Quite a number of people have asked me to talk about where to buy Linux games, how to make sure developers are supported and so on, so here I am.
First of all, I am fully aware there will likely be a small backlash in the comments on certain points. We do seem to have a small minority of very vocal people who like to boast about buying dirt cheap games from places like G2A, which makes me sad. We also have a few who like to advocate piracy, which is not only sad, but makes us look really bad in the eyes of developers. For the most part though, the people commenting here are fantastic to talk to.
To make this a point: I am not aiming to single anyone out, nor am I aiming to be hostile towards anyone. Read this as if we are all sitting around the table having a *insert favourite drink* and discussing the best way to support our platform. That’s what this is all about, everything I do is to help Linux gaming progress somehow.
To get this out of the way; I flat out do not recommend buying from places like G2A and Kinguin, Samsai already wrote about that here. Read that as a starting point if you please. Basically, don’t pre-order, don’t buy from random reseller stores.
While Samsai touched on some dubious stores in his linked post, I wanted to talk about Steam key resellers in general. I would completely steer clear of all of them, that’s the single safest option here. I actually already wrote about this before here.
As you can see, we’ve already written about all of this before in various places, so it’s time to bring it together under one roof. Instead of having the information scattered across various previous articles.
So, how do you know if your purchase is counted as a Linux sale? Most of the time it’s actually pretty simple. I’ve come up with some general guidelines and information for you, it’s your call on how to act upon it. I don’t want to seem like I am forcing anything on anyone, these are my personal thoughts as always. As someone who is a gamer at heart who firmly believes in supporting developers, as well as an editor.
Cheap games & Resellers
If you’re extremely strapped for cash, rather than go to some dubious key reseller, try to wait out for spring/summer/autumn/winter sales. Most major stores now do massive sales for each season like Steam and GOG do. Sales happen so often, you really have no reason to go to some random reseller where your purchase is not just likely to count for Windows, but feed the pocket of none of the actual developers or publishers.
Steam rather often does specific Publisher or Developer sales, weekend sales, free weekends to test games and more. You have so many chances to get legitimate cheap games. If money really is the issue, you’re just not being patient enough. You are in full control of your own wallet, be smart with it. There's nothing wrong with waiting for a sale, that's not the issue here at all.
I’ve seen so many people worry about how little Linux games sell in comparison to other platforms, and buying your games dirt cheap on reseller stores only does one thing: Weaken our sales statistics even more and reduce the possibility of future ports happening.
Seeing people say things about their financial situation, well, I have news for you, you’re not entitled to anything. It’s a shame if you can’t afford it (and I feel for you!), but why should that entitle you to pay sometimes 90% less than the rest of us from a store that supports no one but itself? You know what I do if I can’t afford something? I wait until I can, I don’t buy it for 90% off the price from the back of a truck. That’s essentially what key resellers do. Not all of them mind you, but most use dubious methods of acquiring their keys.
I admit there are reasons why you may want to seek other sources, like region locking, bad dubbing of the audio in certain versions and other reasons I haven’t thought of. I don’t mean to lump everyone under the same umbrella here. The same thing, sadly, still applies to you. You’re not entitled to it, it’s best to voice your opinion to the developer directly. By going to these questionable stores, you’re still possibly hurting Linux gaming.
I really hate the word “entitled”, it sounds terrible, but it’s an accurate way of portraying some of the attitudes I’ve seen. If this offends you somehow, you should realize it’s probably a perfect description of your attitude.
If you’re still going to buy cheap games from random places, remember who you’re supporting by doing it (certainly not the developer), and remember when developers and publishers talk down Linux ports, you’re probably at least a small part of the problem. This may sound a little unfair, but it’s the honest truth of the matter. A small amount of sales being cut down even smaller is good for no one.
To quote Edwin from Feral Interactive:
I've spoken to numerous other developers who all say a similar thing. I linked to this before, but Bundle Stars is a good example of this when I asked them if they have Linux keys or just Windows keys a while ago:
Steam - Buying directly from Steam on Linux is a Linux sale. That’s a fact, so long as the game has a playable Linux version. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have a SteamOS icon, if it has a Linux version, the developers will see a sale for it.
It doesn't really matter what operating system you buy your game on when it's directly on Steam, the main thing that counts is where it's first installed and played on for the first two weeks.
If you buy a key from elsewhere and don’t activate it until that particular game gets ported to Linux, that’s still a Windows sale. Why? Your key would have been generated before a Linux version existed, it would be part of a set of keys designed for a specific platform. The developer may see a Linux download, but not a Linux sale. I’ve had this confirmed from multiple different developers.
GOG - My GOG contacts have been unable to tell me how Linux games are tracked. I refuse to believe in 2016 a store as big as GOG don’t have something in place, and I don’t take their refusal to be open about it as a “we don’t track them”, but more as they are a business not wanting to divulge private business information.
It’s most likely that they track the number of downloads per-platform for each game.
I’ve tried asking developers about their stats from GOG, but no one is talking about it. It’s possible GOG specifically prohibits this.
Humble Bundle/Store - Humble as mentioned above in our quote from Edwin usually have keys for each platform.
Humble track the platform that was used to purchase each game, which is how they do their pie chart. So, if you buy it while on Linux, it’s generally a Linux purchase. The same applies as before though, if you buy it on Humble before it has a Linux version, prepare to be a Windows customer.
I am unsure how buying it from a mobile will count, as that’s never been mentioned anywhere. They most likely have a default set on it, which would probably be Windows for mobile sales. It’s possible they may wait to see what desktop system tries to redeem them, but we can’t be sure here.
Originally, Humble had a checkbox to tick which operating system to be counted for, but that hasn’t been around for some time. I did some test purchases today for researching this and never saw anything like it.
Itch.io (updated)- A statement from their head:
Games Republic - Their answer to me from last time:
Developers stores
One major way to support developers is to buy directly from their own store or website. Like the Feral store, Aspyr Media store, Virtual Programming store as some examples. That way, you are guaranteed to not only count as a Linux sale, but support developers directly with more of your money (Steam gets no cut then for example).
Final note, please try to remain respectful in the comments. There's no need to be rude or disrespectful to others. Disagreements are fine and part of life, insults and bad attitudes are not needed here.
With thanks to Samsai and Flesk for giving their input on this article. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
First of all, I am fully aware there will likely be a small backlash in the comments on certain points. We do seem to have a small minority of very vocal people who like to boast about buying dirt cheap games from places like G2A, which makes me sad. We also have a few who like to advocate piracy, which is not only sad, but makes us look really bad in the eyes of developers. For the most part though, the people commenting here are fantastic to talk to.
To make this a point: I am not aiming to single anyone out, nor am I aiming to be hostile towards anyone. Read this as if we are all sitting around the table having a *insert favourite drink* and discussing the best way to support our platform. That’s what this is all about, everything I do is to help Linux gaming progress somehow.
To get this out of the way; I flat out do not recommend buying from places like G2A and Kinguin, Samsai already wrote about that here. Read that as a starting point if you please. Basically, don’t pre-order, don’t buy from random reseller stores.
While Samsai touched on some dubious stores in his linked post, I wanted to talk about Steam key resellers in general. I would completely steer clear of all of them, that’s the single safest option here. I actually already wrote about this before here.
As you can see, we’ve already written about all of this before in various places, so it’s time to bring it together under one roof. Instead of having the information scattered across various previous articles.
So, how do you know if your purchase is counted as a Linux sale? Most of the time it’s actually pretty simple. I’ve come up with some general guidelines and information for you, it’s your call on how to act upon it. I don’t want to seem like I am forcing anything on anyone, these are my personal thoughts as always. As someone who is a gamer at heart who firmly believes in supporting developers, as well as an editor.
Cheap games & Resellers
If you’re extremely strapped for cash, rather than go to some dubious key reseller, try to wait out for spring/summer/autumn/winter sales. Most major stores now do massive sales for each season like Steam and GOG do. Sales happen so often, you really have no reason to go to some random reseller where your purchase is not just likely to count for Windows, but feed the pocket of none of the actual developers or publishers.
Steam rather often does specific Publisher or Developer sales, weekend sales, free weekends to test games and more. You have so many chances to get legitimate cheap games. If money really is the issue, you’re just not being patient enough. You are in full control of your own wallet, be smart with it. There's nothing wrong with waiting for a sale, that's not the issue here at all.
I’ve seen so many people worry about how little Linux games sell in comparison to other platforms, and buying your games dirt cheap on reseller stores only does one thing: Weaken our sales statistics even more and reduce the possibility of future ports happening.
Seeing people say things about their financial situation, well, I have news for you, you’re not entitled to anything. It’s a shame if you can’t afford it (and I feel for you!), but why should that entitle you to pay sometimes 90% less than the rest of us from a store that supports no one but itself? You know what I do if I can’t afford something? I wait until I can, I don’t buy it for 90% off the price from the back of a truck. That’s essentially what key resellers do. Not all of them mind you, but most use dubious methods of acquiring their keys.
I admit there are reasons why you may want to seek other sources, like region locking, bad dubbing of the audio in certain versions and other reasons I haven’t thought of. I don’t mean to lump everyone under the same umbrella here. The same thing, sadly, still applies to you. You’re not entitled to it, it’s best to voice your opinion to the developer directly. By going to these questionable stores, you’re still possibly hurting Linux gaming.
I really hate the word “entitled”, it sounds terrible, but it’s an accurate way of portraying some of the attitudes I’ve seen. If this offends you somehow, you should realize it’s probably a perfect description of your attitude.
If you’re still going to buy cheap games from random places, remember who you’re supporting by doing it (certainly not the developer), and remember when developers and publishers talk down Linux ports, you’re probably at least a small part of the problem. This may sound a little unfair, but it’s the honest truth of the matter. A small amount of sales being cut down even smaller is good for no one.
To quote Edwin from Feral Interactive:
QuoteIf you buy from a third party and they don't explicitly say they are selling Linux or Mac keys then you've bought a Windows key. Bundle-star for example sell Windows keys.
Doesn't matter where you play the game on third party stores the sale is based on the steam keys they have purchased. Humble Bundle for example have a set of keys tagged as Windows, Mac and Linux and hand out the correct ones based on your platform so that the correct platform sale is recorded.
I've spoken to numerous other developers who all say a similar thing. I linked to this before, but Bundle Stars is a good example of this when I asked them if they have Linux keys or just Windows keys a while ago:
Bundle StarsHi Liam, Sorry for the delay in responding over the weekend. I can confirm that we have not been sent new keys for Shadow of Mordor since the Linux release and only Windows is mentioned on the page. However, where we promote games as being available for Linux, these will all activate correctly for the platform.
Steam - Buying directly from Steam on Linux is a Linux sale. That’s a fact, so long as the game has a playable Linux version. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have a SteamOS icon, if it has a Linux version, the developers will see a sale for it.
It doesn't really matter what operating system you buy your game on when it's directly on Steam, the main thing that counts is where it's first installed and played on for the first two weeks.
If you buy a key from elsewhere and don’t activate it until that particular game gets ported to Linux, that’s still a Windows sale. Why? Your key would have been generated before a Linux version existed, it would be part of a set of keys designed for a specific platform. The developer may see a Linux download, but not a Linux sale. I’ve had this confirmed from multiple different developers.
GOG - My GOG contacts have been unable to tell me how Linux games are tracked. I refuse to believe in 2016 a store as big as GOG don’t have something in place, and I don’t take their refusal to be open about it as a “we don’t track them”, but more as they are a business not wanting to divulge private business information.
It’s most likely that they track the number of downloads per-platform for each game.
I’ve tried asking developers about their stats from GOG, but no one is talking about it. It’s possible GOG specifically prohibits this.
Humble Bundle/Store - Humble as mentioned above in our quote from Edwin usually have keys for each platform.
Humble track the platform that was used to purchase each game, which is how they do their pie chart. So, if you buy it while on Linux, it’s generally a Linux purchase. The same applies as before though, if you buy it on Humble before it has a Linux version, prepare to be a Windows customer.
I am unsure how buying it from a mobile will count, as that’s never been mentioned anywhere. They most likely have a default set on it, which would probably be Windows for mobile sales. It’s possible they may wait to see what desktop system tries to redeem them, but we can’t be sure here.
Originally, Humble had a checkbox to tick which operating system to be counted for, but that hasn’t been around for some time. I did some test purchases today for researching this and never saw anything like it.
Itch.io (updated)- A statement from their head:
QuoteWe don't have a metric to associated purchases to a platform. But we do monitor what files are downloaded with a purchase so we could calculate what purchases result in Linux downloads.
Games Republic - Their answer to me from last time:
QuoteWe work directly with developers & online retailers like Nexway, which work directly with publishers too. We got that information on our About Us page: https://gamesrepublic.com/service/about-us.html
We sell only legitimate and authorized keys received directly from the publishers
Developers stores
One major way to support developers is to buy directly from their own store or website. Like the Feral store, Aspyr Media store, Virtual Programming store as some examples. That way, you are guaranteed to not only count as a Linux sale, but support developers directly with more of your money (Steam gets no cut then for example).
Final note, please try to remain respectful in the comments. There's no need to be rude or disrespectful to others. Disagreements are fine and part of life, insults and bad attitudes are not needed here.
With thanks to Samsai and Flesk for giving their input on this article. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Hey, buenaventura, you accuse other of trolling, but you didn't do anything else. You are telling everyone that "people should have right to" but you didn't even stopped for a while and told us why should people have right to products of work of other people.
1 Likes, Who?
buenaventura Oct 6, 2016
Quoting: GrimfistAnd a final final note to all people who defend shady deals because you are poor, turn your situation around and start making your own games.
I am! (Trying). I am currently enrolled in this (free) course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-design/ , since I've often started game projects but stopped half way. It is very fun and friendly, and possible to do without committing much real time (I continually think about games anyway, this way it is semi productive).
I do know some programming and I have many ideas, so yeah! I also recommend the Godot game engine as a nice free way to start, it is quite easy to learn and intuitive in its design (check tutorial.
I also express my creativity in music, published under CC0 licenses at my soundcloud (warning, you will hate it), using free sounds found at freesound.org , produced with lmms, with all album/song pictures gotten from pixabay. Under linux obv.
All these tools and stuff, for free? Isn't that a communist utopia? No, it's just the way it is, DEAL WITH IT ;) YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY IS COMING TO GET YOU!
Quoting: ColomboHey, buenaventura, you accuse other of trolling, but you didn't do anything else. You are telling everyone that "people should have right to" but you didn't even stopped for a while and told us why should people have right to products of work of other people.
No, and why should I? I have referred to the universal declaration of human rights, which I suspect many subscribe to (in principle at least). You are clearly trying to steer this into something it is not.
Last edited by buenaventura on 6 October 2016 at 10:19 am UTC
4 Likes, Who?
QuoteIf you’re extremely strapped for cash, rather than go to some dubious key reseller, try to wait out for spring/summer/autumn/winter sales. Most major stores now do massive sales for each season like Steam and GOG do.
Use sites like https://isthereanydeal.com/ to be automatically notified when the game goes on sale (on your preferred store).
0 Likes
I agree to not buy games for prices which are obviously to low, especially if you want to support Linux as a platform.
Technically I find it hard to believe that publishers even make a difference between Windows, Mac and Linux keys, because they work for all platforms the same. Its like selling water in blue and pink bottles for men and women...
Wait.. I am having an idea right now. Lets convince keysellers to sell only Linux keys, even to Windows users...
No really, I think download statistics are far more interesting.
Technically I find it hard to believe that publishers even make a difference between Windows, Mac and Linux keys, because they work for all platforms the same. Its like selling water in blue and pink bottles for men and women...
Wait.. I am having an idea right now. Lets convince keysellers to sell only Linux keys, even to Windows users...
No really, I think download statistics are far more interesting.
0 Likes
Quoting: buenaventuraQuoting: BeamboomQuoting: emphyQuoteyou’re not entitled to anything.
Sorry, but this is extremely offensive. Blocking off people from cultural activities because of their financial situation or location is simply wrong.
Why? It costs 60-80 USD - often more - to go to the most popular concerts today. By far no all can afford that. Is that offensive too? Or the movies. Or theatres. They all cost, and for many it's too much. Is that wrong? Do they have the moral rights to break into these arenas if they can't afford the admission fee?
I could go on. TV channels, streaming services, DVDs, you're not entitled to any of these offerings. But with video games it's different? Get out of here. Real life doesn't work that way.
Why yes, I would say it is quite offensive that we have to pay private entities lots of money for what could/should be seen as common goods, such as culture, especially when there is no scarcity (you can make infinite digital copies of a game). It is strange, that people consider it "just so" that people should be discriminated based on income, yet balk at discriminating them based on skin color or gender.
I guess you have nothing against DRM and such, so why not make technology recognize your income and take a fair share as a price for games/video/whatev. That would be cool.
You're putting quite some effort to justify your illegal copies. I've heard these same arguments for decades (I suppose some time in the 80ies of the last century I might have used them for myself), but for the last 25 years I've bought all my games - and yes, I wasn't "filthy rich" then, as I am not now.
You can surely point out why "not being able to afford computer games" is the pinnacle of discrimination, and why "not being able to afford a spacious apartment" or "only high quality organic food" or "a decent family car" or "a second car since they neighbor has one, too" are not.
1 Likes, Who?
[email protected] Oct 6, 2016
Quoting: emphyQuoteyou’re not entitled to anything.
Sorry, but this is extremely offensive. Blocking off people from cultural activities because of their financial situation or location is simply wrong.
That said, I rather think there's sufficiently convenient alternatives to shady store fronts to make this point moot.
GOG is cool and all. DRM free and all that jazz. But no Galaxy client for Linux. I'd rather have an interface to interact with. So Steam's got my vote atm.
Last edited by [email protected] on 6 October 2016 at 10:48 am UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: buenaventuraNo, and why should I? I have referred to the universal declaration of human rights, which I suspect many subscribe to (in principle at least). You are clearly trying to steer this into something it is not.
WTF? We are talking about "paying for computer games" and you bring in the "declaration of human rights". You are either completely dense or one badass troll.
0 Likes
Quoting: Mountain ManI think the bottom line is that the only way to guarantee it counts as a Linux sale is to buy it through Steam for Linux and only when the Linux version is actually available. Maybe even download and start the game up for a few minutes just to be sure.
In my opinion what the devs want to know is the platforms user base, because this information is relevant for their next games. You will not get good information if you look for confirmed platform sales. Take Arma 3 for example. You cannot buy it as a Linux game, but they clearly don't think the Linux user base for Arma 3 is 0. That goes for a lot of later ported games as well.
The only way to assess the user base (imho) is to refer to download- or even better usage statistics.
What I definitely wouldn't like to see is statistics that show Linux users to be low price hunters... So I agree, a Steam sale can never be wrong.
0 Likes
buenaventura Oct 6, 2016
Quoting: TuxeeYou're putting quite some effort to justify your illegal copies. I've heard these same arguments for decades (I suppose some time in the 80ies of the last century I might have used them for myself), but for the last 25 years I've bought all my games - and yes, I wasn't "filthy rich" then, as I am not now.
You can surely point out why "not being able to afford computer games" is the pinnacle of discrimination, and why "not being able to afford a spacious apartment" or "only high quality organic food" or "a decent family car" or "a second car since they neighbor has one, too" are not.<SNIP>
WTF? We are talking about "paying for computer games" and you bring in the "declaration of human rights". You are either completely dense or one badass troll.
I do not have to justify my purchases, no - and no, we were not talking about "paying for computer games".
1. I critisized Liam for the way he unfairly chided average people for not buying games at full price (when we should since we want to support linux gaming) with the following arguments, roughly:
* One should not moralize, it is if nothing else an ineffective way of supporting linux gaming
* If one needs to moralize, one should be fair (ie. why not also chide rich people for not supporting linux gaming as much as they should considering their income)
* Thinking that people should be able to pay what they can afford for culture is not communism, it is common practice (humble bundle, patreon, libraries, state funds for authors, free education etc.) and it is morally defensible (IMO) for example by relating to the UDHR like:
Quoting: UDHREveryone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration,I bring it in since most people can relate to it, it is a sound basis of argument.
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."(art.2) + "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled
to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in
accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic,
social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development
of his personality." (art. 22) and "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits." (art 27)
The point is, I guess, that it is pointless to chide rich people for not paying more (since they do sometimes already (humble bundle), and since why should one? It will not help, and it is not relevant). Conversely, it is equally (if not more) pointless to chide poor people from not paying premium. What is however useful, is of course to inform people how they should purchase games for maximum benefit to the (linux) game developers.
Edit: It is also difficult (IMO) to morally defend Liam's sentence about this, eg. see UDHR.
Last edited by buenaventura on 6 October 2016 at 11:22 am UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Quote1. I critisized Liam for the way he unfairly chided average people for not buying games at full price (when we should since we want to support linux gaming) with the following arguments, roughly:To make it clear, I am in no way demanding people always pay 100% full price as you are suggesting I am @buenaventura. I've not said that anywhere actually. I've repeatedly talked about waiting for sales rather clearly.
I am suggesting, because that's what all of this is, suggestions, not demands, that people use legitimate websites and not dubious resellers.
1 Likes, Who?
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me