Epic Games founder thinks Microsoft will essentially break Steam in later versions of Windows 10

In this case the use of "PC" can be seen as correct: If Microsoft succeeds to close the software part of PC's, why keep the hardware open so people can escape to Linux? Microsoft ARM based hardware is already closed.

QuoteSlowly, over the next five years, they will force-patch Windows 10 to make Steam progressively worse and more broken. They’ll never completely break it, but will continue to break it until, in five years, people are so fed up that Steam is buggy that the Windows Store seems like an ideal alternative.

So they'll inject bugs into the Steam client, which will not only deter people from buying games on the Steam storefront, but also make the individual games they've bought over Steam perform worse?

I think what he's trying (clumsily) to allude to is an iOS-style prohibition on non-store binaries altogether -- but that would be a huge move, much bigger than games, or Steam, or what have you. Mac users have been alarmed about this ever since Mountain Lion introduced the option to block out-of-store binaries in System Preferences. I don't know whether that's become the default option now (haven't used a Mac since 'Mavericks' ) but even Apple doesn't seem to be taking that extreme route in their desktop line.


Last edited by wvstolzing on 26 July 2016 at 6:58 pm UTC

I've been really disappointed in Epic with the development of Paragon. They used the Unreal engine that was supposed to be cross-platmorm compatible then added proprietary code and now they won't make a Linux version because they don't have the resources to test it and they're not sure they can port that proprietary code to Linux. It's the dumbest excuse I think they can make. So I can't see how they can make a statement like that about Microsoft when they are essentially doing the same thing. Agghhh!

Quoting: dmantioneIn this case the use of "PC" can be seen as correct: If Microsoft succeeds to close the software part of PC's, why keep the hardware open so people can escape to Linux? Microsoft ARM based hardware is already closed.

No, he's specifically talking about Windows and Microsoft possibly forcing people to use the Windows store. It is not PC, it is Windows.

If the company that makes Unreal Engine, doesn't support Linux in the games they are releasing, then they must not be very confident in the cross platform capabilities of their engine. That would look very bad to me if I was looking for a cross platform game engine.

I blame the Mac vs PC commercials for starting the paradigm of calling all windows based systems "PCs".
Once people realize what's going on with MS and their shenanigans more people will start to adopt Linux full time.
When it comes to gamers though, it's going to boil down to "if game X is available on Linux". PC gaming has supposedly been dropping year over year and it's all moving towards consoles and Mobile now.

MS has been trying so hard to be like Apple over the past 10 years. Why?, because Apple makes more money than MS, despite being a closed system end to end. MS 2015 earnings vs Apple's 2015 earnings shows Apple making $29 billion more than MS. this was a $9 billion increase in profits from the year before for Apple, while MS has been showing rocky gains and losses.

Eventually if the Linux market share doesn't gain some decent headway the hardware manufacturers will start to only make server hardware compatible for Linux while desktop hardware will be more tailored for Windows at the rate things are going. This i dread the most. I truly hope this doesn't ever happen. But it definitely looks to be something MS would really like to see happen. How likely? is the big question.

I'm not talking about universal hardware that's sold to the build it yourself crowd like myself (we are the minority), although not an impossibility to run into issues with more hardware going forward when installing Linux. This is mainly on the end of the manufacturers like Dell, HP, etc...

Quoting: BreezeIf the company that makes Unreal Engine, doesn't support Linux in the games they are releasing, then they must not be very confident in the cross platform capabilities of their engine. That would look very bad to me if I was looking for a cross platform game engine.

Tbh, a huge part of making UE4 run on Linux (at least for the Editor) is done by the community, not Epic themselves. They are too busy focusing on Mobile and VR. It's really disappointing. We can not even use Marketplace content on Linux, because the launcher is not available! And why is it not? Because the launcher is proprietary and the community thus cannot port it and Epic is just too lazy to do it.
Imo, they don't give a s**t about cross platform and if they do they've done surprisingly little to show it.

So Tim foresees issues with Win10 and Steam. Good for him!
Now can he get his acts together and sell games directly without Steam and without any DRM? Two birds with one stone.
How can this kind of big company become such a cry-baby?


Last edited by zikzak on 26 July 2016 at 7:58 pm UTC

Quoting: CAPTNCAPSTbh, a huge part of making UE4 run on Linux (at least for the Editor) is done by the community, not Epic themselves. They are too busy focusing on Mobile and VR. It's really disappointing. We can not even use Marketplace content on Linux, because the launcher is not available! And why is it not? Because the launcher is proprietary and the community thus cannot port it and Epic is just too lazy to do it.
Imo, they don't give a s**t about cross platform and if they do they've done surprisingly little to show it.

That's troubling since they have a Linux logo on the overview page.

Quoting: neowiz73I blame the Mac vs PC commercials for starting the paradigm of calling all windows based systems "PCs".

It started long before that. "PC" has been synonymous with Microsoft in one way or another for decades.


Last edited by Mountain Man on 26 July 2016 at 8:31 pm UTC