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Valve Seems To Be Working On Tools To Get Windows Games Running On Linux (arstechnica.com)
"Valve appears to be working on a set of 'compatibility tools,' called Steam Play, that would allow at least some Windows-based titles to run on Linux-based SteamOS systems," writes Kyle Orland from Ars Technica. From the report: Yesterday, Reddit users noticed that Steam's GUI files (as captured by SteamDB's Steam Tracker) include a hidden section with unused text related to the unannounced Steam Play system. According to that text, "Steam Play will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems." Other unused text in the that GUI file suggests Steam Play will offer official compatibility with "supported tiles" while also letting users test compatibility for "games in your library that have not been verified with a supported compatibility tool." That latter use comes with a warning that "this may not work as expected, and can cause issues with your games, including crashes and breaking save games."
...2018 is the Year of Linux on Desktop!
I have ran and finished on Linux several WIndows only games, using Wine. Wine can be very useful, but in my experience, you lose a big amount of time just testing different wine versions and playing with configuration (Windows version, DLL overrides, runtimes, etc.).
So, even if it is only something like PlayOnLinux on steroids, managing different Wine versions and with scripts automating its usage, it could be good if Valve uses a decent amount of its resources to testing. This could avoid the end users to waste lots of time.
BUT, after writing this, I do now think this will be the case. Something like DOSBox, SCUMMVM and that kind of wrappers seem more feasible.