Linux native for me was always somewhat problematic in the past. Frankly if someone tells you otherwise they’re lying. Proton makes the process simple, click install and play, that’s it, and that’s all any consumer needs to do.
The only long term consequence I can see is if Microsoft decides to make using compatibility layers for their SDK’s intentionally difficult or downright illegal. Valve so far has proven as long as they can do it, they’ll update proton to make games work. The question is will someone pick up the torch if valve eventually stops?
I treat them the same, doesn’t matter to me as proton really is performance parity with Windows and that’s really the baseline.
Until porting natively is just as easy as using proton, no one will port natively. At this point who cares? Native and proton to me are the same at this point.
I started to look at wine/Proton as just another linux runtime. At least now game devs have sth (mostly) stable and backwards compatible that they can target. It is really important since in Linux world, things are much more prone to experience breaking changes. Also the fact that game devs just need to develop one version for both Linux and Windows makes it super easy to target proton - you even don’t need to have a separate build process. Hence we get a more ‘refined’ version than just half-assed port made by a small team or third-party.
So I’m quite happy with how things are now. It just shows how flexible and capable Linux really is. And who knows maybe in the distant utopian future, Linux (or sth based on it similar to chomebooks, but maybe not as gimped) will pick up market and we will have much more “native” runtime.
I always try the native version first if a game has one (old "native" ports using Wine don't count) and only use Proton if it has serious problems. I want to see more Linux native games, and so I go out of my way to play them in their native version. There are some games that I own where the native version is clearly inferior to Proton, but for most it's equal, or only slightly worse at best (I mean "Pillars of Eternity not having cloak physics in native version" level worse).
wine/proton is so good at this point and it’s getting better day by day. imo there is no need for native games but if some competative games like counter-strike, dota etc. gonna make little bit more performance out of native port then devs should consider native ports too.
Team Fortress 2 runs sweet native linux just got an udate too ;) The steam deck accelerated the development of proton so much, if they released another linux based product it would probably encourage more native games or at least better support with proton.
The steam deck and proton are game changers. Steam deck makes linux worth some nominal support. Simultaneously, proton means they don’t need a full port. All they need to do is not actively break compatibility with proton, which is a lot easier. This lowers the bar drastically for developers.
If it’s a closed binary-only game then I really don’t care what “runtime” it uses as long as it runs well. Almost all games use their own GUI so they won’t be integrating with anything anyway and since they are closed I won’t be able to build them from source. It either runs and plays well or it doesn’t. Using Wine as the runtime is not that different from a game like Slay the Spire running in a JVM.
So I have no problem with switching stuff over to Wine/Proton if that works better.
I tend to avoid linux native, although i do give it a go when possible to see if it doesn’t suck(which it usually does.)
Usually you get a much more uniform and smooth experience with wine or proton. Which makes sense given how there are a ridiculous amount of distros out there.
I actually experience the opposite, even though native games throwing fits sounds about right.
I have very few native games, the ones I remember atm are Valheim (which I didn’t realize was native at first), X3:TC (+ later expansions) and X4:F; the native versions work relatively flawlessly even in Windowed mode with Sway being my WM, so that’s something.
Can you even do Wayland on Nvidia? My only Nvidia card is used in a server for testing self hosted stuff that uses cuda but it’s still a bitch to deal with.
Yeah I’m happy with whatever works and performs best. If that means a proton version that plays nicely in Linux I’m all for it, and if it’s a native version that will be supported and/or improve across many years of releases, even better.
I used to be really big on native games but honestly my experience with Proton have been pretty positive
I’ve had this situation as well with a couple of games. Total War Warhammer 3 can’t be played online (or it’s not cross-platform, which would be weird) and XCOM 2 didn’t handle modding all that well using the native client.
There are a few other games I’ve attempted but I can’t remember all of them.
Graveyard Keeper has a native client but it can’t use hardware driven cursors and its display resolution gets out of whack (on ultrawide, admittedly). The game doesn’t have native ultrawide support, to be fair, but the scaling at least works correctly using Proton.
Loop Hero has a native Linux version and it works perfectly.
Oh yeah, speaking of Zachtronics, Last Call BBS is native and also works flawlessly.
The versions of games compiled for Linux work about… hmmm… maybe in a 60:40 split? Oftentimes I do find myself almost immediately switching the game’s compatibility mode to use Proton on Steam if I have any issues.
I think both Proton and Wine receiving much, much more developer support lately is going to be a net good, longterm. Many developers don’t have the “cognitive capacity” or time to dedicate to creating a version that runs on Linux without a compatibility layer. That’s especially true for those using game engines that typically have poor support and tooling for Linux in the first place.
This is just a thought, maybe the effort being expended upon Proton/Wine will ultimately lead to solutions for compatibility issues that work without the use of “emulating” (for lack of a better work off the toppa my head) the whole Windows experience, replacing DLLs and whatnot.
I’m more okay with indie devs just relying on Proton, for sure. I don’t give a “pass” to large studios that don’t at least expend some effort to get the game to build and run on Linux without the use of Proton or other compatibility tools. With that said, I also understand that AAA projects have many hundreds, possibly a thousand people or more, having some part in the development process. It’s not reasonable to assume that every person working on the game can have knowledge of or maintain that every aspect of their work is compatible with both Windows and Linux.
I prolly have more to day but my thumbs are tired lol.
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