That’s true to a point. But there’s motivation to release native clients even if Windows compatibility layers exist, and I’ve seen devs do exactly that. For example, Return to Monkey Island was Windows-only but Steam Deck-certified on launch. Shortly after (within a month IIRC) a native Linux version was released as well. This was great for me because even though it was certified for Steam Deck, somehow it didn’t work quite right on my Linux system. Wine/proton is an extra point of failure and it does fail quite a lot.
The way I see it, proton is bootstrapping Linux gaming. Can’t get gamers without games, and you won’t get games without gamers. Proton is fixing that paradox and getting the gamers in first. Native games are already following, and will likely increase right along with Linux’s market share.
Also, “market share” isn’t necessarily as important as absolute numbers. Most games only need to find a small audience to be successful. 2% 20 years ago was easy to ignore. 2% today is quite a big market, and a viable niche in its own right.
That’s true to a point. But there’s motivation to release native clients even if Windows compatibility layers exist, and I’ve seen devs do exactly that. For example, Return to Monkey Island was Windows-only but Steam Deck-certified on launch. Shortly after (within a month IIRC) a native Linux version was released as well. This was great for me because even though it was certified for Steam Deck, somehow it didn’t work quite right on my Linux system. Wine/proton is an extra point of failure and it does fail quite a lot.
The way I see it, proton is bootstrapping Linux gaming. Can’t get gamers without games, and you won’t get games without gamers. Proton is fixing that paradox and getting the gamers in first. Native games are already following, and will likely increase right along with Linux’s market share.
Also, “market share” isn’t necessarily as important as absolute numbers. Most games only need to find a small audience to be successful. 2% 20 years ago was easy to ignore. 2% today is quite a big market, and a viable niche in its own right.