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PayPalBack in August 2018, Valve announced their new Steam Play feature with the Proton software in the Linux Steam client to play Windows-only Steam games on Linux. A little note about what platform is counted for sales.
When we spoke to Valve originally back then (shown in an update to our original article), we asked about how the sales would show up for developers and this was the response:
Hey Liam, the normal algorithm is in effect, so if at the end of the two weeks you have more playtime on Linux, it'll be a Linux sale. Proton counts as Linux.
It seems that there might be some issues where it's not correctly counted, so it shows up as a normal Windows sale as a user noted on Reddit. Since reaching out to Valve, developer Pierre-Loup Griffais has released this quick and simple statement on Twitter for all to read:
That doesn't seem like intended behavior, we'll look into it. At this early stage, the team's focus is still on compatibility and performance, so it might take a little bit.
As with anything new and in constant development there's going to be teething issues. Hopefully this hasn't been too widespread though if true.
Update 19/02/20: I've now had this verified by a developer whose game I purchased on Linux, then played entirely on Linux and I know a few others who did the same and the developer told me all show up as Windows sales.
Update #2: See a clear statement from Valve in this latest article.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
RickAndTired Feb 10, 2020
Last edited by RickAndTired on 10 February 2020 at 11:05 pm UTC
Quoting: PatolaHow do you even know, after having bought a game, if it was counted as a Windows or Linux sale?
You can't know unfortunately. Only the developer will see that data. That's why this was discovered, because the user was friends with the dev and was able to cross-check the data.
I've bought quite some games since the release of Proton to play those games on Linux, and I'd really like the devs to see those numbers. But I probably haven't played them in since I bought them, and iirc the platform you bought the games on counts then.
Quoting: GuestSomeone mentioned in that reddit thread that the "timer" should count down upon first launching the game. Sounds pretty good to me at first glance, not sure of any unintended side-effects of it though. I have a few games that I would use Proton for that I haven't even launched yet after buying, so it's unfortunate that they won't be counted as Linux. :/
I've always had this notion that I had to install the game and run it, even for just a few minutes, to cement the purchase as Linux. Just to be sure. It's likely that the phrasing "the platform with the most game time" made that seed sprout in my mind. Glad it did :)
TheRiddick Feb 11, 2020
Quoting: GuestSomeone mentioned in that reddit thread that the "timer" should count down upon first launching the game. Sounds pretty good to me at first glance, not sure of any unintended side-effects of it though.Valve have to pay publishers/developers their share at some point. With third-party porting, a different platform means a different company to pay those shares to, so they can’t really keep sales in limbo until you run the games. I think that’s where the two-week period comes from.
Cyba.Cowboy Feb 11, 2020
Quoting: RickAndTired"early stage" he says, yet Proton already allows me to play so many great games effortlessly. I can't wait to see where it keeps going.
Any idea when they're going to update the "white list"?
protondb has a pretty long list of my games with a "Gold+" or "Platinum" rating, yet the "white list" for Proton hasn't been updated in quite a while...
LL
smokinglizards Feb 11, 2020
Comandante Ñoñardo Feb 11, 2020
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