this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023
646 points (97.8% liked)

Linux Gaming

15912 readers
15 users here now

Gaming on the GNU/Linux operating system.

Recommended news sources:

Related chat:

Related Communities:

Please be nice to other members. Anyone not being nice will be banned. Keep it fun, respectful and just be awesome to each other.

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That's a public line. It's BS. Sweeny has been actively trying to torpedo gaming on Linux for YEARS. I don't know if it's just "Steam is good for Valve so it's bad for me", or if it goes deeper than that, but it's obvious in the last decade of behaviour.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

IDK, Unreal Engine runs on Linux, can export to Linux, and the Unreal Tournament games are released on Linux.

I really don't think he hates Linux, I believe him that he didn't see a financial point in supporting it for their games. People seem willing to use Windows to play their games, so there's not a strong financial incentive to support another platform.

If you want Sweeney to change his mind, get more people to use Linux exclusively. Personally, I prefer to ignore him.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

IDK, Unreal Engine runs on Linux, can export to Linux, and the Unreal Tournament games are released on Linux.

You are cherry picking. What about EVERYTHING ELSE?

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 2 points 11 months ago

What are you talking about? I'm merely showing that he has supported Linux in the past, and at least some of his companies products support it today (Unreal and EAC).

The reason EGS and Fortnite don't support Linux isn't because he hates Linux, but because he doesn't see profit in it. And I don't blame him, Linux probably isn't profitable in the short or medium term for EGS or Fortnite.

Steam didn't start supporting Linux because they saw short or medium term profit, it was a long term investment to keep an option open in case Windows was able to force stores to share profit on their platform. Now that Windows has kind of backed off that, they're doubling down because the Steam Deck provides another option to increasing sales and appealing to more people.

I don't hate Tim Sweeney for not supporting Linux, but I am a bit disappointed though. But if Linux gains enough marketshare (not sure how much we'd need, but maybe 5%?), he'll likely change his mind. He's interested in profit, and Linux just isn't an attractive enough platform for that right now for EGS. Maybe that'll change in the future.

I have never and probably will never give EGS any of my money, but that didn't mean I hate Sweeney or his products, it just means they provide no value to me, so I'm uninterested, much like he is with Linux.