platform.
These comments stand in slight contrast with statements made in June to Mac Gamer HQ where the interviewer asked "Do Mac and Linux sales justify the extra work involved?" and got back "Yes. Any time you can get the game out on multiple platforms is a huge win for sales because obviously your audience is expanded to include many more people." Although one could argue since the site is a Mac site, the response was equally Mac-slanted, despite the mention of Linux.
As with any such statements, I wonder if the aforementioned added burden can be quantified in time/money spent, and how that compares with the income gained form the 1.5% Linux sales. Surely, it was just a matter of it feeling like a larger burden than it really was due to it being new for the studio?
Smaller studios with reservations about Linux development should really consider outsourcing these efforts, or at least be open to licensed ports. I'm fairly sure the likes of Aspyr/Feral would be more than happy to reap the rewards of managing such ports, especially when the effort is purely QA and support, rather than actually needing to port engines.
Editor Note: If any developer creates a Linux version before Steam Machines are released and expects more than 2% of sales from it, they're doing it wrong. You're doing it for the future and for the long run, not for a quick gain which you won't get right now. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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It should be anything but surprising that this number were reflected in the sales stats.
But this also underlines how much our userbase need to grow, and grow by much. Ideally we need to grow past the Mac share, that's the major milestone to reach for.
And the only way I see that to be possible, is via embedded devices ala "consoles"/"Steam Machines". Far too much for comfort depends on them. I don't see how we can win without a success there.
Last edited by Beamboom on 31 August 2015 at 12:04 pm UTC
Either way, Jaco is right, Obsidian had two reasons to support Linux: as a thank you to their fan-base and supporters and as future-proofing; complaining about it at this point seems very odd (like a smartwatch app-dev complaining they aren't millionaires yet).
Last edited by Cybolic on 31 August 2015 at 12:10 pm UTC
4.)They are LAZY devs.
5.)They are ignorant devs.
6.)They are lazy and ignorant devs.
Is sad to see that a lot of devs are stuck in the "We make games only for Windows because millions of people use Windows because thousands of videogames runs only on Windows" vicious circle.
They do?
Haha - at least the watch is smart then. :D
A bit short-sighted, perhaps, but likely none of the things you added. (plus a bit rude)
Last edited by rustybroomhandle on 31 August 2015 at 12:19 pm UTC
Same but different. The main cash-points they'd have had anyway. We're not talking of what the production costs of the title were, they'd have had them anyway. And they were not funded by a Indie-Fund, but on Kickstarter, so they don't have the additional 25 % cut they'd have otherwhise. We're talking about the additional money they got for a "could-not-have-been-that-much" port. Even after taxes, if the port wasn't profit, they've had more than one person doing linux stuff all the time during their production time, or in other words more than 12 person month at pretty high wages (>10k/month) and benefits (medical care etc.) in developing/testing for linux. I highly doubt that. Really.
Last edited by STiAT on 31 August 2015 at 12:18 pm UTC
Well, due to the Engines supporting Linux anyway, they can always re-evaluate and port titles. There is no need to port now, for SteamOS/Steamboxes with Linux maybe coming in 2016. If ever.
These developers made a very good game and a very good Linux port of it.
They have got all numbers and when they say it wasn't worth it, there's no point not to believe that.
(Why would somebody say such if he has made profit of it? No reason to believe so.)
Some of the parameters might change, like a better Linux support of their engine and more Linux knowledge in their team (due to the first port). So there's still hope for their games to be ported in the future.
I really hope so.
Looking forward for The Bard's Tale.
I cannot remember which company it was (Feral? Aspyr?) and which port, but they wrote in the forums that they had put up a poster in their office with inspiring quotes from happy Linux users. I (as a software developer) would love such, and hate rants...
/facepalm