It seems The Witness may one day see a Linux release, although the developer expects to make a loss on it, it may come to Linux "for fun or for ideological purposes".
Writing on the official Steam forum, the developer reiterated previous statements.
I think the developer is still basing the majority of their thoughts on some pretty outdated information, like Ubuntu Software Centre sales statistics for Braid (I don't know anyone who purchased anything using the USC):
QuoteOn Linux we would be in for a much worse mess, and then on top of that, many fewer people would buy the game. (We know approximately how many because we released Braid on Linux, it was even directly in the Ubuntu Software Centre for a while). In terms of work invested versus money earned, it would be a substantial loss financially, and it would reduce our quality of life since we would be kind of miserable.
They did ended it on a lighter note which was great to see:
QuoteThis is not to say we won't try a Linux port sometime; we might do it for fun or for ideological purposes, but we would not try to support it seriously and we would expect to lose money on it.
While it's still true it wouldn't make a lot of money, as we all know our market share isn't amazing, it's still nice to see it's not totally ruled out.
Hopefully one day it will happen, and we can test it out.
About the game
The Witness is a single-player game in an open world with dozens of locations to explore and over 500 puzzles. This game respects you as an intelligent player and it treats your time as precious. There's no filler; each of those puzzles brings its own new idea into the mix. So, this is a game full of ideas.
Thanks for the link, FutureSuture. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Don't do us any favors, Jon. And get yourself a PR man; you kill sales every time you open your mouth.
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slaapliedje 4 Apr 2016
Ha, you don't know if you should like this or not. "Didn't make enough money, but we may do it anyhow! But then we won't bother supporting it..." Unfortunately the style reminds of Firewatch and that game only managed to depress me, and I don't play video games to be depressed.
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I guess I'll pass on buying it if and when it comes to Linux for fun or ideological reasons.
5 Likes, Who?
Haha this guy..
Oh man. Is he trying to encourage sales or lose them?
Here let me help the developer, here's what he said:
Now let's throw that through a PR translator:
Ah, that's better.
Oh man. Is he trying to encourage sales or lose them?
Here let me help the developer, here's what he said:
On Linux we would be in for a much worse mess, and then on top of that, many fewer people would buy the game. (We know approximately how many because we released Braid on Linux, it was even directly in the Ubuntu Software Centre for a while). In terms of work invested versus money earned, it would be a substantial loss financially, and it would reduce our quality of life since we would be kind of miserable.
This is not to say we won't try a Linux port sometime; we might do it for fun or for ideological purposes, but we would not try to support it seriously and we would expect to lose money on it.
Now let's throw that through a PR translator:
We would love to support Linux! However we have tried previously with one of our games called Braid, this game didn't sell as well as we had hoped, even though we put it on the Ubuntu Software Centre. So right now for us it is a difficult decision based on past sales.
This is not to say we will never release a Linux port sometime; we would love to do it because it would be fun and exciting for us to do so! But we would have to find a way to increase our sales first to ensure we could support the game properly on Linux! This way we would be able to provide a fair and even playing experience across the board.
Ah, that's better.
9 Likes, Who?
Braid is a bad example, back then it was probably a lot more expensive to port a game to Linux, now there is a lot of developers out there with that skill so it's probably cheaper. Also most (almost all) Linux gamers bought Braid while it was on the Humble Indie Bundle 2 and if you already had the first bundle this was the main reason to get this one. This bundle made $365,000 from Linux sales and so maybe they didn't get all that money in the end, because they had to share it with charities and other developers but it's show that Linux gamers put a lot of money towards this game.
Last edited by Nyamiou on 4 Apr 2016 at 10:40 pm UTC
Last edited by Nyamiou on 4 Apr 2016 at 10:40 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
While it's still true it wouldn't make a lot of money, as we all know our market share isn't amazing, it's still nice to see it's not totally ruled out.No thanks. if they are not going to port and support it seriously, I'm not going to spent a single cent for it.
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Luke_Nukem 5 Apr 2016
Who the fuck buys shit on the "Ubuntu Software Centre"..? Is that even still a thing?
J-Blow really, really, needs to sit down, shut up, and have a good think about Linux. Maybe do some discovery and fact finding of his own. Braid was also a niche game, it may not have sold much on either platform due to that.
J-Blow really, really, needs to sit down, shut up, and have a good think about Linux. Maybe do some discovery and fact finding of his own. Braid was also a niche game, it may not have sold much on either platform due to that.
2 Likes, Who?
Huh. So, Braid did poorly on Linux. I wonder why? I mean, it released so close to the Windows and OSX versions - only a year and a half later! True, it was almost two and half years after the 360 version, but it was only one year behind the PS3 version. The Linux port should have been raking in the cash!!!
3 Likes, Who?
Well, even if based on sales of Ubuntu Software Center (which seriously I think nobody ever used), and I think that Steam has a lot of more to offer, Steam has it's own issue: A huge load of smaller/indie games, which makes it hard to stand out for the developers so they actually get people to buy their game. New releases get pushed down pretty fast, so the effect of releasing a game being a few days on-top of new releases is pretty limited.
I've noticed this myself, looking over the lists once a week, I sometimes found some funny games which I completely missed out in the first place. And I guess I'm one of the few really doing that.
I've noticed this myself, looking over the lists once a week, I sometimes found some funny games which I completely missed out in the first place. And I guess I'm one of the few really doing that.
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He may be one of the best game designers out there, but outside of this area I trust the validity of his statements somewhat less as those of the average gamer. That includes programming, business and software piracy.
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hardpenguin 5 Apr 2016
That is some good news! I am going to buy it, because the game is good :)
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Kimyrielle 5 Apr 2016
If you support us for ideological reasons, go all the way and support us 100%.
1 Likes, Who?
it was even directly in the Ubuntu Software CentreI think this just means that they made some extra efforts to package it for the USC (no idea how big a deal that is).
I prefer his honesty with "ideological reasons" than the usual "we're definitely thinking very hard about a Linux version" bullshit (soon followed by results showing the poor extend of said thinking).
Of course I'll wait for signs that it works before buying :) But Braid was a nice game and worked, so there's hope.
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I'm sorry, but if you're not going to "support it seriously", then I'm not going to buy it... And no, I'm not going to be a beta tester for you game either...
i might buy it as a joke....
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Oh grow some skin, folks. We're not kids.
This.
We don't need sweet talking, back patting PR press releases. Just tell it like it is. That should always be appreciated even when they don't say what you want to hear. He's just being straight forward about how they see it from their perspective.
Calling for PR people? Hmmm... interesting :P. I would much rather listen to an honest developer than a PR bullshitter. I imagine a lot of games ported to Linux have been for 'ideological purposes'. It can't always make financial sense to support <1% of your audience when you could otherwise move onto your next game. Its not like the other >99% are going to care :P.
But yeah USC is not an ideal gauge. However, I doubt that is all that is being taken into account considering the game is on Steam / Humble.
The fact that the developer knows they will make a loss, but is still considering it is great isn't it? Imagine if EA were like that.. well, they wouldn't be EA, but it would be great!
This.
We don't need sweet talking, back patting PR press releases. Just tell it like it is. That should always be appreciated even when they don't say what you want to hear. He's just being straight forward about how they see it from their perspective.
2 Likes, Who?
Watch carefully.
That's what you become if you've been patted on the shoulder too many times.
That's what you become if you've been patted on the shoulder too many times.
1 Likes, Who?
Unfortunate. Braid wasn't my type of game, so I never bought it. The Witness is precisely my type of game, though, and I wish I'd had a chance to play it. But it sounds like I could buy it now and have my sale counted as a Windows sale and that would just give this guy further confirmation that he doesn't need to make anything cross platform.
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I've watched gameplay of The Witness, and while I like the exploration of all the cool areas, the puzzles are just the sort of thing that would frustrate me immensely, and the rest seems like an Automatic Pretentiousness Generator. Random quotes from Einstein or James Burke or for all I know Deepak Chopra doesn't add depth, y'know. If that's my primary reward for solving frustrating maze puzzles, I'll pass on a port, thanks.
1 Likes, Who?
Save me from devs who release a port months or years later, when their game is old hat and everyone who wants it has already bought it, and then whines "Linux sales are bad, I'll never make a port again!"
Y'all suck at business, dissolve your company.
Y'all suck at business, dissolve your company.
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rustybroomhandle 5 Apr 2016
it would be a substantial loss financially, and it would reduce our quality of life since we would be kind of miserable
This is a dev who proudly boasted about being connected via tube to a bottle so he could piss without leaving his desk.
As for the port - I bet he could ask someone less dramatic to port it and he can spend quality time with his bottle of piss.
3 Likes, Who?
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