So, when is it going to happen? I have a nice machine here and can already run some well optimized games buttery smooth on my 1070 and Manjaro install. The question is when is Blizz going to wake up to the potential we have here. For far too long I was one of the people that wouldn’t switch because of OW, but after I heard of the wonders Lutris managed I never looked back. It’s running fine on Wine on my 1440p 165hz screen, but on low (medium textures) - a decent port would mean the sweet sweet graphics we know Linux deserves. Mcree accent I’m not asking you to go full open source Blizz, but you know that’s a right move…
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So, when is it going to happen?
Never
The day this happens is the day private Overwatch servers start popping up.
Just something to consider. It’s not an easy ask.
Why? I don’t get the relation.
And ok ok, let’s say there is a reason why it’s SUPER hard (that’s an invitation for an explanation btw). Why not give some support to the folks already hard at work for no pay at all to make it work on wine, lutris and the like?
It’s not hard.
It potentially means less business for the company. That’s what I meant by “it’s not an easy ask”.
I mean casual Linux users that use Linux as a PC and not for servers or at Enterprise levels are the 1% percent of the community. On top of this, a good percentage of this community has a open source mentality or are advocates of the free software movement. From a demographics perspective it makes absolutely no sense to release on Linux. Why would they release a linux port when they could work on a port for MacOS which has a pretty big community these days and has a community known for being marketable when it comes to purchasing Apps or software. Even a Nintendo Switch port would be more profitable than porting to Linux. I’m a Linux user myself but just trying to be realistic here from a buisness standpoint.
I happily play Overwatch on Linux with Wine and DXVK, but a native port would be nice. First they need to port Battlenet to Linux, which uses Qt5 and cef, and then the game itself. DXVK in Wine translates DX11 to Vulkan, so right now you can get the same level of performance of Overwatch on Linux as on Windows. Lutris has a script to set up DXVK for Overwatch if you want to try it out.
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The problem with Macs are that they are a closed, Apple controlled, ecosystem, so you have to buy their limited selection of hardware at inflated prices. While Windows is still the go to platform for computer gaming, Microsoft will probably eventually make Windows a subscription service and/or push more of their products, such as the Edge pop up when you go to install Chrome of Firefox, so the Unix clones will be the last truly free OS. With Wine, DXVK, and Vulkan allowing Windows games to run pretty well, it should be that even if companies don’t want to do native Linux ports, they should at least support this effort. You can see that Valve is doing just that with Steam and GoG also sells Linux versions of the many games it sells. Overwatch, WoW, Diablo III, and Hearthstone run pretty well on Wine with DXVK as it is, so Blizz lending a hand would only expand on the fan and player base.