Steam Survey Results For July 2014 Show A Slight Drop In Linux Usage

[johnc]

Go through the online member list for SteamLUG, the largest and most active group of Linux gamers http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamlug#members and note how many of them are playing games that are not ported in any way to Linux and never will be.

Yeah but like I said: I'm a member of that group as well and I don't use Wine or Linux for gaming, I game exclusively on Windows. So it's certainly possible (if not highly likely), that these people are playing on Windows as well and not even bothering with Wine.

Even in a group like We Only Buy Linux Games there are members that are playing games that are not available at all on Linux http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Onl...xGames#members

I didn't notice any Windows-only games there but I see the point you're making.

I'm not sure it's as high as 50% though.

[eydee]

Previous increase: The Witcher 2 (the first real AAA game) came out for linux, people wanted to try it.
Current decrease: People learned it's crap, went back to windows for playing games.

[rikkinho]

my games

Previous increase: The Witcher 2 (the first real AAA game) came out for linux, people wanted to try it.
Current decrease: People learned it's crap, went back to windows for playing games.

my games work native in linux i only use wine when i need some app to test something maybe i'm a lucky man

[bakgwailo]

Go through the online member list for SteamLUG, the largest and most active group of Linux gamers http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamlug#members and note how many of them are playing games that are not ported in any way to Linux and never will be.

Even in a group like We Only Buy Linux Games there are members that are playing games that are not available at all on Linux http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Onl...xGames#members



Don't be naive, buying these games sends a message to game companies that they only have to produce a Windows version of their game and people will still buy it even if they don't even attempt a half assed port like the eON/Wine port of Witcher2.

If you don't believe me, just go on any Mac user forum and ask them how much they love all of those Cider and Wine based ports they have received over the years. Fun fact, they despise them just as much as we do, yet there are those in their community that still buy the Windows games and run Steam in Wine/WineBottler to play them.

The same terms outlined here http://www.gamingonlinux.com/article...-on-linux.3934 apply to Mac game ports as well, the porters get nothing if you bought the game before it was released for your OS of choice and even then, if you launch the game in the Windows client in Wine the porters still get all of $0 as the client counts it as a Windows purchase.

Gaming on Linux is still in it's infancy and the whole thing could easily fall apart if we continue to play unported games, history teaches us this, just look at all of the times past efforts where thwarted because the after the Windows launch port was made everyone just bought the Windows version in the bargain bin and patched it making the port a revenue loss. Now between Steam, Desura, GOG, Humble etc all Linux games are available in the bargain bin right next to the Windows games, so please, don't fuck this up again.

What past efforts? You mean Loki? Cause Loki failed due to management issues. ID? They did in house ports and generally provided release day Linux binaries for download (some times even on the disk) - so windows vs. Linux sales there could not really be counted. Unreal - see ID, I believe they did the same.

[teeedubb]

The majority of gamers already has a Windows install because that's where all games ate released - its the only reason I use windows. And unfortunately linux performance isn't up to par with windows so apart from testing games there is no real point to gaming in Linux for those that are serious gamers.

[mike4]

Wolfenstein the last order runs better in Wine than on my Windows 8.1!

I play that game for a week and replay scenes on Win8.1. Guess what, there's a rain bug in win8.1. You can see random images flickering foremost inside the house!
Cheers

[rdnetto]

it's really said to see over 50% of the Steam For Linux users are using Wine
http://steamcommunity.com/games/221410/members

I would have thought most people who use Steam on Linux have both native and Wine versions installed - I certainly do.
I definitely pay extra attention to games with native Linux support (because Wine is less reliable, even with appdb), but ultimately a game that works is a game that works. If a publisher sees that a significant portion of their userbase is running the game on Linux via Wine, they they have an incentive to ensure it works well under Wine, and everyone wins.

[mike4]

ws. And unfortunately linux performance isn't up to par with windows so apart from testing games there is no real point to gaming in Linux for those that are serious gamers.

Nonsense, at least Nvidia is faster on Linux than on obsolete Windows.

[teeedubb]

Nonsense, at least Nvidia is faster on Linux than on obsolete Windows.

Thinking that fps counts produced by benchmarks is everything when it comes to games is nonsense. Civ5, Xcom, Serious Sam and the witcher all run smoother with higher detail levels than their linux counterparts on identical hardware.

[mike4]

Those are not native Linux games. I'm pretty sure that Wolfenstein New Order in Wine would be about the same as on Win8 if I could find out how to show fps. Anyway for ex. X-Plane
is about 20% faster on Linux. I did that test about two weeks ago on the same hardware with identical settings. Last was OSX but not far behind Win 8.1. I was surprised
myself about such a unexpected difference.-