This is great! Now I can play Fortnite on my Linux machine??
I would more put it to bet hedging.
Steam did it before when win10 was coming and they were saying things that made Valve make a serious push for Linux and a foundation they could have some control over. That sort of worked, SteamOS and Machine was a bit of a flop, but Steam for Linux got much better to the point I would say certain aspects are better there than on windows. They got things like the Controller worked out and a look into hardware world with that and screens with the Vive/Index, and software with Proton.
So now they are taking a second actual good swing at the Steam Machine/Console idea and it is looking pretty good. Where before the hardware and availability was wishy washy with companies not wanting to commit and Valve not doing a 1st party at the time, now its all in house and they control the process it is looking good and reflected in the sell out pre orders. I imagine Epic see a new “mobile” platform having been booted from the appStore and are hedging their bets. Better to do the bit if work it takes, build some good will, and maintain their access to a new hardware platform that is actively hostile to their previous stance. So they change their tune, always looking to be supporting the “winning” side.
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I honestly don’t get why many people are thinking this way. He openly supported Linux-Gaming before, that’s not new. He donated quite a bit to Lutris before as well (sure, probably a PR move, but the result is what counts). I don’t get where this “anti-Linux” sentiment is coming from.
Either way: Good move, I’m just wondering if developers will have to patch their games or what (and with that I don’t just mean the EAC SDK).
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If companies feel pressure to pay attention to Linux, this can only be a good thing. You don’t want your games to be excluded from the profitable list of supported games on the Steam Deck.
And we Linux gamers get all the benefits as a side effect.
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Probably the fact that Epic Games Store for a Long time refused to even consider Linux support (flat out no), and some games with Linux support (like Rocket League) dropped Linux support once they became an Epic exclusive.
This is great news however if true. Still on the fence but looks promising, go Epic 
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TBH Valve is stemming most of the work anyway with DXVK and their WINE patches. All the games have to do is not actively work against it and Valve will take care of support sooner or later.
I honestly think they would have done this sooner or later regardless of the acquisition. The reason they gave is also pretty understandable: native linux ports require way more support for a fraction of the userbase. And in times of Proton it is just quite literally unnecesary.
Yes that may be an unpopular opinion, but native Linux gaming sucks balls if the games are not actively maintained and patched. Support via WINE/Proton is just more feasable.
edit:
I talked about this a bit more here:
I think one issue to the above would be for games to be distributed in AppImages so they could package all their dependencies and don’t care about the underlying system, I’m just not sure why no game seems to be doing that, but maybe that’s also a steam issue, who knows.
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Oh don’t get me wrong I understand the business decision but back then Proton didn’t exist yet, and even if it did EAC left things hanging. Since Rocket League had a small but loyal Linux fanbase these guys got very salty once their favorite game wasn’t supported on their platform anymore. So while not intended as an anti Linux move it was very much perceived as such, even though the game works great with Proton today.
I completely agree that gaming tech for Linux needs to evolve either towards (virtualisation) containers or separation of engine and content. First is easier to achieve, second would allow a much better long term experience (install engine once, provide actual game levels and other assets as game packs - like ScummVM). But that is a discussion for another thread.
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That’s not true at all lol.
At the time people were already playing RL via Proton (and having a better experience with it). The Linux version was discontinued in March 2020, Proton’s initial release was August 2018. We were on Proton 5.0 at that point.
And that is exactly the issue with the Linux crowd, they get salty over shit for no reason. Remember the Witcher 2 release? Yeah. Dickheads were loosing their shit because “it’s not truly native”. Like WTF are these people smoking? Instead of being happy there’s a Linux version at all they go on about it being “only a WINE port”.
That or the aforementioned AppImage (or Flatpak, Snap, whatever).
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Huh, I was totally misremembering here. I thought the axe came in like, 2017-2018 or so. Thanks for the correction.
While it is true we will always need Wine/Proton due to legacy games, it doesn’t bode well for native gaming if everything new targets Wine and DX12. In terms of game availability and for the people just wanting to game though, it is fantastic. 
Ya, containers
I think Tim said something like switching to linux is like migrating to canada when bad stuff happens at USA.
Oh I’m not saying we should rely on Proton forever especially for new games. But for Witcher 2 especially for a small studio (back then obviously) to even release a Linux version was basically just a nice gesture to people asking for it, just for some dickheads then crying about it not being a proper port. As a Dev, I would have no intention to ever do a port again either.
OK… so? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What’s wrong with people who bought a game with native linux support being upset that the game they bought is no longer available to them?
No longer being able to natively play the game they bought isn’t upset for no reason.
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Shoulda read the TOS I guess. You buy a license to the game (and also not ownership), not a specific OS version.
I mean I get your point, but “not available” is simply not true. The game continues to be available on Steam for people that bought it. The only difference being that it’s now through Proton. It would be a completely different issue and certainly more understandable if it wasn’t available at all, but that’s not the case.
It would be different if you were to buy a specific OS release (like FF14 that has a Mac and a Windows version which are separate licenses), and then one being discontinued. But that’s not the case here.
Oh please, just say that you will endlessly apologize for the companies and be done with it. It was a dick move to drop an official port and throwing everything on proton is likely going to be even more of a nightmare to maintain later on than having it run native.
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I’m not apologising for anything, I’m just stating facts lol.
You see it as a dick move, I see it as completely reasonable given the a) very high maintenance cost for native ports that is just nowhere close to reasonable for the fraction of a userbase and b) the availability of (better) working alternatives. There was literally no reason to keep it around other then make the Linux people shut up.
And as I said I would be totally on your side if there wasn’t an alternative, but that’s not the case.
I couldn’t give a shit if it’s native or not as long as I can play the games I want. And if not, well so be it.
You aren’t though, you are viewing the breaking of the promise of support that was given on the product page in an overly favourable way and coating it with “pragmatism” while overstating the upkeep a linux port needs in comparison to the windows one. Steam Linux ships with fixed libs for a reason.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHAHAHAHAAHA best joke I heard in a while.
Like seriously, have you actually tried this? Especially for older games? I suppose not because otherwise you wouldn’t say that.
The Steam runtime is not going to help you there.
I’ll also (again) refer you to my post from the beginning of the year:
And there’s even one more to add to the list: Rise of the Tomb Raider’s native linux release is an absolute nightmare to play (and migrating to Proton is not an option because again the save files are not compatible). Constant crashes when just loading saves, to the point that it crashes other applications, which should be a nono. The game runs with a debugger attached for whatever reason, it feels like a beta.
They are all supposed to run in the Steam Runtime, but it’s just not working out for older titles.
It is not overstated though. They were getting constant reports from people having broken RL installs on their exotic systems, while the game “just worked” under Windows and Proton. The upkeep cost is simply not worth it, moreso even when there is a free alternative provided by Steam, the platform you’re already selling on.
I don’t know about the “promise” but my guess is they didn’t literally state there’s going to be a Linux version forever, because that would be stupid.
Do you get EpicStore Credit per line? In any case, yes 100% of native games have worked for me while even now proton and WINE can be a crapshoot where I have to spend a good amount of time trying out the various arcane proton configuration commands.
You keep using that excuse but even if I accept your assertion it doesn’t change the fact that ripping out promised platform support will rightly get you pissed people. And no I don’t care what some TOS or EULA says about what you can and cannot expect.
Man I wish, gotta call up Timmy for that (I have him on speed dial obviously), thanks for the suggestions.
I’m just stating my experiences here, not sure what’s so hard to understand about that but OK. And for the record my Proton experiences have been the exact opposite. Install and go, no config needed.
Well, then, have fun with future contracts.
And as I said, I get your point about being pissed, but the fact is it is still supported, just by Steam, through Proton. It’s not like they yanked the game for you completely (which again I would totally understand being actually pissed about) or put in “anti-Linux” measures.
I assume you are aware that this
Is in direct contradiction to this?
Every game that is not native undermines the new games are always native future. You may not care, or you may not find the cost worth it. Fair enough. But if everyone writes for Proton then everyone writes for Proton then you never reach escape velocity and nothing will ever chance.
Note, I do agree in this particular instance cutting native was the right move for the devs. Just saying if native is to become the future more devs need to go native.
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