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Comment by Ace17 | Hacker News Reader

No GNU/Linux version, for such a geeky theme ?

The game uses Unity3D, it might only be a matter of ... recompilation :D

> The game uses Unity3D, it might only be a matter of ... recompilation :D

It's not. It's a matter of porting, QAing, and then indefinitely supporting a platform that will not bring enough revenue even to cover the developer's time.

For AAA titles I could understand that, but for indies? They won't sell that much Windows copies, so having a Linux option is always good (see other indies, like Factorio, Oxygen not included, Hollow Knight).

It's especially true for indies: if you don't sell as much Windows copies, you won't sell as much Linux copies too, proportionally. I've worked in an indie publisher, and not a single one of our projects would return the investment of releasing a Linux version.

> return the investment of releasing a Linux version

It must be nigh on impossible; beyond developer time, support requests will be a complete nightmare.

So why do many indies do have Linux versions (Steam is a good source for those)?

From what you wrote it should be next to impossible to find them.

I spend my entire day in tmux and vim land in a Linux terminal, but as a gamer wanting to play good games, it’s windows all the way. Gaming on Linux just still isn’t there yet.

It depends on what you look for, Steam has put a lot of work into consolidating ways to run windows-only games to work on Linux.

Aside from that, games like Factorio, Minecraft, Civilization 6, XCOM2, Shadow of Mordor, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided run on Linux just fine.

and csgo :)

If you have a GPU that supports Vulkan these days, and you play games on Steam, it is very likely that you will be able to play games even without native Linux support. I check before I purchase any games, but it has become very unusual when I encounter a Steam game that I cannot play.

https://www.protondb.com/

Gold or better generally just work. The current ratings for the top 1000 games:

Top Thousand Unrated:61 Borked:6% Bronze+:64% Silver+:59% Gold+:49% Platinum:19% Native:25%

that's really cool - my beefy gaming rig dual boots ubuntu so ill check it out!

That's cool, but I don't want to use Windows for games. Games that don't work on Linux (at least through Proton) simply won't get played.

Linux is there, it's just a matter of developer support.

Via Twitter, I've asked them if they plan for this to work with SteamPlay/Proton.

And testers running the whole thing on a new platform at the very least. I'd like to see it on Linux as well, but let's not underestimate the time required.

Even the geekiest game programmer acknowledges that all the tooling, support, and money is on Windows, and Linux just isn't worth the extra effort.

I agree: if you only consider extra revenue, it's not worth the extra effort.

And yet, GNU/Linux is supported by many commercial games: Amnesia, SOMA, SpaceChems, Towerfall, Braid, HyperLight Drifter, Shovel Knight, Undertale, VVVVVV, Hollow Knight, Overload, WarGame Red Dragon ...

So there must be something else there than extra revenue.

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