Is Gaming on Windows DEAD?? - WAN Show August 24, 2018

Is Gaming on Windows DEAD?? is a WAN Show episode from August 24, 2018 where Linus and Luke (LTT team) discuss a broad mix of hardware, software, and streaming topics, all framed around the state of gaming on Windows and the evolving PC ecosystem. The hosts begin by noting that this WAN Show would no longer be exclusive to Twitch and discuss the implications for discoverability and audience reach across platforms. They compare historical viewership trends, highlighting how Linus Media Group’s YouTube growth has surged while Twitch viewership for WAN Show has declined, prompting consideration of cross‑platform simulcasting via FloatPlane. A key focus is the monetization and community experience, including FloatPlane memberships and alternate chat experiences for fans who want higher bitrate streams and premium chat features. The conversation then shifts to infrastructure upgrades, with Linus revealing potential 10 Gbps dedicated bandwidth to VANIX and to major CDNs, and discussing the financial and logistical considerations of upgrading their backbone while balancing cost and performance for real‑time streaming. Throughout, the hosts tease future content and sponsored segments, including hardware reviews, data recovery tech from Deepspar, and new forms of content experimentation. They also intersperse lighter moments about possible on‑air topics, like a hypothetical Linus vs. Austin Evans boxing match, and share personal anecdotes about training, rugby pasts, and the occasional banter about who would win in a friendly fight. The RTX 2080 launch is a central topic, with commentary on availability, price points for founder’s edition cards, and the potential performance and feature improvements like real‑time ray tracing. The discussion on ray tracing is nuanced: the hosts acknowledge the cool tech and its potential for enhanced lighting realism, but debate whether early implementations will deliver noticeable gameplay benefits in multiplayer titles and how quickly developers will adopt and optimize the technology. They contrast the ray tracing story with other Nvidia innovations such as faster memory (GDDR6) and AI‑driven workloads, while cautioning that the first generation of hardware often underdelivers on real‑world gameplay performance until game developers adopt and optimize the tech. The WAN Show team also covers Intel’s 9th‑generation launch rumors and the confusion around Core i3, i5, i7, i9 naming, plus the new “plus” branding that includes Optane support, discussing how this branding fragmentation complicates consumer understanding. A notable thread runs through the Linux and Steam Play angle, with commentary on Steam’s Linux compatibility approach to Windows games and how Proton/Steam Play could shift market dynamics for Linux gamers. The hosts share a candid appreciation for practical testing and benchmarks, stressing that real user experience and app compatibility ultimately matter more than on‑stage demos, while also acknowledging sponsor integrations and viewer engagement opportunities. They wrap with a few light sponsor spots, product announcements, and a teaser about potential future server and infrastructure experiments, hinting at a broader strategy of testing new technologies and streaming workflows in the LMG ecosystem.

Topics · technology · gaming · podcast · streaming · hardware · linux