Steam / Proton / Microsoft

[Shibblet]

So, I am going to play the question game here.

I am trying to figure out why a company like Steam would go head-first into a project like Wine, in order to create Proton for Linux users to play games.

First of all, there is not really a lot of money in it. Most people who buy games on Steam, already have purchased the Windows version of the game, and tend to play it in Windows. (That is, before Proton.)
Secondy, the amount of new sales that this would generate would be minimal. Also, getting Windows software to run under Linux can be a lot of work, and they are working with 5000+ titles...

They also started work on their own Linux distro, quite a while ago now, that supports their client software, and Proton.

Businesses, like Valve, are in business to make money. I mean, I don't think it's anything nefarious, but businesses have goals. This is not a bad thing, especially when a company like Valve gives back to the community with a product like Proton.

So... what the heck is their goal here?

I wonder if they are preparing for something that they are aware is coming in the future from Microsoft...

Any ideas?

[jetsam]

So, I am going to play the question game here.

Which question game? 20 questions?