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Latest 30 Comments

News - UK lawsuit against Valve given the go-ahead, Steam owner facing up to £656 million in damages
By TheSHEEEP, 28 Jan 2026 at 8:20 am UTC

Quoting: CaldathrasSpeaking from long experience in the retail industry, 30% is pretty much standard fair unless you are targeting wholesale business levels (mega corps with big box storefronts like Walmart, Home Depot, Office Depot, Best Buy, etc.). Computer hardware and livestock feed are two areas that I am aware of that operate on wholesale pricing margins. As such, I have absolutely no objections to Valve's commission structure and see no reason why they should be expected to target wholesale margins like the big box mega corps.
There is no argument anywhere that this isn't standard.

The argument is that the standard is simply way too high, filling coffers drastically more for the one taking the cut.
As someone who has worked with online infrastructures for ages, there is no calculation that even remotely ends in the 30% range of cost coverage.
Much more realistic is somewhere between 12-20% - and that doesn't even take into account all the services Valve charges for with that cut, WHICH AREN'T EVEN USED BY THE MAJORITY OF DEVS.
There is also size - a 2GB game quite frankly should get a (marginally, as one factor of many) lower cut than a 200GB one. Yet that doesn't happen.
Etc.
The whole system is full of logic holes like that. It is equal for all, but somewhat paradoxically, that does not make it fair.

I do not believe physical stores are a good comparison to digital ones. Digital infrastructure is much, much, much, much cheaper.
Although, hey, with the current pricing spikes and shortages, who knows, maybe we'll actually end up with 30% becoming reasonable.
I sure hope not...

News - The popular Arch-based distro CachyOS gets a new release with a significantly reworked installer
By scaine, 28 Jan 2026 at 8:19 am UTC

Nope, no breaks so far. It did happen previously, when I was originally on Endeavour a couple of years back. Then I switched to Siduction for a couple of years. Just recently back on Arch, this time via CachyOS and it's been a great experience.

News - UK lawsuit against Valve given the go-ahead, Steam owner facing up to £656 million in damages
By Gerarderloper, 28 Jan 2026 at 8:19 am UTC

China's CCP with UK overtones. That's what this all is becoming.

News - Stop Killing Games final verified vote count for the EU petition is just under 1.3 million
By TheSHEEEP, 28 Jan 2026 at 8:12 am UTC

Quoting: Mountain ManFrankly, I have no time or patience for people who dismiss an opposing opinion as "drinking the cool-aid".
That is okay, not everyone can deal with honesty and rather just goes "lalala I can't hear you" when being called out on how wrong they are.

Let's be honest here, you aren't engaging with any arguments because you know you've already lost them, and the cool-aid snip gave you a good exit strategy.

Quoting: CaldathrasIt means blindly accepting direction and/or the status quo without giving it any consideration of your own. From what I've read, this does not seem to apply to you.
Oh, but it does.
Everyone who would actually give these things consideration would realize that the publisher's talking points are entirely wrong, with no basis in reality - because they are almost entirely strawmen.
Opinions are not equal - they can be right, and they can be wrong, and they can be in-between.

At least if they are capable of reason, and I very much believe Mountain Man is, he just doesn't want to admit how wrong he is here.

He might still be very right regarding the outcome, though.
It all depends on how well the initiative can prepare for and counter these strawmen in actual parliament.
This is somewhat out of non-European hands, but once the process for that opens and there are some centralized calls to action, I very much intend to contact whatever MPs would be "responsible for me" about this.

News - The modular Linux handheld Mecha Comet is up on Kickstarter
By Gerarderloper, 28 Jan 2026 at 8:09 am UTC

No info on the sort of Graphics chipset? Obviously its integrated into the CPU package.

News - The popular Arch-based distro CachyOS gets a new release with a significantly reworked installer
By Brokatt, 28 Jan 2026 at 7:24 am UTC

Quoting: scaineI suppose the performance thing is cool, but the bit of CachyOS I love is that it integrates snapper into grub seamlessly, so if you break your system (say, an aberrant Arch update), you just reboot into an earlier snapshot and you've learned your lesson. Takes all the pressure off the fact it's Arch. Or being an idiot like me and constantly experimenting with stuff and breaking things.

I'd like them to include ChaoticAUR by default, like Garuda does, but it's straightforward enough to add manually. If you haven't used ChaoticAUR before, it's a precompiled version of the AUR - very fast, because it acts like any other Arch source. No waiting around for AUR compiles.

My next challenge with CachyOS is integrating the boot with TPM, so I don't have to manually unlock my disks at startup. If that's successful, I don't think I'll be distro-hopping for a long, long time.
Have you actually managed to break it yet? I haven't which is a first for me :) Alot of people talk about how Arch updates break their systems but I update all the time with zero issues. Although I haven't used ChaoticAUR yet so that maybe a factor? it's a nice feeling having snapper setup for you as a sdafety net thoguh.

Quoting: scaine
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: Curupira
a significantly reworked installer, which also now includes bootloader selection

I can vouch that CachyOS installer included a bootloader selection screen since I've first tried it (more than a year ago). Maybe even earlier. :)
I'm not too clued up on it, but it seems it was done differently before. Direct from their blog post "bootloader selection has been moved directly into the installer".
Yeah, it's weird. When I fist installed this, about 8 months back, it asks if you want Grub, SystemD-boot or a couple of others. So it's technically been there for a while. I wonder how it's changed that warrants that update message?
It does but it looks different now. Also before I think SystemD-boot was pre-selected but now Limine is the new default. It's a great bootloader and I haven't had any issues at all.

News - The free and open source Godot Engine 4.6 is out now with major upgrades
By Phlebiac, 28 Jan 2026 at 6:58 am UTC

Quoting: PyreticUnfortunately, NVIDIA's and AMD's Vulkan drivers on Windows is such a goddamn mess
There's quite a history of poor OpenGL support from smaller GPU vendors (most of whom went out of business), and AMD has always had rather lackluster drivers (it's so much better having Red Hat, Valve, Google, and so on, doing the Linux drivers - if you've been around long enough to remember fglrx, you know how much better it is now). But as far as I know, iD did quite well making Windows games that used OpenGL and Vulkan... they were probably the largest, but certainly not the only ones?

Rather than the drivers being "a goddamn mess", I suspect a lot of it is the game engines being the problem. Godot shouldn't have that problem, but I have no idea what issues people ran into (maybe Intel and AMD Windows driver bugs?).

News - Stop Killing Games final verified vote count for the EU petition is just under 1.3 million
By Phlebiac, 28 Jan 2026 at 6:47 am UTC

Quoting: Mountain Manany product that depends on servers will be required to carry a prominent disclaimer that necessary online services could be discontinued at any time without warning.
I suppose even that would be an improvement, for games where it is not obvious. Far short of the intent behind the campaign, but sidesteps the appearance of deceit (you bought it with knowledge that we could screw you over at any time). I'm sure there's limitations of liability involved there - i.e. stop selling the game x months prior to final shut off.

News - Banjo-Kazooie gets a native PC port with Linux / Steam Deck support
By Phlebiac, 28 Jan 2026 at 6:31 am UTC

Quoting: Phlebiac(BanjoRecompiled:22645): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: 22:01:17.745: g_object_unref: assertion 'G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed
Then getting a SIGSEGV and crashing out
The flatpak version doesn't crash out, but tells me my ROM is the wrong version. Guess I can't win. :)

News - Banjo-Kazooie gets a native PC port with Linux / Steam Deck support
By Phlebiac, 28 Jan 2026 at 6:16 am UTC

Quoting: Eike
Quoting: PhlebiacBoth this and Zelda64 crash out when I select the "Load ROM" menu option. I'm guessing it's supposed to show a file picker?
If you want to deep dive, strace would probably tell you what they're trying to load there.
Good call, but I'm not sure it tells me much: it looks like it's reading every file under /usr/share/applications (*.desktop files), then looking in /usr/share/cloud-providers (doesn't exist), then getting the pid and reading /etc/localtime to dump out this error message:
(BanjoRecompiled:22645): GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: 22:01:17.745: g_object_unref: assertion 'G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed

Then getting a SIGSEGV and crashing out:

ioctl(2, TCGETS, {c_iflag=ICRNL|IXON|IUTF8, c_oflag=NL0|CR0|TAB0|BS0|VT0|FF0|OPOST|ONLCR, c_cflag=B38400|CS8|CREAD, c_lflag=ISIG|ICANON|ECHO|ECHOE|ECHOK|IEXTEN|ECHOCTL|ECHOKE, ...}) = 0
getpid() = 22645
newfstatat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/localtime", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=2852, ...}, 0) = 0
write(2, "\n(BanjoRecompiled:22645): GLib-G"..., 128) = 128
write(2, "ject)' failed\n", 14) = 14
--- SIGSEGV {si_signo=SIGSEGV, si_code=SEGV_MAPERR, si_addr=0x18} ---
+++ killed by SIGSEGV (core dumped) +++

Tried Zelda64, and that one worked today. Brought up the file picker, I selected the ROM, and it all works now, even though it was failing the same as Banjo before...

News - The modular Linux handheld Mecha Comet is up on Kickstarter
By PaldinoX, 28 Jan 2026 at 4:53 am UTC

Quoting: The_Real_BittermanFedora based ... no thanks
Whats wrong with Fedora?

News - UK lawsuit against Valve given the go-ahead, Steam owner facing up to £656 million in damages
By 0ttman, 28 Jan 2026 at 3:32 am UTC

Quoting: drenThe amount of corporate bootlicking happening here is crazy. We are talking about a company that effectively has a monopoly on game sales, that promotes a skin gambling ecosystem that is available to minors ("loot boxes"), that for years resisted giving refunds, whos subscriber agreement attempts to prevent class action lawsuits, and who tried to monetize community made mods. Let's also not forget how shitty it was to force users onto a game, CS2, and mothball the better version, CSGO, who can't count to three (ignoring rumors), etc. As a linux gamer, I appreciate that they have made gaming on linux better, but lets not pretend that they aren't interested in getting people onto their own OS, SteamOS, so they can again increase their own margins via hardware and licensing. I think it is best to keep these corporations at an arms length at best. I love GOG because I can actually buy and own games, but they are still a corporation and corporate track records are pretty shitty these days.
You're right to keep corporations at arm's length, but it’s worth noting that Valve’s approach is uniquely beneficial to the Linux community compared to other giants. Most of the tech they develop Proton/Wine contributions, Vulkan improvements is open source. Even if Steam disappeared tomorrow, the work they’ve done on the Linux kernel and graphics drivers stays in the ecosystem. They aren't just building a "walled garden" they’re building a garden that everyone else including GOG or Heroic users gets to benefit from. That’s a massive shift from how Microsoft or Sony operates. :)

News - ARC Raiders has a new content-filled roadmap for early 2026
By adolson, 28 Jan 2026 at 3:31 am UTC

Quoting: ArdjeThe game looks nice. But I hate other players. I mean, there will probably always be at least one that I hate. Just like the Ark: SE GOL server where I spend my 1 hour free time every few days in, only to start all over again because of that one person.
It has aggression-based matchmaking, so you'll rarely ever get shot by players if you don't shoot back. If you play in pairs, it's a bit tougher to find friendly pairs (let's say it's 50-50 chance), and in trios, well, I haven't tried it yet but I've heard it's pretty much all PvP.

News - STAR WARS Battlefront II private server and mod launcher KYBER goes open source
By adolson, 28 Jan 2026 at 3:29 am UTC

Quoting: TarosReally should have a look at this game after having heard so much positive about this game. But maybe this was about the Battlefront 2 from 2005 xD
I got it during the Steam Winter sale for like $5 CAD, and it is fantastic. I haven't looked into KYBER at all yet, the official servers are pretty active. But I will keep my eye on it.

News - ARC Raiders latest update adds a Solo vs Squads mode, long-term Trophy Display project and lots more
By adolson, 28 Jan 2026 at 3:26 am UTC

It's a nice update, but the great stuff (new big ARC, new map) is coming in April!

Quoting: CaldathrasThis is not at all my kind of game, but I am continually blown away be the graphics quality, lighting and shading in the pictures GoL puts up.
I'm not big into multiplayer, let alone multiplayer-only games. But this one, I broke down and bought it and it's hooked me. I'm up to 55 hours in about 3 weeks, which is quite high for me. I'm not great at the game, but it's a very satisfying game loop that has sucked me in.

News - The popular Arch-based distro CachyOS gets a new release with a significantly reworked installer
By adolson, 28 Jan 2026 at 3:23 am UTC

I've mostly used Debian since 2003, and Mandrake before that. A brief stint on Ubuntu, and I've tested a bunch of other distros for a day or so each. Recently I tried out CachyOS and it's still on my main system. Has it stolen me away from Debian? Maybe... Time will tell. Pretty happy with it so far (and I tried Bazzite and a Fedora right before trying Cachy).

News - Heroic Games Launcher v2.19 released adding ZOOM Platform, AppImage updates and more
By eggrole, 28 Jan 2026 at 2:20 am UTC

[quote=Pyrate]
Quoting: MinoscerebMy use case for Lutris over Heroic is for those game setup files I find laying on the ground after they fell off a truck full of game setup files. The customizability shines better there, even if both programs are capable of the same end results eventually.
[quote=Doktor-Mandrake]
Quoting: MinoscerebI like lutris for the setup scripts for old gamss
I have almost completely switched to Heroic for no good reason other than "I like it", and I too find old setups that have fallen off of the back of the truck from time to time. You can install them fine with Heroic. It is as simple as Add Game -> Select Executable (or installer) and go.

News - Terraria 1.4.5 the absolutely huge Bigger and Boulder update is now live
By Nezchan, 28 Jan 2026 at 12:44 am UTC

On paper, I should really love Terraria, but after several attempts I haven't been able to find the "fun". It's obvious it's a great game, but there's a spark that totally eludes me, even though I have liked similar games. Which is a pity since other people seem able to easily find the "fun".

News - The modular Linux handheld Mecha Comet is up on Kickstarter
By Purple Library Guy, 28 Jan 2026 at 12:39 am UTC

Quoting: Mountain Man3D renders do not a viable product make.
Ten times your goal in funding might, though.

News - The modular Linux handheld Mecha Comet is up on Kickstarter
By Mountain Man, 28 Jan 2026 at 12:21 am UTC

3D renders do not a viable product make.

News - UK lawsuit against Valve given the go-ahead, Steam owner facing up to £656 million in damages
By Linux_Rocks, 28 Jan 2026 at 12:10 am UTC

Even if the lawsuit is sketchy and the UK government sucks. I'm not about to weep for or support Valve. Evil corporations or bourgeois imperialist governments? It's pick your poison with them. I hope that Valve loses and has to pay out. Gaben can afford it. Though that being said, fuck any stupid reactionary groups behind this as well. Nobody is innocent in the room.

News - GPD claim the WIN 5 is getting an official Bazzite Linux adaptation but the Bazzite team say otherwise
By msmafra, 28 Jan 2026 at 12:01 am UTC

Kyle Gospodnetich made things clearer today https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/correction-regarding-gpd-win5-support-for-bazzite/11574

News - UK lawsuit against Valve given the go-ahead, Steam owner facing up to £656 million in damages
By Johnologue, 27 Jan 2026 at 11:34 pm UTC

I just can't take accusations of Valve being an unfair monopoly seriously when their major corporate competitors like Amazon and Epic are a joke and function on the basis of throwing money at customers with giveaway games, and small independent competitors like itch.io seem safe in their niche.

News - Heroic Games Launcher v2.19 released adding ZOOM Platform, AppImage updates and more
By Doktor-Mandrake, 27 Jan 2026 at 11:25 pm UTC

Quoting: MinoscerebI like the look of Heroic, it's a lot better designed visually than Lutris and feels more user friendly, but since Lutris can run all the stores Heroic can, and at least for GoG has access to lots of useful scripts for things like mods or just actual playability, I don't see a use case for Heroic for myself. I'm curious where other people fall on this though. Have I missed something about Heroic?
Heroic has experimental cloud save support for gog games which is my main reason to use it

I like lutris for the setup scripts for old gamss

News - STAR WARS Battlefront II private server and mod launcher KYBER goes open source
By rustigsmed, 27 Jan 2026 at 11:22 pm UTC

as someone who put about 2000 hrs (1000 pre linux days, 1000+ with linux) into bf2, this is great news, however don't you also need to login into nexus mods? would be great if you didn't need nexus mods because that's a bit of a hard pass these days for many people.. doesn't currently affect myself but no doubt down the track it probably will. or is it only if you are playing with a mod that it is required (which would make sense)? just wondering as you know would be fun doing some private matches and have a way to play once ea pulls the pin.

edit - yes ok you can run the server on linux - just not the kyber launcher to run the game on linux..due to WebView2 being requried. nevermind!

News - GE-Proton 10-29 released with updates to FEX, Wine, DXVK and a few game fixes
By t3g, 27 Jan 2026 at 11:19 pm UTC

I know this is a Linux gaming site, but DXMT for Wine gaming on macOS is a big thing. I believe Crossover creates it and should be similar to DXVK for Linux. DXMT is DirectX to Metal like DXVK is DirectX to Vulkan. It has to be Metal on macOS unfortunately as the OS doesn't support Vulkan out of the box.

News - Terraria 1.4.5 the absolutely huge Bigger and Boulder update is now live
By GoEsr, 27 Jan 2026 at 10:47 pm UTC

I keep trying this game. I've always figured it's one of those games where part of the enjoyment is figuring out how it all works, like old Amiga games that didn't come with a manual. It's been... *checks notes* 12 years and I still don't know how to do more than dig a hole. And yes, I refuse to check Youtube.

News - The simple GOG client for Linux, Minigalaxy version 1.4.1 is out now
By Taros, 27 Jan 2026 at 10:05 pm UTC

Just installed it on my notebook. Downloaded Star Trek Judgment Rites and directly ran into this problem about missing libFLAC.so.8:
https://github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/HeroicGamesLauncher/issues/2837
*sigh*

News - The modular Linux handheld Mecha Comet is up on Kickstarter
By Persephone the Sheep, 27 Jan 2026 at 9:58 pm UTC

I'm not a fan of the Game Boy layout would be more interested if it was like the size/layout of a Switch lite. They seem to be aiming for having community OS support which I hope they achieve. I've though about getting an android gaming handheld since even though I really like my Steam Deck it's a little too big for me to easily carry but most don't have 3rd party android rom support and if they do their is no community that makes them at least from the bit of looking that I've seen.