I dunno. There’s no Proton on Mac, so lumping Mac and Linux together when they really just mean Proton wouldn’t make much sense. There are native Mac and Linux games on Steam, and the Steam store page has icons and system requirement tabs for all three OSes, neither of which happens with Windows-only games. “We’re also releasing Civilization VII for MacOS and Linux / SteamOS” also sounds like they’re talking about actual Linux and Mac builds. It could all be miscommunication, of course. That wouldn’t surprise me.

Seems pretty clear to me: “We’re also releasing Civilization VII for MacOS and Linux / SteamOS” doesn’t just not mention Proton, there also isn’t a Proton on MacOS Steam. And you don’t get Linux and Mac system sepcs and platform icons on Windows-only games on Steam whether or not you can run them with Proton; you get ”Steam Deck Verified”.

(I’m half expecting them to walk that back later but for now the message seems clear.)

proton

Is that even an option on the Mac? And “Proton games” wouldn’t show the Mac and SteamOS platform icon on the Steam store.

We're also releasing Civilization VII for MacOS and Linux / SteamOS. However, we don't have specs to share for those platforms at this time.

Source: https://x.com/CivGame/status/1841885325528043648

Now whether all this is just a mix-up in this age of “Linux ports aren’t worth it and they always suck anyway”… maybe.

Wired and wireless X-Box 360 controllers with the built-in kernel drivers, generally hassle-free these days!

Sounds like it — it was posted by The Elder Scrolls Online, not Valve. (Edit: Yes, of course this still means Proton.)

I guess they just don’t want to bother with it any more?

Plasma. Though on one Thinkpad I’m trying Pop!_OS’s take on Gnome (usable launcher/grid/menu and automatic window tiling).

Yes. I think Elder Scrolls Online and Guild Wars 2 were my last "anchors" to Windows (7, at the time). I barely ever booted into it… I wanted to be NOT IN WINDOWS more than I wanted to play big fat luxury games.

But I did keep it around until there just wasn’t anything left that I wanted to run but couldn’t. The first Humble Indie Bundles with games like FEZ and Limbo had been out by that point as well as a few bigger titles like The Witcher 2. Wine was much more painful than it is now.

I’ve generally made sure not to buy too “crazy” hardware (like Bluetooth controllers… yes, I’m old and a neophobe and I don’t know what else).

Wine has come a long way! Though Linux-native gaming is not on AAA studios’ radar…