Why does Steam Deck work on Linux? Blame Windows

Valve’s “Steam Deck” pocket PC has caused a stir among PC gaming geeks, but perhaps the biggest shake-up isn’t its Nintendo Switch-like form factor. The software that runs inside is the real surprise. Why does Steam Deck work on Linux? Blame Windows.

The Steam Deck and the software it contains are the culmination of a nearly decade-long “hedging strategy” started by Valve chief Gabe Newell and his company many moons ago, when Microsoft tried exert more control over developers with Windows 8.

But it’s also the next phase of Valve’s escape plan.

” A disaster “

Windows 10 smoothed out the worst sins of Windows 8, you might not remember how different this operating system was – or “a disaster”, to use Newell’s words – when it launched in 2012.

Loyd / IDG case

Windows 8 has bent over backwards to make the mobile UI a priority, relegating the desktop to “just another app” status in a screen full of colorful tiles. More worryingly, the Windows Store launched alongside the operating system, with strict requirements for the types of software allowed and high port charges similar to those charged by Apple and Google for inclusion in their stores. applications. The developers feared that Microsoft would become more and more draconian in its rules. Their concerns were exacerbated by the simultaneous launch of Windows RT, an Arm-based version of Windows that restricted users to using only Windows Store sanctioned software. (RT quickly fizzled out.)

Dedicated PC game developers felt particularly anxious. Newell called it “a giant sadness”. Blizzard executive vice president Rob Pardo tweeted that Windows 8 was “not great for Blizzard either” following Newell’s “disaster” comment. Minecraft Creator Markus “Notch” Persson told Microsoft to “stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform” when he asked him to certify the game for Windows 8.

While Notch ironically sold Minecraft to Microsoft for $ 2.5 billion a few years later, Newell and Valve reacted to the “disaster” as most sane people would: open PC ecosystem.

The SteamOS escape hatch

Windows 8 was released on August 1, 2012. In December 2013, Valve introduced SteamOS to the general public.

Hayden Dingman / IDG

Well not really. The beta of the Steam-centric operating system required obscure technical knowledge to install, and Valve itself warned that “unless you’re already a fearless Linux hacker, we’ll recommend that you wait until later in 2014 to try it out. . “The operating system certainly had a lot of rough edges outside the door – it worked only with Nvidia GPUs, for example, but Valve has worked diligently to polish them. In October 2015, Valve’s steam engines were launched.

And failed. Hard.

The Steam Machine business was doomed from the start, and I explained why they would do it before they even launched. There were several reasons: delays, poor communication from Valve, an unorthodox new Steam Controller needed to use PCs, the simultaneous launch of the more versatile Steam Link, and a “good, better, better” branding strategy for PCs. the manufacturers of steam engines which caused even more confusion. But in retrospect, the biggest problem was SteamOS itself.

Original PC

SteamOS could only run Linux games, you see. And games on Linux were dismal in 2015. I used to maintain a list of the best Linux games because so few developers bothered to create Linux ports. Getting games to run often required exotic workarounds and third-party tools, and even then games that were running. at all often ran madly. Once again: it’s no surprise that Steam Machines failed.

Valve has learned the lesson. You don’t stop planning for a disaster just because you run into obstacles in the way. After the death of Steam Machines, something far more important – and the key to the Steam Deck’s existence – rose from the ashes.

Proton: Lessons Learned on Linux

If the developers weren’t making games for Linux, Valve decided they would invest in creating the Windows games run on linux instead. In 2018, Valve introduced Proton, a fork of the popular WINE compatibility layer that allows Linux PCs to play Windows games. (If you don’t know WINE, count yourself lucky.)

“There’s always been that classic chicken-and-egg kind of problem with the steam engine,” Valve designer Scott Dalton told IGN. “It got us down this Proton path, where now there are all these games that actually work.”

ProtonDB

Proton has really been a game-changer. If the Linux game was once an almost barren wasteland, Proton was the water it desperately needed. Thousands upon thousands of Windows games could just be played on Linux PCs now – some tweaking is needed sometimes, no. Over the past few years, Valve (with help from the WINE experts at CodeWeavers) has worked hard to fix the most glaring issues. In 2018, our curated list of the best Linux games surpassed 35 titles. At present, the community-run ProtonDB website tracks nearly 19,000 Proton-compatible games, and over 15,000 of them work great on Linux.

The technology is still not enough perfect, like our look at how Proton is going to make or break Steam Deck details in more depth. Most popular multiplayer shooters do not work on Linux because BattlEye and Easy Anti-Cheat are not compatible with Proton. Valve says it is working with those studios to secure support for the technology ahead of Steam Deck’s launch. If the past is any indication, Valve will eventually get it right.

The Steam Deck is a Trojan horse

Valve isn’t just pushing a portable gaming PC. Gabe Newell and company are still bracing for potential disaster. While you might think of the Steam Deck as the culmination of nearly a decade of work for Valve, you can also look at it the other way around. If the Steam Deck is successful, it will force developers to devote more attention to Linux, or at least consider Proton compatibility when coding. With every game that works great on the Steam Deck, Valve’s escape hatch opens a few inches wider.

Valve

“We’re trying to make sure Linux thrives,” Newell told Venture Beat just before Windows 8 launched in 2012. It’s as easy as it gets for anyone who engages with us – getting their games on Steam and make them work on Linux as well.

The Steam Deck — and Proton before that, and the Steam Machines before that, and SteamOS before that this– makes it clear that Valve still has its eyes on the price … and the potential for disaster. Without Windows 8, the Steam Deck as we know it would never exist, and Linux games wouldn’t be as dynamic as they are today.