It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, but here’s part 5 in the series of me talking to developers about how their games have been selling on Linux.
If you missed the previous articles: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.
Beamdog
For those who don’t recognise the name, Beamdog are the people behind revamps of classic RPG titles like Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.
They gave some details about how Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition sold on Steam:
- 91.74% - Windows
- 6.22% - Mac
- 2.04% - Linux
Additionally, they also gave details about install numbers from their own Beamdog client:
- 91.13% - Windows
- 6.38% - Mac
- 2.49% - Linux
Here’s what Beamdog CTO, Scott Brooks had to say about Linux support:
QuoteWe really think the Infinity Engine games are something special and work hard to bring them to people that might not otherwise be able to play them. We've worked with professional and volunteer translators to help bring Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition to 14 languages, and we add things like Story Mode to help people who otherwise would have a hard time playing these great games. We've ported an engine that was originally built in the 16bit to 32bit transition to 64bit in order to let people continue enjoying these games. There are people on Linux that would love to play our games specifically on Linux, and we would love to let them.
Also, if you missed it I did an interview with Beamdog before, you can see that here.
MidBoss
MidBoss, the roguelike where you possess the bodies of your enemies released with Day-1 Linux support back in May. Here’s the figures their developer gave:
- 93.4 - Windows
- 4.7% - Mac
- 1.9% - Linux
Here’s what the developer of MidBoss had to say about supporting Linux now and in future:
QuoteI feel pretty good about supporting both platforms in MidBoss, particularly since Ethan Lee who made FNA did the ports and it wasn't too expensive. Without him they probably wouldn't have happened.
In the future I'll be using a new, completely custom framework that can create .NET executables as well as JavaScript/WebGL builds from a single C# codebase. We're planning to initially use the web builds with Electron to keep supporting Mac and Linux. This should perform just fine for smaller games such as Ultra Hat Dimension which is probably coming out on Steam in early 2018.
When we do wind up doing a bigger more demanding game again (MidBoss 2? Who knows!) I'll investigate getting the .NET versions working on Mac and Linux too. The .NET side uses OpenTK/OpenGL so it shouldn't be that difficult, hopefully, we just don't have the time/resources right now to go into it.
Milkstone Studios
To my surprise, Milkstone Studios were very open and sent over details about multiple titles!
White Noise 2
- 95.31% - Windows
- 4.06% - OSX
- 0.64% - Linux
Only Linux details given for these:
- Little Racers Street: 12.05%
- Pharaonic: 4.59%
- Ziggurat: 2.19%
- White Noise Online: 0.96%
It’s worth noting, that just before the release of Little Racers Street, I did an interview with Milkstone Studios about the title. That may have helped towards the rather high Linux percentage there.
Here’s what they said about continuing to support Linux:
Milkstone StudiosSeeing these numbers, look like Linux players are more used to single player experiences, so that might be the reason.
We support Linux on a pretty basic level (we're not Linux users ourselves, so we have limited experience with it). Linux support takes up lots of support time (I'd say around 20-25% of our support time is dedicated to addressing Linux issues), and it's hard to justify dedicating our time to this platform if sales for it are low. However, Unity allows for easy generation of Linux builds, and most of the work required for a proper port was done with Ziggurat, so for now we'll continue releasing games with Linux support, and trying to solve issues to the best of our knowledge.
While they weren’t able to give any specific details, I did speak to two of the bigger porters Feral Interactive and Aspyr Media.
Here’s what Feral Interactive had to say:
QuoteThe Linux market remains small in comparison to Mac, and tiny compared to Windows. Three years of bringing AAA games to Linux has taught us a lot about what works in sales terms, and what works less well. Although we had hoped that the Steam Machine would gain more traction, we have been pleasantly surprised by the Linux sales achieved on distros other than SteamOS, and continually encouraged by the passionate (and vocal!) audience of Linux gamers. However, we are disappointed by the promotion of piracy by some, which does disproportionate damage to the economics of bringing games to an already small platform.
Take a look at what Aspyr Media said:
QuoteOur Linux business continues to be an important part of our strategy going forward. We consider Linux a viable platform, and continue to make it a target goal of any deal we strike.
I did reach out to Virtual Programming, but they were extremely busy and didn't have time.
I would like to thank everyone who got back to me. Sadly some didn’t reply, but given how busy developers are actually making games, it’s all good!
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: manus76Imagine the following for the sake of argument: Apple supports Vulkan and all of MacOS games suddenly appear on linux. How many games would that be? 100? 1000? 2000? What kind of impact would it have on linux gaming?
Positive, instead of negative.
Quoting: manus76That is my question: does this warrant all of this bashing and bitching about a company driven by profit?Profit is no justification for crooked behavior like lock-in.
Quoting: manus76I realise from linux gamers' perspective lock-in is not a great idea,
It's not limited to affecting Linux specifically. Lock-in is bad in general. It's an anti-competitive / monopolistic practice, which harms progress.
Last edited by Shmerl on 4 August 2017 at 5:10 am UTC
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I guess that's where we disagree on a deeper level: Apple (and other companies) don't have the luxury linux has. Linux doesn't have shareholders and doesn't have to produce quarterly figures, Apple does. From their perspective they are doing everything right, and whether we like it or not it is all driven by profit and greed. Not an ideal situation but no other system has been shown to work as effectively as this one.
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Quoting: manus76I guess that's where we disagree on a deeper level: Apple (and other companies) don't have the luxury linux has. Linux doesn't have shareholders and doesn't have to produce quarterly figures, Apple does. From their perspective they are doing everything right, and whether we like it or not it is all driven by profit and greed.
Yes, we disagree. Lock-in is not right, and what Apple is doing is crooked. Lock-in means they don't compete on merit, but use anti-competitive methods to advance their interests. It's one of the monopolistic practices (among many others). I don't think we need to spend time here explaining why monopolies are bad from a lot of different perspectives. If anyone, Linux users should know better.
Last edited by Shmerl on 4 August 2017 at 5:44 am UTC
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Just to pitch in here too - when I bash on companies like Apple, I don't do so because I'm bitter that if only they changed their practices, Linux use would "explode overnight". I do it because they deserve it. Anti-competitive behaviour should be called out when you see it, not justified as a Shareholder strategy. Infuriating.
And to clarify, I doubt Linux use is ever going to "explode". There won't be a discernible "year of the Linux desktop". The move to Linux is subtle, in stages, for most people. And that implies slow, organic growth over decades.
And to clarify, I doubt Linux use is ever going to "explode". There won't be a discernible "year of the Linux desktop". The move to Linux is subtle, in stages, for most people. And that implies slow, organic growth over decades.
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Quoting: ShmerlYes, we disagree. Lock-in is not right, and what Apple is doing is crooked. Lock-in means they don't compete on merit, but use anti-competitive methods to advance their interests. It's one of the monopolistic practices (among many others). I don't think we need to spend time here explaining why monopolies are bad from a lot of different perspectives. If anyone, Linux users should know better.
Apple is not a monopolist in any market, unlike Microsoft and Google. They hold 6–7 % of the desktop and around 30 % of the mobile market, which is significant, but not threatening to other players.
What you don't get is that they are not comparable to self-proclaimed 'open platform holders' like Microsoft or Canonical. It's not Apple's intention to please you or the whole market. They're not a charity. Apple builds products for their own ecosystem: All-in-one systems, hard and software combined, be it an Apple Watch, iPhone or iMac.
They don't license out their OS, no other vendors need to support their stuff, no one is forced to follow their steps. If you want to spend some quality time in their sandbox, play by their rules. If not, move on, there are many other options: Android, ChromeOS, Windows, Linux, etc.
It's Apple's core concept to control everything within their ecosystem (or walled garden, if you prefer that term) to deliver a smooth user experience and sell them more devices and services tied to their Apple IDs. Amazon is another company like them, Sony and Nintendo are comparable in certain areas.
A Mac per se is not a build-your-own system PC -- it is a 'console-like' device for consumers and creative professionals: Pre-configured, all in one, plug and play. It just works. That's what Apple sells. They are the opposite pole of the Linux community, Microsoft is somewhere in the middle.
If you realise and accept that 'convenience' companies like Apple have a right to exist, you can stop your crusade and focus your energy on solutions how we as a community and educated consumers can make Linux more successful, which will ultimately benefit the whole tech market.
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ShoNuff!!! Aug 4, 2017
The games Beamdog, Midboss, and Milestone used to show sales statistics are primarily games the larger percentage of people don't want... except for those on the fringe who may actually like low budget indie games (not argueing the entertainment value for the few).
I would much rather see statistics on some AAA games from Feral. Please don't act like you don't know what an AAA game title means. Provide some statistics on games like Hitman, Mad max, Deus Ex:MD, Dying Light, Tomb Raider, Dota2, Metro last Light, CS:GO, XCOM:EU, Civ6, etc. (some more recent titles and games people actually play!)
Hopefully implementation of Vulkan will change things as far as porting is concerned; however, until that happens I recommend supporting WINE development team (who are doing an outstanding job) and stop the 'no tux no bucks' crap.... but hey, to each their own. I just want to play AAA games... don't care how as long as I don't have to dual boot.
Last edited by ShoNuff!!! on 4 August 2017 at 1:38 pm UTC
I would much rather see statistics on some AAA games from Feral. Please don't act like you don't know what an AAA game title means. Provide some statistics on games like Hitman, Mad max, Deus Ex:MD, Dying Light, Tomb Raider, Dota2, Metro last Light, CS:GO, XCOM:EU, Civ6, etc. (some more recent titles and games people actually play!)
Hopefully implementation of Vulkan will change things as far as porting is concerned; however, until that happens I recommend supporting WINE development team (who are doing an outstanding job) and stop the 'no tux no bucks' crap.... but hey, to each their own. I just want to play AAA games... don't care how as long as I don't have to dual boot.
Last edited by ShoNuff!!! on 4 August 2017 at 1:38 pm UTC
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Quoting: slaapliedjeHas anyone done a side by side comparison of graphics for a PC vs Mac to see if they 'console-ize' Mac versions? I know I tried playing Total War: Attila on my Mac and the fan went crazy, the frame rate was barely more than a slide show, and I thought it was going to melt. I just figured the Intel chipset in it couldn't handle it, but it did make me wonder what kind of person uses solely a Mac for gaming? I'm really curious how their numbers are higher than ours, unless it is some sort of 'inside job'.
There has always been a group of dedicated Mac gaming enthusiasts -- just visit insidemacgames.com and learn more about the topic. Most 'hardcore' Mac gamers used to buy the old-school expandable Mac Pro (which still supports the latest Kepler GPUs) or the high-end iMac, which usually has a decent graphics card (the Nvidia 680MX in the 2012 model was the fastest mobile GPU available back then).
Most Mac users nowadays run a MacBook (Pro). Thanks to official eGPU support (Apple offers a dev kit with an AMD RX580) this won't be a bottleneck in the foreseeable future. My own experiences with unofficially supported eGPUs on the Mac have been mixed. It worked after some Terminal hacks, but the official solution should be stable.
If you ask me to portray an average Mac gaming enthusiast? Creative professional (designer, audio/video editor, etc.), scientist or student who needs a reliable working machine with little to no support costs, well designed (both OS and device), standard software support and likes to play games in his/her spare time. All on one box. Some dual-boot with Windows (Boot Camp), but the majority doesn't. Only half of them use Steam, the remaining 50 % buy their games off of the Mac App Store (according to Feral's numbers).
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Quoting: JanApple is not a monopolist in any market, unlike Microsoft and Google.
That doesn't justify anti-competitive behavior in any way. Such examples as ban to competing browsers on iOS are simply disgusting. I agree with others that it's better to focus on positive stuff instead of bashing Apple the the like, but I don't agree with whitewashing of crooked behavior.
Quoting: JanIt's Apple's core concept to control everything within their ecosystem (or walled garden, if you prefer that term) to deliver a smooth user experience and sell them more devices and services tied to their Apple IDs. Amazon is another company like them, Sony and Nintendo are comparable in certain areas.
Those are all counter examples. I.e. they just highlight how bad lock-in is. Out of those, Nintendo notably started using Vulkan, but overall they have a very bad reputation when it comes to how they use DRM and treat their own users.
Last edited by Shmerl on 4 August 2017 at 3:34 pm UTC
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QuoteHowever, we are disappointed by the promotion of piracy by some
I have not seen that anywhere, would be interesting to see where they stumbled across this.
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Quoting: GuestQuoting: STiATQuoteHowever, we are disappointed by the promotion of piracy by some
I have not seen that anywhere, would be interesting to see where they stumbled across this.
I have seen it justified plenty of times on Reddit
Yeah not just reddit some have suggested it to get around steam/ ea origin et. But it is important to pay for games on linux we need to show there is a market, we really do not want to scare off the publishers we do have.
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