Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google

Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by coldpie on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:16AM (#24442418)

Hey there, I work in the Linux gaming space. Epic and Tim Sweeney are not hostile towards Linux. The worst you can say is they're indifferent (and can you blame them, given the size of that market?), but even that is not true. Epic's game engine supports Linux. Could they do more to support Linux gaming? Sure. But that's not the same as being "incredibly hostile."

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by skeeterbug on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:24AM (#24442487)

Epic purchased Rocket League developer Psyonix and ended Linux support for the game shortly after:

https://www.rocketleague.com/news/ending-support-for-mac-and...

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by coldpie on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:27AM (#24442530)

Also macOS[1]. It was part of their upgrade to use a newer DirectX version[2]. Rather than maintain two renderers, they chose to end support for OSes which don't have DirectX support. If it costs more to maintain support for a platform than that support brings in, why would they do it?

[1] https://support.rocketleague.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042201...

[2] https://support.rocketleague.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043307...

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by dx87 on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:50AM (#24442779)

The main reason they should support it is because people paid money for a Linux version.

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by ksec on Sunday September 13, 2020 @04:49AM (#24459442)

And they were refunded? ( Even after thousands hours of Game Play Entertainment Hours )

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by kec on Friday September 11, 2020 @10:45AM (#24443376)

If that were the real reason, why is rocket league still available on both the ps4 and Nintendo switch?

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by gruez on Friday September 11, 2020 @12:13PM (#24444303)

presumably because those platforms have way more users than linux?

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by wayneftw on Friday September 11, 2020 @02:59PM (#24446162)

Yeah, not only that but Linux users are known to be hostile to commercial software companies.

Given that, the microscopic market, and the additional programming complexity I don't see a reason why any game company should go out of their way to support Linux ever.

(As a Linux desktop user, I'm thankful when they do though. I'm so glad that Beyond Compare from Scooter Software works on my main workstation, for instance. Also Zoom, Slack and VS Code among others... Looking forward to trying MS Edge some day soon.)

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by brnt on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:41AM (#24442675)

No Epic Store in Linux. Repeatedly stated they've no plans to.

Meanwhile, Steam is doubling down with Proton. Since Proton, I don't have a Windows partition around anymore, it just works for an enormous number of titles.

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by nvrspyx on Friday September 11, 2020 @10:05AM (#24442948)

Ignoring Linux != Hostile to Linux

Just because they don't want to build for and support a relatively tiny platform does not mean that they're hostile toward that platform. They support it in other ways via their game engine. Steam, on the other hand, has a vested interest in supporting Linux due to SteamOS, which they hope to pursue again in the future.

Just because Valve has a lot of goodwill in supporting Linux, even though Proton hasn't really affected Linux's market share in gaming, does not mean everyone else is actively hostile toward it.

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by coldpie on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:51AM (#24442785)

Choosing not to support a platform which may not be profitable is not "incredibly hostile."

Don't forget when calculating profitability that you also have to account for opportunity cost: the devs you hire to work on Linux could instead be working on improving your fledgling client for the much more profitable Windows platform. Valve is already over that hurdle with Steam, so their profitability calculations will be different. You can't draw a direct comparison.

Like I said, I work on Linux. Trust me when I say there's a lot of very good reasons not to support it that have nothing to do with one's personal opinions of the platform, or whatever it is the OP meant by "incredibly hostile."

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Re:Tim Sweeney on Apple and Google by 013a on Friday September 11, 2020 @09:52AM (#24442807)

That's not hostile; that's indifferent.

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