Hey there!
I’m a solo dev working on a sci-fi grand strategy game (I didn’t manage to find if self-promo is allowed so I’ll keep the name for myself).
I was updating my planning and started to think: since my game will be published on Steam, it will be playable on Linux using Compatibility Mode even if I don’t specifically target Linux itself. I myself play on an Ubuntu and this allows me to play almost every Windows game (old ones are more capricious, but recent ones are ok).
So I’m wondering, is there really an advantage to have native Linux support nowadays? As a solo dev, the thing I lack the most is time. The days/weeks/months it would take me to add it and fix all the probable bugs it entails could be used to improve the game itself or add features instead for example.
On a more general note, what do you other Linux players expect from a Linux game?
Linux native games are great as long as the engine is open source. If it’s closed source, it will eventually stop running on up-to-date distros some time after the developer stops updating it. For closed source games, it would be better to develop for excellent wine/proton compatibility so the game will continue to be playable long after it stops getting updates.
Good point indeed. Thanks :)
Closed-source games should be packaged including their dependencies (e.g. like an AppImage or whatever) rather than relying on OS-provided shared libraries.