Quoting: Horimight be useful to write an article on the current state of SteamOS and its future. what we know, what we can expect, and what are the possibilities. i, for one, am in the dark. i really don't know what's going on with it.

and i'm interested, since I plan to install it once I get a TV, so I can boot straight into that when i wanna play from the couch, without the need for a keyboard. but if there is no future for it, or it performs badly, etc, then i will have to find alternatives

It's not much, but I asked TTimo if something could be done for the in-home streaming performance issues with a SteamOS host (lots of stuttering).

The answer was:
"As far as Valve supported, I'm afraid compositor work on brewmaster isn't very high on the priorities list right now :("

Bold is on me.

Maybe something is brewing for Clockwerk, in this regard and it might also mean that they are working on it (as Clockwerk), behind closed doors? Sorry for what I just did. :)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Purple Library GuyActually, if this Stadia thing is accepted as a normal adequate way to do gaming, that means Linux boxes (including piddly little ones like Chromebooks) are first class gaming citizens; that barrier to adoption is toast.

Just to show how it widens the user base potential:

... And mobiles. From what I understand, all that's required is Chrome. A game controller synced via bluetooth to the phone you already own and you're good to go... Unless the phone is a really crappy one. :)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: Mohandevir

Quoting: GuestActually, some devs have explicitly said that MAC ports were not worth it because MAC users were making much more support requests. To the point half of their support costs were eaten up by roughly 5% of their market. So support costs matter. This is probably why the Linux builds of DOOM and WoW have been kept internal and not released to the public.

You would have to build another team of tech support, complete with low level people who answer trivial questions to full blown techies. And for a very small part of your public. Depending on the public you have it may not make sense economically.

As Linux users, we can help by helping each other trough sites/forums such as this one so as not to overburden the tech support teams of studios making Linux builds.

Still... The Stadia build will be a Linux build... id will have to build a Linux support department anyway.

The problem I see is the multiplication of hardware confgurations; the Stadia build is Intel CPU + Vega GPU. They only need to support that configuration to make it work on Stadia. "One hardware config to rule them all!"

In that sense, Stadia is a lot like a console--one standard thing.

QuoteAs for the distro fragmentation, they only need to stick to the official Steam support page (Ubuntu/SteamOS). This argument has always been a really bad excuse to me.

Edit: What I'm personnally afraid of, on the long run, is that big AAA companies could decide to stop supporting PC gaming in general (not just Linux) in favor of Stadia. It will make it a lot more easier to support all paltforms with one Stadia build by making the OS/hardware, on the client side, irrelevent.

Yeah, I'd be unhappy if it goes that way. We'll see--Google Docs hasn't killed the desktop office suite yet.

Did I wrote "This is what's going to happen"? Or "They are all going to do this"? No.

I said I was afraid it could happen. In what proportion? I don't know. It all depends on Stadia's success too, but I'd be really surprised if Stadia failed. It's literally trying to democratize PC gaming by removing the price barrier of gaming PCs.

I dont' know if Tim Sweeney was betting on Google when he said: "I think the game business will change more in the next five years than the past ten."

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: GuestActually, some devs have explicitly said that MAC ports were not worth it because MAC users were making much more support requests. To the point half of their support costs were eaten up by roughly 5% of their market. So support costs matter. This is probably why the Linux builds of DOOM and WoW have been kept internal and not released to the public.

You would have to build another team of tech support, complete with low level people who answer trivial questions to full blown techies. And for a very small part of your public. Depending on the public you have it may not make sense economically.

As Linux users, we can help by helping each other trough sites/forums such as this one so as not to overburden the tech support teams of studios making Linux builds.

Still... The Stadia build will be a Linux build... id will have to build a Linux support department anyway.

The problem I see is the multiplication of hardware confgurations; the Stadia build is Intel CPU + Vega GPU. They only need to support that configuration to make it work on Stadia. "One hardware config to rule them all!"

As for the distro fragmentation, they only need to stick to the official Steam support page (Ubuntu/SteamOS). This argument has always been a really bad excuse to me.

Edit: What I'm personnally afraid of, on the long run, is that big AAA companies could decide to stop supporting PC gaming in general (not just Linux) in favor of Stadia. It will make it a lot more easier to support all paltforms with one Stadia build by making the OS/hardware, on the client side, irrelevent.

Edit2: Still on the long run, Valve might decide to take Stadia builds support on them if these AAA companies stop supporting PC gaming... Afterall, that's what they do with Steamplay, and we are not talking about Linux builds... Just speculating.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: Salvatos

Quoting: MohandevirThey did the build but won't publish it... They paid for the Linux development anyway, but won't start to make it profitable by taking profit from Linux customers... Just... doesn't... make... sense. 1-2% of marketshare is still better than 0$... Must have failed my maths courses.

Could be they're wary of support costs outweighing the sales.

Maybe, but it will serve the Stadia cause, considering the fact that it's all standard parts... Oh! With Stadia, they don't have to troubleshoot Linux with Nvidia hardware. That must be it.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: liamdawe

Quoting: MohandevirDid they actually explained why they did not release the Linux version on Steam?

Really, this was answered indirectly when they showed the market share charts and talked about Linux being ignored. Too small, same answer as always for the bigger publishers.

#Facepalm

They did the build but won't publish it... They paid for the Linux development anyway, but won't start to make it profitable by taking profit from Linux customers... Just... doesn't... make... sense. 1-2% of marketshare is still better than 0$... Must have failed my maths courses.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Did they actually explained why they did not release the Linux version on Steam?

Couldn't find the answer, unless the answer is: "Because of Stadia." It sounds incomplete to me and it's still quite weird, considering the fact that the Windows version is on Steam.

idSoftware Stadia test machine:
CPU: 8 threads Intel;
GPU: AMD Vega with 8GB VRAM;
Mem: 8-16GB RAM;
Ubuntu 18.04.

It'all standard desktop parts.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

"Update #2: When asked on Twitter, the official Rocket League account told us "Hey there! More information will be shared in the future. Please check out our post about this on the Rocket League website: link" which of course wasn't helpful at all. Epic Games did not reply to my email as of yet, but they did send statements to other publications like USgamer where they said "We are continuing to sell Rocket League on Steam, and have not announced plans to stop selling the game there." and also "Rocket League remains available for new purchasers on Steam, and long-term plans will be announced in the future.".

Update #3: Psyonix also added this additional note to their own announcement which reads "Editor’s Note: We wanted to clarify something for you after today’s news: Rocket League is and remains available on Steam. Anyone who owns Rocket League through Steam can still play it and can look forward to continued support. Thanks!"."

Makes it a lot more acceptable... For the moment (There was just update 1 when I wrote my first comment), but my mistrust of Epic games is not going away anytime soon.

To me, Sweeney is Steve Ballmer in disguise shrouded in hypocritical claims.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

In the news... Epic games doing exclusive deals with well established and already successfull online games... How could this be a one year timed exclusive? Tell me? This is even worse than Metro Exodus fiasco, imo.

"If Steam committed to a permanent 88% revenue share for all developers and publishers without major strings attached", Sweeney wrote, “Epic would hastily organize a retreat from exclusives (while honoring our partner commitments) and consider putting our own games on Steam."

Now that's pure B.S.! All they did was trying to put the pressure on Steam. Thing is Steam is developping so much more stuff than Epic, that the 88% mark Sweeney requires is probably unsustainable whithout cutting into gamers services and feature development.

How I hate Epic! What they are doing is nothing good for the gamers. It's all for and only for the developpers. Sorry! Won't get my money. Not now, and ever.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

If at least they could manifest an interest in supporting Proton / Proton requirements. I'd be more confident in supporting them. Online games are a risky thing.

View this comment - View article - View full comments