Thats down to the developers though.
Download steam on linux right now and boot up tomb raider and it works just like that mate.
btw tomb raider works natively on linux fyi
Its not just down to game developers, one of the things that holds linux back is also one of the things that makes it good for other uses.
There is no way you can expect game developers to validate their games across tens of different ditros, across a wide range of hardware and software. It just isn’t going to happen.
It’s also great that one game is easy to install but that doesn’t really fly now does it?
Once you get out of those few well supported games on steam, it’s really not a great experience if all you want to do is play games.
Ah, so your knowledge comes from 8 years ago. Aligns with your comments
Do you still compile your own games via punch card?
I literally said it's too soon to say but that there has been significant movement over the past year and a bit. Takes max 15min to load a popular distro and install some additional software (if it's not included by default).
Since how does my post relate to knowledge from 8 years ago. You said they’ve been working on this for only a year, all I did was point out that they’ve certainly been at it for more like a decade or more. Steam machines were announced back in 2014 and they would have been working on it for a long time before then to get to that announcement.
It’s really not that simple, and it’s really not for those with basic knowledge at all. Basic knowledge is, turn on PC, download launcher, play. That isn’t the Linux experience in reality.
Loads of the games on the ‘working’ list are require a lot of work just to get them going.
If you asked someone on windows to run an unsigned patch/script to get a game working made by a random online, you’d fall of your chair because of how stupid an idea that would be for an everyday user.
Lots of popular multiplayer games just don’t work at all due to the anti cheat issues or have issues with different versions of the game. Likewise your not playing anything without native dev support on release either which is the vast majority of games.
Anyone that isn’t a Linux enthusiast just wants to play games with zero hassle, even downloading more than one launcher is too much for some people. They also want to play with their friends the day the game comes out. That’s the lowest common denominator that Linux needs to cater to for it to gain traction.
I don’t disagree that it’s come a long way, and more and more games are ‘supported’ by the community but that doesn’t make it anything close to being ready for a mainstream experience.
Like I said, I expect most steam desk owners will just play games Valve officially support via Steam, or they’ll just put windows on it so they can play games they want to play without any grief from other launchers.
This isn’t a Linux vs Windows thread and ultimately way off topic. But someone had to dispel the notion that linux gaming was for those with basic knowledge, because it isn’t.