Valve have put out a news post to highlight some of the top games put onto Steam in May and it's another reminder of why Steam Play is needed.
In this blog post they start by listing 20 games that had the top revenue earned in the first two weeks following their release. Without looking, take a guess at the number of games in that list that actually support Linux.
Did you take a guess? The answer is a rather sobering two: Rise of Industry and Total War: THREE KINGDOMS. What happens to that number if we include those that can be run with Steam Play, with a "Platinum" rating from user reports on ProtonDB? That brings it right up to nine, which is far more impressive. It would be even higher, if Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye worked with Steam Play and since both said they're working on it (Sources: EAC - BattlEye), things can only get better.
They also went over the top five free games, measured by peak player count within the first two weeks following release: Conqueror's Blade, Splitgate: Arena Warfare, Minion Masters, Eden Rising and Never Split the Party. Of those, only one supports Linux which is Never Split the Party. If we take "Platinum" Steam Play games again, that only rises to two.
Note: The top free games list has two entries that also appear in the top revenue list.
Without popular games, Linux gaming won't grow to a point where it will be noticeable. Once again, this is a big reason why Steam Play is going to help in the long run. First we get games, then we get players, then we hopefully get developers wanting control with their own supported Linux builds.
What's interesting though, is this only takes into account the first two weeks in both cases. Taking a look myself a bit closer, out of the top 20 games most played on Steam right now (players online) only one of those games Valve listed in the blog post actually make it at all, which is Total War: THREE KINGDOMS and that does support Linux. Going even further, out of the top 100 games on Steam for player count, from Valve's list, only currently Total War: THREE KINGDOMS shows up.
As a quick additional and interesting measure for June: Looking at the top 20 by player count right now, how many in total support Linux? A much healthier 10, so half which isn't so bad. Stretching it out even more, from the top 100 by player count, 43 of them support Linux.
So while we don't get the "latest and greatest" games, keep in mind that we do have a lot of games that stay popular supported on Linux, so there's at least a silver lining of sorts there.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
QuoteWithout popular games, Linux gaming won't grow to a point where it will be noticeable. Once again, this is a big reason why Steam Play is going to help in the long run. First we get games, then we get players, then we hopefully get developers wanting control with their own supported Linux builds.
Thank you, these are exactly my thoughts on how to break the chicken and egg issue we have with our tiny market share. And unfortunately I don't see much alternatives.
Last edited by jens on 28 June 2019 at 3:42 pm UTC
Sir_Diealot Jun 28, 2019
Quoting: Sir_DiealotOr there are fewer games for Linux released now that SteamPlay is around. Who can say with certainty? Historical data and statistics probably can. Who is going to dig in?Well, out of the developers in that Valve post, 4/20 previously did a Linux game. Goes up to 5 if you count Avalanche Studios, with Mad Max ported externally by Feral.
Anders1232 Jun 28, 2019
Quoting: GuestQuoting: GuestQuoting: GuestI've said it before and I will say it again, "no tux no bucks" does more harm than good and this shows why
No Tux No Bux is exactly what we need more of so that we get more Linux support. We want to be Linux gamers and help the Linux support ecosystem, not Windows gamers helping the Windows support ecosystem.
The cold hard truth is that devs will not support linux until the market grows. You think they support Windows because they like Windows? Nope, they support it because that is where the users are. Devs won't develop for linux because there are not enough users, users will not move to linux because that is not where the games they want to play are. Emulation and compatibility layers were always the best hope for linux gaming
To be fair, with Steam Play Linux gets visibility because a Steam Play purchase counts as Linux. This is not the case with other ways of playing non-Linux games on Linux.
Knowing that developers and publishers know that I spend my money for Linux is quite important for me.
Last edited by jens on 28 June 2019 at 4:16 pm UTC
Quoting: Sir_DiealotOr there are fewer games for Linux released now that SteamPlay is around. Who can say with certainty? Historical data and statistics probably can. Who is going to dig in?Still seems too early for statistics to draw meaningful conclusions for something so vague and far-reaching. Game development takes years and most/many devs will need to see the effects of Proton before they start changing their behaviour based on it. In my opinion.
rage 2 had a lot of borked at the beginning, but after a few hours valve fixed it and now it would be platinum
layers of fear 2 has silver, but the only thing you need to do is "-onethread" in launch options and videos dont work
Quoting: GuestNo, the cold hard truth is supply and demand, which means Linux support depends on gamers demanding it...
Your are correct that demand and supply are the rules, but please realize that there is nearly no demand for Linux games due to nearly nobody uses Linux on the Desktop compared to other Desktop OS's. You need the users first to built up demand.
Last edited by jens on 28 June 2019 at 4:30 pm UTC
Quoting: GuestQuoting: jensQuoting: GuestQuoting: GuestQuoting: GuestI've said it before and I will say it again, "no tux no bucks" does more harm than good and this shows why
No Tux No Bux is exactly what we need more of so that we get more Linux support. We want to be Linux gamers and help the Linux support ecosystem, not Windows gamers helping the Windows support ecosystem.
The cold hard truth is that devs will not support linux until the market grows. You think they support Windows because they like Windows? Nope, they support it because that is where the users are. Devs won't develop for linux because there are not enough users, users will not move to linux because that is not where the games they want to play are. Emulation and compatibility layers were always the best hope for linux gaming
To be fair, with Steam Play Linux gets visibility because a Steam Play purchase counts as Linux. This is not the case with other ways of playing non-Linux games on Linux.
Knowing that developers and publishers know that I spend my money for Linux is quite important for me.
The fact that Steam Play sales do count as linux sales is why I count Steam Play under the overall banner of "linux gaming" or, since it is where we are, "gaming on linux"
Yes, same thoughts here.
Quoting: mylkajust take platinum is wrong"Wrong" being simply your opinion, I chose to use Platinum as the safest possible bet for statistical purposes only.
rage 2 had a lot of borked at the beginning, but after a few hours valve fixed it and now it would be platinum
layers of fear 2 has silver, but the only thing you need to do is "-onethread" in launch options and videos dont work
Oh, "and videos dont work" - yeah, that's not exactly the experience people are after is it. If something doesn't work, it's another nail in the coffin for people sticking around. Think it through a little.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 28 June 2019 at 6:02 pm UTC
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