It works fine. My cloud saves go between my Linux machines and Windows machines no problem. Which game are you looking at? Some games have native Linux versions that treat the saves as different from the Windows version. You can fix that by forcing Proton and running the Windows version.

Originally posted by Haruspex:

It works fine. My cloud saves go between my Linux machines and Windows machines no problem. Which game are you looking at? Some games have native Linux versions that treat the saves as different from the Windows version. You can fix that by forcing Proton and running the Windows version.

Treat differently how? Not true, unless you meant the actual save location???

Originally posted by ExCON:

Treat differently how? Not true, unless you meant the actual save location???

Not always, but sometimes when it's a Linux native version in particular, the save files won't sync up with the Windows version on another machine.

Like with your copy of Borderlands 2, for example, since that's your only game as far as I can tell. Borderlands 2 has a Linux native version that hasn't been updated in several years, and it's considered extremely outdated compared to the Windows version. This is not uncommon, since Linux at one point was such a small portion of the user base, that many developers just abandoned their Linux native versions entirely. Nevertheless, it's still there, and under Linux, Steam will prioritize the Linux native version by default.

Now with Proton, there's even less incentive to support a completely separate build of the game. Why do that when you can just ensure the one build works on both?

If you force the Windows version to run via Proton, your save files will sync. You'll also notice that the Linux native does not support cross-platform multiplayer with Windows players. All the more reason not to use it.

Originally posted by Haruspex:

Originally posted by ExCON:

Treat differently how? Not true, unless you meant the actual save location???

Not always, but sometimes when it's a Linux native version in particular, the save files won't sync up with the Windows version on another machine.

Like with your copy of Borderlands 2, for example, since that's your only game as far as I can tell. Borderlands 2 has a Linux native version that hasn't been updated in several years, and it's considered extremely outdated compared to the Windows version. This is not uncommon, since Linux at one point was such a small portion of the user base, that many developers just abandoned their Linux native versions entirely. Nevertheless, it's still there, and under Linux, Steam will prioritize the Linux native version by default.

Now with Proton, there's even less incentive to support a completely separate build of the game. Why do that when you can just ensure the one build works on both?

If you force the Windows version to run via Proton, your save files will sync. You'll also notice that the Linux native does not support cross-platform multiplayer with Windows players. All the more reason not to use it.

For me it was a given, as you mentioned above, with proton, native Linux versions might as well not exist. Hence did even occur to me. And yes, Windows versions will sync.

Originally posted by Haruspex:

Originally posted by ExCON:

Treat differently how? Not true, unless you meant the actual save location???

Not always, but sometimes when it's a Linux native version in particular, the save files won't sync up with the Windows version on another machine.

Yes, that's intentional. Steam cloud files have a property that says which operating system they are for -- which could be "all", but it doesn't have to be...

Interesting enough, Steam also has "Switch" as a platform for this; not sure why... do they have a Switch version of the Authenticator app?

It's not Valve's or Steam's fault. Everything is documented for the devs. All they have to do is care about their cross-platform compatibility.

Create a topic to each individual game forum and ask the devs to fix their code if their Steam Cloud saves are not cross-platform.