Crytek Ports CRYENGINE To Linux Support Ahead of Steam Machines Launch

probain was the first to submit news that Crytek has officially announced the port of their CRYENGINE game engine to Linux and will be demoing it at the Game Developers Conference next week. Quoting: "During presentations and hands-on demos at Crytek's GDC booth, attendees can see for the first time ever full native Linux support in the new CRYENGINE. The CRYENGINE all-in-one game engine is also updated with the innovative features used to recreate the stunning Roman Empire seen in Ryse – including the brand new Physically Based Shading render pipeline, which uses real-world physics simulation to create amazingly realistic lighting and materials in CRYENGINE games."

Comments

I think it's time we all said...

[jamlam]

Thanks Valve!

Re:Cryopreservation?

[Sockatume]

I genuinely want to know what you think you just read.

Is gaming on Linux actually going to take off?

[realmolo]

It almost seems like it's finally going to happen. Amazing.

Now we just need to standardize on a desktop environment, and Linux will actually be a nice OS for the masses. /cue the "But choice is good!" crowd. Yeah, choice is good, but fragmentation is FAR worse than having no choices, when it comes to operating systems.

Re:Linux sales figures

[DrGamez]

Currently Valve does this, and there are mechanics from within Steam to facilitate this. Games can have "Steam Play", which means if you can install Steam on that machine - you should (in theory) be able to play the game on that machine.

Any game you buy that has "Steam Play" enabled lets you download whatever version appropriate for your system. For example, Portal 2 is (or has been) releasing for Linux recently, and if you've bought the Windows version, you do not need to now go and buy the Linux version, you just click to install it while on your Linux box.

I'm really hoping developers will use this - even for their years-old games, because the point brought up a few replies back by DoofusOfDeath is true. I really hope some of the first newcomers to the Linux marketplace won't be turned off because a port of their 7 year old game didn't sell as well as their Windows counter-part did.

Only a Matter of Time Now

[The Cat]

Linux will be the premier gaming platform on the PC and on its own console, and Valve will be the company that made it happen.

This will have nothing but positive effects on the quality of games, the tools required to make those games, the educational possibilities for developers through shared source, and there will be spinoff effects for Android and OS X.

Tremendously exciting time to be a Linux developer. Glad we stuck with it.

Re:Linux sales figures

[NickFortune]

I think there's more value than an extra sale here.

Valve is offering game developers a single target in Steam OS.

Your're not wrong - but I think there's more to it than that, even.

Valve's concern is Microsoft's app store. They feel that MS are looking to lock down the platform, Apple style, and use the Ap store to charge a surcharge on any software installed, and to control what can and cannot be released. That impacts Valve both as a game developer, and as a distributor via Steam. I seem to recall they went on record to that effect not so long ago.

So Valve are throwing resources at turning Linux into a viable gaming platform. It's an investment in the future for them. And from the look of it, Crytek have come to more or less the same conclusion.

That's how I read it, anyway.