OS specific stores, consoles, and retrogaming already have more games than I am able to play the rest of my life.
If they were like Loki in the Linux gamming efforts, I would be willing to kind of sponsor it, for Proton I already have Windows at home.
Better keep targeting Windows.
With Proton we basically have a common stable runtime that handles all the platform specific needs of a video game. It just so happens that runtime is largely binary-compatible with Windows. It's easier for devs to support when all they have to do is stick to a Proton-compatible subset of the Win32 API. Users get way more games. And anecdotally my experience as a user is generally better than with true native ports. It's a big net win.
It is up to Valve to make it work.
It is a loss for GNU/Linux as gamming platform.
Do you think anyone would be paying for Nintendo and PlayStation consoles, if they were running XBox OS translations, instead of having the games natively target them?
That is why all those cheap Chinese handhelds never go nowhere, being basically MAME devices.
The alternative is that they do not do this at all because it is too much work for too little payoff. Proton is driving real Linux adoption in PC gaming.
Proton is driving the adoption of PC Windows games on Linux.
Plenty of other AAA games have made Proton and Deck-specific compatibility considerations
Other than my phone, I would never purchase software from an OS-specific store. Why would you ever choose to do that?
It is already there, has enough choice to keep me entertained, I don't suffer from FOMO.
I'm a Windows user. I don't want to lose my apps if (really, when) I eventually switch to Linux.
Buying my games on Steam means I can play my games anywhere.