Sure, they always mattered. They perform better than emulated or translated (Wine) games. So those who care about performance appreciate this. And performance was kind of always important for games, especially the more complex they got.

Last edited by Shmerl on 9 August 2021 at 10:32 pm UTC

Not nearly as much as source available games. If the project cannot be compiled by parties other than the author, it will always remain beholden to special interests.

My games are not very complex but at least they're fully tested and working properly on Linux.

I prefer to have a well-made native Linux version.

The problem is, many native games are poorly-made and offer a worse experience (eg have worse performance) than playing them with a compatibility layer.

So it depends on which case is it with your games.

I'd rather play a native game. If you are developing and testing the linux build all along I think that helps the stability of the game. Errors that work fine in one OS tend to be exposed when working on multiple OSes. However this is time consuming. Economically it might be cheaper to just rely on wine.

For me it's a priority thing. Native takes precedence over non-native. Practically that means I will mostly buy and play native games first. Native games may get bought even though I might not have time to play it immediately (or at all). Practically that means that non-native never happens because I never have time for them or they get picked up from the bargain bin.

Quoting: goob256My games are not very complex but at least they're fully tested and working properly on Linux.

This is the important bit. There are native games where the devs don't bother to test or bugfix; there are non-native games where the devs actually do test in Proton and fix any issues. Announcing right on the store page, by making a native version, your support of your Linux customers is indicative that you actually plan to really support your customers on Linux (and vice versa not showing your support is indicative that you aren't giving any support), but sadly it's not a guarantee.

They matter to me. I'm far more willing to buy a native game than a Windows game and am willing to pay more for it. To me the fact that the develoepr took time and effort to make a native Linux game and also support it means they are more deserving of my money than those who did not.

Quoting: goob256I make native Linux games but does anybody care about these anymore? Thanks.

My first thought...No. If a developer is going to claim that it can run on Linux (native or otherwise), then they should make effort to ensure it does (native or otherwise).I have no issue with how it is implemented (native, port, wine, etc)

My second thought... Yes. If there's no claim of Linux support, I'm not going to buy it because I don't know if it'll run my computer. Yes, I have exceptions, but generally, I'm not going to take that risk with my money when there are so many good, supported games to play.

I forgot to ask before, what Linux games have you made ?