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The original was posted on /r/linux_gaming by /u/Affenzoo on 2023-09-21 12:02:09.

Serious question, I am curious.

Most of the Steam games are compiled and sold for Windows.

So how does it work legally? I assume that Valve have some passages in their contracts with the game publishers that they are allowed to offer the games under SteamOS and Linux?

Or can a game publisher say “No, we only want our games to run under genuine Windows”?

Can Valve use whatever layer (Proton/Wine/…) they want and offer games in whatever OS they want?

I am interested how the legal construct is.

  • xcjs
    1•1 year ago

    There aren’t too many legal concerns about it from the perspective you’re talking about. I’m sure publishers could put in a licensing provision that running their software on operating systems other than Windows isn’t allowed, but that’s a private agreement between the publisher and consumer.

    It’s difficult to enforce and doesn’t really benefit anyone.