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Are Commercial Games Finally Going To Make It To Linux?

Posted by Soulskill on from the yes-no-maybe dept.

colinneagle writes "Those of us who actively promote Linux as a viable desktop alternative to Windows are often greeted with the following refrain: 'Nobody will use Linux because there are no good games.' The prevailing wisdom is that the abundance of high-quality, commercial video gaming is a key factor in the market-share dominance that Microsoft Windows enjoys. And, in all reality, this is somewhat true. So, then, the obvious course of action is to convince the video game publishers and developers of the world that Linux is a viable (if, perhaps, a bit niche) market. And by 'viable' I mean one thing and one thing only – 'profitable.'Luckily, there have been three high-profile recent examples of Linux users going absolutely nuts over video games, forking over their hard-earned cash in the process: the Humble Indie Bundle (drawing in huge numbers of sales — for a DRM-free product, no less — with sales numbers by Linux users consistently beating out sales to MacOS X users); Canonical's Ubuntu Software Center (where video games make up the top 10 paid software packages); Valve's announcement that it is bringing the Steam store, and community portal, to Linux desktop (specifically Ubuntu). Will the indie game developers (along with Valve) reap the bulk of the rewards that releasing games on Linux is offering...or will some of the big publishers realize what they're missing out on and join in the fun?"

4 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Valve thinks so. by Nyder · · Score: 5, Informative

    Seems like the case.

    http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/16/valve-makes-steam-for-linux-official/

    http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/13/steam-linux-client-release-looks-imminent-games-and-beta-spotted/

    http://tech2.in.com/news/pc/steam-greenlight-lists-games-for-linux/435732

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  2. Re:Wrong question by Tastecicles · · Score: 4, Informative

    HP is very well covered on Linux. As is Oki and Brother.
    Disclaimer: I use all three, on SuSE 9.2 Pro.
    Or are you talking about toy printers (Lexmark, Canon) with ink that costs more than premium champagne?

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    Operation Guillotine is in effect.
  3. Re:Linux has no advantage over windows.... by FunPika · · Score: 4, Informative

    Valve has been getting faster FPS (but not by a huge amount) in Linux than in Windows.

    Windows (DirectX): 270.6 FPS
    Windows (OpenGL): 303.4 FPS
    Linux: 315 FPS

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  4. Re:Conventional wisdom is wrong about why Windows by Gnulix · · Score: 4, Informative

    I actually hear this allot however I would normally reply "Use the GIMP" which IMHO is just as good as Photoshop.

    No, GIMP is not as good as Photoshop. It is however quite competent for the things that most people need to do with an image editing program. For everyday users I would recommend GIMP, but for professional artists and photographers Photoshop is a better choice.