I would love to have Feral release DRM free versions but I still feel that supporting them is the right way to go as they release the bulk of AAA games onto Linux. If I want to play AAA games on Linux my main options are through Steam or buying Windows versions from GOG/Itch.io and using Wine. With those options I feel supporting DRM native versions is better for the platform as a whole. Until AAA studios start making their own Linux ports this will continue to be an issue. Luckily indie game developers give me lots of DRM free games to play so overall it's not like I am without games to play. I'll continue to email Feral every time a games goes DRM free without their LInux version in hopes one day they do the right thing.

Last edited by PublicNuisance on 6 June 2020 at 5:26 am UTC

I don't think Feral's business model is sustainable in the long run. More and more studios are making Linux games in-house. That also coincidentally makes it easier to release them on GOG.

They should simply restructure to making their own games.

Last edited by Shmerl on 7 June 2020 at 3:06 am UTC

Quoting: ShmerlMore and more studios are making Linux games in-house.

It doesn't seem to me that there are more big Linux games than before. What was the last AAA game with a Linux version? Even indie games prefer to rely on Proton.

Studios that release for Stadia have Linux developers in-house now. So if they ever want to release for normal Linux, they won't need external porting.

IF. But will it ever happen? I'm quite pessimistic about that. Feral have made many Linux ports exclusively for Steam despite it would've been easy to sell them on GOG as well. The same with Stadia ports. They do exist, but it doesn't mean they will ever be available outside of Stadia servers.

My point is, whether it will happen doesn't depend on Feral. Those who want to do it, will do it, Feral or not. Before they needed external porters like Feral, but now they can do it in-house. To sum it up - demand for external porting will simply decline.

Last edited by Shmerl on 7 June 2020 at 4:16 am UTC

Quoting: ShmerlI don't think Feral's business model is sustainable in the long run. More and more studios are making Linux games in-house. That also coincidentally makes it easier to release them on GOG.

They should simply restructure to making their own games.

More and more indie studios maybe but not more and more AAA studios. I have little faith or optimism that developers making games for Stadia will make native Linux versions. I will be happy to be wrong but time will tell.

Yeah, Feral are in a difficult place with having to pester developers into making Linux ports on the one side and the effectiveness of Proton on the other.

Maybe they could sustain themselves mainly with their console ports and release Linux versions where they can get the developers to agree to it. I recall that some of their Linux people left, though.

The thing that you wouldn't know if you don't buy Feral games is that it's not the ports themselves that are the big draw - although they're good - it's the support. You can compare Aspyr's not being bothered to make Borderlands 2 work (or Rocket League, for an "in-house" example) with Feral's creation of game mode, or the "Fixed graphical corruption in Vulkan game F1 2017" line in the changelog for Nvidia's driver that happened because Feral made it happen.

They're still of value to us, and they're still of value to developers, even in a post-Proton post-Stadia world. It would be a real shame if there's not enough business to sustain them making Linux ports.

Last edited by CatKiller on 7 June 2020 at 5:38 am UTC

Quoting: PublicNuisanceMore and more indie studios maybe but not more and more AAA studios.

Stadia happened, so that includes what you call "AAA" studios (I dislike that term though, it's pretty useless).

Last edited by Shmerl on 7 June 2020 at 5:54 am UTC

No one's going to flock to sell on GOG. If the devs have a firm anti-DRM stance then they're on there already, and absent that GOG is just a tiny store with limited reach and bad tooling.