If someone who wants Linux to be the future of gaming was able to control the thoughts and actions of the decision makers at Microsoft, Windows 11 is exactly what they would make them release. I can think of no better way to prompt game developers to move their focus away from Windows.

Windows 11 UI is shit, true. But why would it make the game developers move away?

Most gaming PCs ship with Windows by default and there isn't a comparable market of Linux gamers, so what gives?

MS has continued over the years to push game developers away, while Valve has drawn them in. Now they're also pushing users away. Microsoft holds a shrinking segment of a shrinking market(general purpose computing), and they're behaving as if their customers have nowhere else to go. Apple has eaten more and more of that market, while Linux has grown. Linux will not likely ever dominate the general purpose computing market, but every point it gains is transformative to the industry and the market.

@bahua Good point about Valve drawing them in. Wasn't aware about MS shitting on game devs.

Here's hoping. Games on Linux would make me super happy. Wouldn't even need to dual boot then.

@anux Proton is pretty amazing. And increasing numbers of games use Vulcan now, which makes them more performant and less buggy on Linux. There are noticeably more Linux-native games now, too.

I just hope Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, etc. don’t screw over the Linux kernel or ecosystem as they have done with so many other things in the past.

@anux a thriving culture of indie devs who get to pick their platform and care a lot about developer convenience. Windows still has the size advantage, but the popularity of the dev platform is just one aspect of the choice for indie devs. Also remember that most software is now cross-platform by default thanks to both cross-platform libraries as well as Proton and WSL, so the userbase of the dev platform isn't your whole market, only somewhat privileged due to more targeted testing and optimization.

@lbfalvy indie on PC is a tiny, tiny fraction of the games industry. I'd be more than happy to have mainstream gaming on Linux, but for it to really work the big players need to get behind it, and for that to work the platform needs to offer them something substantial to cover the cost of switching and support.

Even non-big-studio success stories like Warframe and Path of Exile which have a very friendly dev culture don't really do anything for Linux support, they kinda leave it to you (with mixed results in my experience). Proton is one of the best things ever since sliced bread but it's still encouraging a fundamentally windows-first mindset.

@RememberMe

Eh, I wouldn't mind if the trash games stayed on the trash platforms. Getting console leftovers filled with lootboxes, microtransactions, and products produced by abuse(sexual harassment, union-busting, crunch, etc) isn't what will give legitimacy to Linux gaming. I would much rather see indies embrace Linux, as they have been doing, and the toxic shit from EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and Bethesda stay in their garbage pile. If Linux users want to build compatibility with the sequel industry(and I know that many, many do) they can and will continue to do so.

But courting Bobby fucking Kotick to embrace Linux is like asking a passerby to slap your children.