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Comment by runjake | Hacker News Reader

Now, the kickers behind the headlines (that nobody told me up front):

1. The majority of the games do not support multiplayer on Linux, due to dependency on Windows-specific anticheat software.

2. Many, many of the games themselves aren't totally stable on Linux. So, expect a crash or two at critical gameplay moments.

That said, Proton is a great effort and it's great they're pushing Linux forward.

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> The majority of the games do not support multiplayer on Linux, due to dependency on Windows-specific anticheat software.

Definitely not majority. Maybe majority of the top 10-20 most popular/most cheated games? The very long tail of games works with multiplayer splendidly

There have been reports that Valve is collaborating with EAC to improve Proton support: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/apparently-valve-are-...

> Many, many of the games themselves aren't totally stable on Linux.

https://www.protondb.com/ is a great database to check on the stability of games. Many, many games are very stable. Games that I happen to play regularly are more stable than Windows (especially with alt-tab and such).

I wouldn't oversell protondb since it's based on user submitted reports. I've tried multiple games that were rated platinum, but wouldn't launch or had other graphical issues that made them unplayable. Luckily the issues usually present themselves before you reach the 2 hour refund time limit.

I feel like Proton is Valve's bid to free themselves of their dependency on Windows, so I like to think #1 will change in time as the publishers come around to the idea that Windows is slowly but surely losing its position as the only viable gaming platform.

I think SteamOS and/or Steam-Machines were that bid. Both seem to have been deprioritized and now Proton is a fallback.

I'm sad to say that Windows will likely stay this way for the foreseeable future. The additional test/QA work required in order to make additional platforms (linux, macOS, etc) have to have a business case associated with them. You could imagine the developers writing the game on linux, building and debugging/running locally on linux, but testing and shipping on windows. So even if the games work well on linux, they won't necessarily get a release.

The only thing that might change this balance would be if somehow PC-style games would target Android, or if Android would somehow become some kind of desktop OS. Both seem infeasible to me now but something could change.

> 1. The majority of the games do not support multiplayer on Linux, due to dependency on Windows-specific anticheat software.

Not even anti-cheat, just different implementations of things in the Linux and Windows versions. IIRC Paradox games don't have any strong anti-cheat, but Linux and Windows users can't play due to how their systems handle network time synchronization.

> 2. Many, many of the games themselves aren't totally stable on Linux. So, expect a crash or two at critical gameplay moments.

Many, many of the games themselves aren't totally stable on Windows, either. Bethesda games (Fallout, Skyrim) come to mind -- desktop Skyrim had all sorts of bugs and crashes on Windows.

And why would it crash only at critical gameplay moments? Sounds like FUD.

> And why would it crash only at critical gameplay moments? Sounds like FUD.

hah! at least back when I played nonstop twitch games there were no moments that were non-critical gameplay moments ;)

Modern Paradox games (see Stellaris and Crusaders Kings 2) do support cross-platform multiplayer^. Maybe you are confusing them with Civilization V/VI, which did launch without cross-platform support and it is broken periodically due to the Linux/Mac version lagging behind the Windows one after each major update.

^ Aside from the regular out-of-sync issues they suffer sporadically, no matter the platform.

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