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.
Quoting: aldyThanks to Steam play I was able to play Doom 2016, Fallout 4, Skyrim, GTA V, The Witcher 3, etc.
I understand this...
Quoting: aldy2) Companies don't care about people complaining on internet, they just trust on concrete numbers. If they see that their games are selling well on Linux then they'll consider porting games.
... but not this.
We're going in circles, but again:
If releasing for Windows only and losing 1% of customers, it won't hurt me and I wouldn't change anything.
If releasing for Windows only and not losing customers (because I see Linux users buying it nevertheless) - why the hell would I change anything?!?
They're already buying, why invest money?
Nevertheless Jun 29, 2019
Quoting: EikeQuoting: aldyThanks to Steam play I was able to play Doom 2016, Fallout 4, Skyrim, GTA V, The Witcher 3, etc.
I understand this...
Quoting: aldy2) Companies don't care about people complaining on internet, they just trust on concrete numbers. If they see that their games are selling well on Linux then they'll consider porting games.
... but not this.
We're going in circles, but again:
If releasing for Windows only and losing 1% of customers, it won't hurt me and I wouldn't change anything.
If releasing for Windows only and not losing customers (because I see Linux users buying it nevertheless) - why the hell would I change anything?!?
They're already buying, why invest money?
You will know as soon as your game is not Proton compatible and therefore will not sell to Linux users.
Quoting: NeverthelessQuoting: EikeYou will know as soon as your game is not Proton compatible and therefore will not sell to Linux users.Quoting: aldyIf they see that their games are selling well on Linux then they'll consider porting games.They're already buying, why invest money?
So you're with me it's no incentive to port...
(And the incentive to do larger changes, like using Vulkan instead of DirectX, wouldn't be bigger.)
Nevertheless Jun 29, 2019
Quoting: EikeQuoting: NeverthelessQuoting: EikeYou will know as soon as your game is not Proton compatible and therefore will not sell to Linux users.Quoting: aldyIf they see that their games are selling well on Linux then they'll consider porting games.They're already buying, why invest money?
So you're with me it's no incentive to port...
(And the incentive to do larger changes, like using Vulkan instead of DirectX, wouldn't be bigger.)
Yes, I think right now it is no incentive to port to Linux natively, with a big BUT.
I think Proton made a big number of games availlable to play on Linux. It made and will still go on to make large portions of peoples libraries availlable to play on Linux. I think the percentage of new released games playable on Linux is higher than ever. Although the percentage of native releases might/will decrease, and although we will never know if the percentage of native games would have risen significantly without Proton (which I strongly doubt), I really do think Proton is the only hope for a rise in Linux user percentage. This rise should make developers at least look for Proton compatibility, which is achieved by using Vulkan and non Windows exclusive content. That would make native ports much easier, and that might rise the number of native ports and again Linux users in the long run.
It's a hope, yes, but I know of no other mechanism to reach that goal.
Nevertheless Jun 29, 2019
Quoting: Avehicle7887The situation with Wine has always been 2 sided, it is both beneficial and damaging to Linux, which in many cases has been the former. While Steam Play/Wine helps users switch to Linux without sacrificing their favorite games, meanwhile from the devs end, they get to piggyback and profit from a platform they don't support.
In all fairness, I can sympathize with small companies where they lack the resources or the experience for Linux and Wine becomes the better than nothing solution. The large companies on the other hand, they have the funds but don't want to invest in Linux and id Software is a prime example of this.
I think developers tend to be quite pragmatic thinkers. They might not easily understand why someone would demand a native version when there is a Proton version that runs without issues. They may even think it's esoteric or amusing.
Another interesting thing is that some games that have native Linux ports work better when using Proton, especially with a multi-monitor setup... I'm looking at you American Truck Simulator :)
I was a bit skeptical at first but am now convinced that Steam Play is a good thing for Linux gaming.
Quoting: GuestNumbers of Linux gamers or subscribers to whatever website increasing has no effect on Linux games if the demand for Linux games isn't also increasing.I wasn't arguing that it does. But it clearly shows that Valve's involvement with Linux is working to bring users to the platform. And it will only go up when they further polished Proton and Linux desktop and make anticheat work with Proton. Proton is still not complete. But even in it's incomplete state it has persuaded alot people to stay on/switch to Linux. Infact, I might have changed back to Windows if it wasn't for Proton.
If there is one thing I agree with you on, it is that you should ask for Linux port. But you should direct it at developers supporting Stadia and indie devs. Indie devs because their game is easier to port because of scale of the game. Stadia developers because Vulkan is used and Paradox has said there are also other aspects that Stadia shares with Linux. Vulkan and Linux similarity reduces cost for the port. Asking or demanding a port from devs that won't be using Vulkan is futile. They can use the money instead to make a dlc and get more returns from Windows.
Last edited by Linuxwarper on 29 June 2019 at 6:26 pm UTC
Quoting: GuestSo far I'm not seeing an increased in the demand for Linux games, though, when looking at hard evidence and the actual numbers.
https://i.redd.it/ilxuecfkp6731.png
Am I right to assume the release date you're using is the first Steam release? Then I figure the curve looks similar to this for a long time, as we often do not see first day Linux releases...
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