Comment by pjmlp
14 days ago
What deserves our support is pushing for native Linux games, not helping to keep Windows status quo by making use of Wine and Proton.
It is no different from being happy to use Amiga, Atari, Nintendo, PlayStation, Spectrum, C64, NeoGeo emulators on Linux.
Video games are entertainment. In the old days you inserted a cartridge or optical disc into a physical device. You play the game, finish it and then move on. They are always self contained experiences with a custom UI independent of the OS.
In the best case, explicit Linux support does not affect the experience in a positive or negative way. In the worst case, explicit Linux support means the game can't be played anymore.
> They are always self contained experiences with a custom UI independent of the OS.
Not really, as each OS and hardware provided different capabilities that made some games only possible in specific platforms.
Additionally depending on the platform, some ports were great, others were money thrown into the garbage bin.
Doing it this way actually makes games more stable on Linux. Often, Linux ports of games would be riddled with bugs because the QA just isn't worth it. Especially because desktop Linux is always in a fast flux of changes. Hence the joke that "Win32 is the only stable Linux ABI."
Now game studios can just develop for windows, work out all the bugs. And then Proton has a broad set of compatibility patches that can be applied to those Windows games.
Doing it this way also unlocks a gigantic library of old games that otherwise would have been unplayable on Linux.
So, no. No native Linux games please.
Thus keeping Windows the main platform for game studios and gamers.
Enjoy those 3% market share.