Back 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.
Mohandevir Feb 11, 2020
Quoting: BielFPsQuoting: MohandevirWhat I don't know is if it gets overwritten by your preset, when you activate Proton for all titles...
Once the game is whitelisted with an specific Proton version, it'll default to this specific version unless you change manually thought the options.
Quoting: m-svoNo, it does not. Good point! There are quite a few titles that actually run worse with newer Proton releases, Torchlight from the top of my head.
There's also the other way around, where the newer version runs better than the whitelisted default.
For example I did a request for an update to a whitelisted game, where once was because the new release fixed some audio glitches, but now you must change due to a recent update with the game.
So a game being whitelisted doesn't necessary mean that it'll run better/for ever except the game and your system remains the same.
Never said that the whitelist is perfect. It feels like they tried to do something at the start but priorities must have shifted during Proton development and, now, it looks like it was "put on the backburner". This said, in a perfect scenario, there would be a team maintaining the Whitelist. ProntoDB could be a good start to determine which games should be tested for whitelisting, but it's a huge task. Who knows, Valve might come back to it, at some point.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 11 February 2020 at 7:17 pm UTC
Quoting: EikeWhat people need to take into account
What does that actually mean, counting as Linux sale (if it works, that is). You'll be part of a pie chart that shows that you're a Linux customer, ok. I know some play games ported to Linux on Proton for different reasons, I'm not talking about those. But for games not ported, the developers and publishers will see: "Hey, we're selling to Linux players without even porting the game to Linux! So we're not even losing all those 1% of customers by not porting, some are buying nevertheless!"
Guess how this continues:
[ ] "Let's port to Linux to not lose the chance of way less than 1 percent of people buying our game."
[ ] "We don't need to port to Linux, they are buying our game nevertheless. And we don't need to support the people buying for Proton, we never promised them anything."
one year later:
[ ] "Wow, already 3% on Linux, may be we should ensure that our game updates at least didn't break it for them."
[ ] "Wow, already 3% on Linux, may be we should consider these 3% for our future games and not use any weird stuff that is known to break on Linux/Proton."
two years later:
[ ] "Wow, already 4% on Linux, may be we should get familiar with that platform and don't consider Linux users second class anymore. Who know's what's in it in the future."
five years later:
...
Last edited by jens on 11 February 2020 at 6:55 pm UTC
Quoting: jensone year later:
Trouble is, it already is one year later and our percentage didn't budge.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: jensone year later:
Trouble is, it already is one year later and our percentage didn't budge.
I admit, I could be wrong by a few years ;). Though I honestly think this is our best bet to break the current chicken and egg situation.
At certain percentage reluctant developers will be forced by marketshare to consider Linux whether they like it or not.
Last edited by Linuxwarper on 11 February 2020 at 8:07 pm UTC
Comandante Ñoñardo Feb 11, 2020
I played it today for the first time...
Is it counted as Linux sale?
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoIn February 3rd I purchased A Plague Tale: Innocence for one of my accounts..Isn't the limit two weeks? So I'd figure yes.
I played it today for the first time...
Is it counted as Linux sale?
Quoting: jensI admit, I could be wrong by a few years ;). Though I honestly think this is our best bet to break the current chicken and egg situation.
Unfortunately, I don't have a better one.
I just fear neither "No Tux, no bux" nor Proton worked out or will work out.
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