EA Frostbite Games Unlikely To Be Ported To Linux

[duby229]

Well to be fair, we don't know for sure what will happen but I suspect they won't be successful. Furthermore, Steam Machines aren't even exclusively Linux devices. Some Steam Machines will come with dual-boot SteamOS and Windows 10 as Valve is permitting that and you can bet 99% of the time Windows will be booted on those systems. This really blurs the lines between a "Steam Machine" and a living-room gaming PC, such as the Alienware Alpha.

While Valve's contribution to Linux gaming is vast, it's hard not to overlook all the things Valve did wrong with Steam Machines:

No one exclusive machine -- rather there are several or even dozens with different hardware configs.
No exclusive features -- all the features are on the Windows Steam client too.
No exclusive games -- Valve has said they will not make SteamOS / Steam Machine exclusive games.
No exclusive interface -- Steam Big Picture Mode is offered on all Steam platforms.
Not even an exclusive OS -- Some Steam Machines will run Windows as well.
Many are way overpriced -- The Alternate Steam Machine for instance is $1100 for an Core i3 with a GTX 750Ti.

Everything that defines a consoles' success is missing with the Steam Machines.

The concern I have is if Steam Machines fail, will VP, Feral, and Aspyr still invest in Linux AAA ports and continue supporting their regular Linux customers who use Ubuntu and other distros?

One of the worst things about EA is their exclusivity contracts. Protectionism doesn't work. It's always overthrown in time. There used to be a time when there was a variety of NFL games, but not any more. The only one that exists now became a button masher. Exclusivity sucks ass.

[humbug]

One of the worst things about EA is their exclusivity contracts. Protectionism doesn't work. It's always overthrown in time. There used to be a time when there was a variety of NFL games, but not any more. The only one that exists now became a button masher. Exclusivity sucks ass.

It's also strange to see members of this community asking for exclusives and other protectionism measures when Linux philosophy is supposed to be pro freedom and user-choice. We should encourage multi-platform development.

[Xaero_Vincent]

The thing is Valve aim is to democratize the PC gaming industry so that as a business they are not reliant on Microsoft.
They want to make the ecosystem and tools etc such that cross-platform development becomes the norm and it's almost a no-brainer for people to release a Linux version. They are not really trying to create a console, they want the choice and freedom that comes with PC to remain. Plus they are too idealistic to create exclusives or restrict user choice by banning windows on steam machines. If they do what you are asking them to do then they would be criticized as being hypocrites.

btw I am not claiming that their strategy will work. I am aware that they may fail. And I know that they have no chance of competing with the consoles for now. But I don't think making Linux exclusives, restricting user choice or making Linux-only steam features is the answer. The utopia is a world in which people make cross platform games on cross-platform engines using APIs such as Vulkan and after you buy your game once you can choose to play it on any machine on any OS. The last part is already a reality thanks to Steam.

What we have to hope for is that within the next couple of years and couple of generations of Steam Machines that the Linux userbase on steam grows from 1% to maybe 5%. That may seem modest but that is what we need to set us up for the future. The good thing is that the Steam Machines are made from off the shelf PC parts and even when they sell modestly none of these vendors are going to make a loss on it. They have no huge R&D to recover and they can just tweak it and try again until they get it right while excess units can be sold as normal windows PCs. That's the difference between this and the console model. There is no way it will be a sensation but we have to hope that it captures a niche market within the first 2-3 iterations over the next few years and then creates a positive feedback loop both for steamOS and more importantly Linux desktop OS gaming overall. I guess that's what valve wants.

I understand what you're saying and agree that platform exclusive content isn't ideal. I also agree that the biggest motivation triggering Valve's push to support Linux was the app store model introduced in Windows 8 that has the potential to upset Valve's marketshare. Valve cannot let their guard down with Windows 10 either as the store is bound to become even bigger with the hosting of AAA games (rather than just the mobile-style games currently).

However, SteamOS / Linux needs some form of exclusivity to intially lure potential gamers and users in. Even if the exclusive content were just temporary. If everything for Steam Machines exists day one for Windows PCs then there is absolutely zero incentive to switch and zero incentive to buy Steam Machines that cost more than just building your own, especially when the grass is greener where all gamers are already--more AAA games on Windows, etc.

I personally don't care much about Steam Machines; I have little interest in bringing PC gaming into my livingroom. I'd rather play my PS3 and PS4 for that. I just don't want Valve's missteps to translate to a setback to the growing ecosystem of desktop Linux games.

[Veske]

EA hardly has anything of value to offer. What I would like to see tough is Blizzard making it's Linux port announcment. I remember Michael talking about this years back but now it seems that Blizzard has trashed the thing..

[johnc]

Without exclusive functionality, SteamOS would have to be a technically superior OS for gaming to get people to find interest in it. I think that's probably the most disappointing aspect of all this, that SteamOS doesn't really offer anything. The Steam Machines are just ordinary PCs (so nothing new there), and SteamOS is just Debian + Steam BPM, so nothing really interesting there... So in total, what does this whole venture bring to the table? Nothing, really. And that's why gamers (and game devs) have completely lost interest.

If MS said tomorrow that all PC games have to be purchased from their store, then that's what people will do. They're not going to move over to Linux.

[johnc]

EA hardly has anything of value to offer.

True, but it's a sort of sample of AAA studio thinking.

Consider the essence of the Twitter conversation:

"Hey guys, now that we have Vulkan are you going to support Linux?"
"Uhhh... Yeah, no. 1%."

[humbug]

EA hardly has anything of value to offer.

They have loads to offer regardless of whether we admit it. Franchises that sell massive quantities of games such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Battlefield, Need for Speed and all Star Wars games going forward.

[discordian]

EA hardly has anything of value to offer. What I would like to see tough is Blizzard making it's Linux port announcment. I remember Michael talking about this years back but now it seems that Blizzard has trashed the thing..

Compared to Valve, they still create tons of games, some rare ones even fresh.
I dont get why Valve gets a free pass for all the shit they done, its monopolism at its best. And Linux is merely an aftertought for them, you read alot of press like "Valve wanting LLDB improved" - the real work is done elsewhere. They are just some opportunists which dont want to invest more than their surpluss lunch.

Linux just is extremely lacking in the Desktop Environment, and unless someone finds a way to directly or indirectly profit from it (and focus their efforts), I dont see this changing anytime soon. It just doesnt compare to the commercial counterparts. I use it every work day and I call everyone doing embedded or server development on Windows crazy (which earned me the title of a Linux zealot at work), but running a game or an emulator? - dual boot into Windows FFS, and I dont have hopes this will change the next decades.

[chimpy]

Steam machines are just a cross promotion between Valve and their hardware partners. Valve gives them a bit of free promotion, and in return their partners install SteamOs on some of their machines. And as far as success goes, just remember Valve owns their own store, I wouldn't be surprised if Valve gave away all their games to Steam machine buyers; they are already giving away Portal 2 and Rocket League to preorders of the controller and stream device.

[TheOne]

Without exclusive functionality, SteamOS would have to be a technically superior OS for gaming to get people to find interest in it. I think that's probably the most disappointing aspect of all this, that SteamOS doesn't really offer anything. The Steam Machines are just ordinary PCs (so nothing new there), and SteamOS is just Debian + Steam BPM, so nothing really interesting there... So in total, what does this whole venture bring to the table? Nothing, really. And that's why gamers (and game devs) have completely lost interest.

If MS said tomorrow that all PC games have to be purchased from their store, then that's what people will do. They're not going to move over to Linux.

You are too negative... Can you look at it as what happened with Android? Android became really popular because any hardware manufacturer could use it as the OS for their devices without incurring on extra licenses cost. As you may have noticed people likes diversity, there will surely rise a SteamMachines company that will become the most popular for gamers (like samsung for phones and Android), but even that being the case it shouldn't stop other companies/brands from releasing steam machines... Sure, there will be companies that will release steam machines with windows too, but they will be more expensive, or at least they should be... In any case SteamOS (like Android is for phones) can become the defacto OS for gaming consoles, thats IMHO what I believe will happen sooner or later...