EA Frostbite Games Unlikely To Be Ported To Linux

[Luke]

I suspect another reason for this is that a LOT of linux user are people like me who keep all paid software off their machines. Since we are not part of any market for paid games, the actual Linux market for paid games is less than the prevalence of Linux on the desktop would suggest. Also, they have to figure putting DRM'ed anything on Linux exposes the DRM to aggressive attack. No protected media paths, no DRM baked into the operating system, etc. In the Linux world we have made a social and technical decision not to support locked content at the OS level. A Linux desktop controlled by a hacker and a game console are polar opposites even if they are exactly the same hardware with a mod chip used to defeat bootlockers.

[johnc]

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...

I don't see the parallel at all. Unlike iOS, companies are capable of licensing Windows for installation on devices. If you were a smartphone manufacturer, you had no access to iOS; Android filled a void. There's nothing like that in the PC space.

Even if there was a market for PCs in the living room, there is no good reason to not have those gaming PCs running Windows. The license fee is hardly a valuable reason; by that logic you would see a vast swath of Linux-based desktop PCs and laptops being available on the market.

[MoonMoon]

I suspect another reason for this is that a LOT of linux user are people like me who keep all paid software off their machines.

Have you any data to support that claim or are you just guessing?

[yogi_berra]

Really it's no surprise but hopefully things will change once Steam Machines and SteamOS are commonplace.

Why would Electronic Arts give a flying fuck about Valves attempt at a console?

[yogi_berra]

Can you look at it as what happened with Android?

So we can look forward to Steam Machines hosting botnets due to the lack of security updates?

[DMJC]

Until we see Microsoft try something really stupid like a crackdown on piracy using Windows' phone home features. The Windows marketshare in the home market is not going to budge. The biggest problem with Desktop Linux that I see from a gaming viewpoint, is that noone is porting modding tools to Linux. We have a photoshop clone (Krita). But there's no 3D Studio Max, zBrush or PCS2 or FRED2. We need more level editors for games, as well as asset editors. What's out is pitiful

[mitcoes]

Steam OS is not going to be installed, as MS WOS is not too. People do not install OSs

People do buy gadgets, and a Nexus Steam Machine or a good but cheap chinese one, perhaps with an Atom plus an Nvidia 750Ti or a AMD SoC with a future Vulkan as good as the MS WOS GNu/Linux driver will be the first good business for Steam Machines CONSOLES

Almost nobody is going to install Steam OS or switch or make their own rig, (we do, but we are not normal people) and it is normal to wait until it is done to port your games as it is also normal to port before it happens because you want to be ready, so everybody can work as they want to.

But i will not bet for Sony or MS consoles in the future anymore, Android and cheap Steam Machines are the future of normal gaming and MS WOS PC gaming will probably not arrive to dx13, and Vulkan will replace dx at every plattform.

[peterp77]

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.

The Steam controllers that Valve designed are something new.

[boltronics]

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.

That's all true, but Valve's taking this all very slowly and cautiously. If they made something exclusive during the first iteration and the experience isn't perfect right from the start, people are going to get very upset. However maybe after two or three iterations when they've been doing it for awhile and have a lot more confidence, then they might do things that'll make people think more seriously about switching to SteamOS.

For example, they might introduce a policy to only allow front-page sale item advertisements if they support SteamOS. Or they might start to only suggest games to people that are SteamOS compatible. That'll give publishers one heck of a lot to think about.

I also agree with the comments that most people don't install an operating system - they (unfortunately) just buy a device and will only use whatever is pre-installed. Perhaps in the near future it'll be more important for PC manufacturers to have a Steam icon on the machine/packaging than a Windows icon, and like the Android Play store, people won't care what the device is - they'll only care if it has Steam. At that point, Windows becomes irrelevant!

[liam]

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.

Steamos can't offer anything over a console, in terms of efficiency...but it can be better than any windows pc gaming machine. The issue is tooling and how many changes need to be made to the kernel to offer something substantially better.