I know, I know, quality over quantity! Still, I can't help but feel excited by the amount of good quality games that are now available on Linux.
The current count is at around 3529 on Steam, give or take a few that still show up in the list that haven't actually released yet. It might be slightly different depending on the country you're in too.
The rate of games releasing for Linux hasn't actually increased all that much at all, it took a very similar amount of time for us to go from 2.5K to 3K and again now to 3.5K. The funny thing is how wrong I was back in February, since I thought it might slow down. If anything, it's increasing in pace overall, just not all that quickly.
While we're on the subject, GOG now has about 719 games that support Linux, so their library is growing for us too. It pales in comparison to Steam though. GOG are much more selective about what they allow on their store overall, so it's to be expected.
We've had some truly great releases already this year and we've got a lot of time left to go. We've had games like Total War: Shogun 2 & Fall of the Samurai, DiRT Rally, HITMAN, Civilization VI, Sudden Strike 4, Tacoma, Pyre, Albion Online, Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, Rusted Warfare and I could continue on for hours it seems.
I said in my end of year review for 2016, that 2017 would be a massive year for us. Given how the year has gone so far, I think I might have been right. Lots of time left this year, so I bet there's a good amount of surprises due.
What has been your most exciting Linux game release so far this year? I really can't pick! I'm at an absolute loss, there's so many. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
The current count is at around 3529 on Steam, give or take a few that still show up in the list that haven't actually released yet. It might be slightly different depending on the country you're in too.
The rate of games releasing for Linux hasn't actually increased all that much at all, it took a very similar amount of time for us to go from 2.5K to 3K and again now to 3.5K. The funny thing is how wrong I was back in February, since I thought it might slow down. If anything, it's increasing in pace overall, just not all that quickly.
While we're on the subject, GOG now has about 719 games that support Linux, so their library is growing for us too. It pales in comparison to Steam though. GOG are much more selective about what they allow on their store overall, so it's to be expected.
We've had some truly great releases already this year and we've got a lot of time left to go. We've had games like Total War: Shogun 2 & Fall of the Samurai, DiRT Rally, HITMAN, Civilization VI, Sudden Strike 4, Tacoma, Pyre, Albion Online, Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, Rusted Warfare and I could continue on for hours it seems.
I said in my end of year review for 2016, that 2017 would be a massive year for us. Given how the year has gone so far, I think I might have been right. Lots of time left this year, so I bet there's a good amount of surprises due.
What has been your most exciting Linux game release so far this year? I really can't pick! I'm at an absolute loss, there's so many. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Mountain Man Aug 14, 2017
Even 5-years ago, I honestly never thought we'd see this day and was prepared to content myself with dual-booting and the occasional indie release for Linux.
But even as successful as Linux gaming has been, I'm still somewhat concerned about our minuscule presence and a little afraid, perhaps irrationally, that it could all just suddenly go away.
But even as successful as Linux gaming has been, I'm still somewhat concerned about our minuscule presence and a little afraid, perhaps irrationally, that it could all just suddenly go away.
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The biggest surprise that I had with GOG is when I discovered that is a Cypriot based company :D
(I was like no way!!! but then I understood the reasons like all other foreign companies that have a company in my country)
Proof: https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/212632089-User-Agreement
This Agreement is a contract between you and GOG Ltd, 7 Florinis Street, Greg Tower, 6th floor, 1065 Nicosia, Cyprus and applies to www.GOG.com, your GOG user account, the GOG Downloader, GOG Galaxy, any games or videos or other content which you purchase or access via us, the GOG web forums, GOG customer and technical support and other services we provide to you (we'll just call all this “GOG services” for short).
(I was like no way!!! but then I understood the reasons like all other foreign companies that have a company in my country)
Proof: https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/212632089-User-Agreement
This Agreement is a contract between you and GOG Ltd, 7 Florinis Street, Greg Tower, 6th floor, 1065 Nicosia, Cyprus and applies to www.GOG.com, your GOG user account, the GOG Downloader, GOG Galaxy, any games or videos or other content which you purchase or access via us, the GOG web forums, GOG customer and technical support and other services we provide to you (we'll just call all this “GOG services” for short).
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Quoting: Mountain ManEven 5-years ago, I honestly never thought we'd see this day and was prepared to content myself with dual-booting and the occasional indie release for Linux.Yeah, I never imagined we would get some of the titles we have now!
But even as successful as Linux gaming has been, I'm still somewhat concerned about our minuscule presence and a little afraid, perhaps irrationally, that it could all just suddenly go away.
I fear the same, but that's part of why I'm here. I will do what I can to help spread the word :)
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It could still all go away but for the minute as long as valve stays committed to linux in some way and keeps the client updated we should still be somewhat viable to game companies. If Linux can keep Square/Codemasters/2K/Paradox/Sega/Deep Silver and Valve porting games maybe we can grow that. My concern if is the sales are not strong enough on x title and one of those companies pulls linux support that will start to make other devs nervous.
Last edited by Whitewolfe80 on 14 August 2017 at 5:35 pm UTC
Last edited by Whitewolfe80 on 14 August 2017 at 5:35 pm UTC
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Quoting: wolfyrionThe biggest surprise that I had with GOG is when I discovered that is a Cypriot based company :D ...
I could have sworn they are from Poland.
But yeah, life has never been so good as a Linux user. Really there is nothing I cannot do on Linux either for work or leisure. I don't even need to have Wine installed anymore. It's almost too easy.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Mountain ManEven 5-years ago, I honestly never thought we'd see this day and was prepared to content myself with dual-booting and the occasional indie release for Linux.I worry about that too. Our market share is too small for this proportion of games coming to Linux to feel sustainable.
But even as successful as Linux gaming has been, I'm still somewhat concerned about our minuscule presence and a little afraid, perhaps irrationally, that it could all just suddenly go away.
There is I think an odd factor sustaining it--the prevalence of Linux everywhere except the desktop. People who do computer-oriented things for a living are far more likely to do those things with Linux, at least some of the time, than the broader population. Servers? Linux. Cloud (really just a special case of servers)? Linux. Supercomputers? Linux. Embedded? Linux. Programming for all those things? Linux. And given that, a lot of education related to programming also teaches Linux. Game designers are part of that community and came through that education, so they too are likely to be familiar with and involved in Linux. There's a mindshare there independent of the actual Linux desktop market; a lot of these people want an excuse to make games available for Linux.
Even so, and despite the engines and such making it easier, at 1-2% the financial viability of making games available on Linux is suspect. This is one reason why I'd love to see a redone, better Steam Machine launch. Or a copyright crackdown in Asia, because Linux can compete with Windows way better than with Pirate Windows.
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Mountain Man Aug 14, 2017
Quoting: Purple Library GuyThis is one reason why I'd love to see a redone, better Steam Machine launch. Or a copyright crackdown in Asia, because Linux can compete with Windows way better than with Pirate Windows.As Bill Gates allegedly said, "I don't care if people pirate, as long as they're pirating Windows."
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: wolfyrionThe biggest surprise that I had with GOG is when I discovered that is a Cypriot based company :D
(I was like no way!!! but then I understood the reasons like all other foreign companies that have a company in my country)
Proof: https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/212632089-User-Agreement
This Agreement is a contract between you and GOG Ltd, 7 Florinis Street, Greg Tower, 6th floor, 1065 Nicosia, Cyprus and applies to www.GOG.com, your GOG user account, the GOG Downloader, GOG Galaxy, any games or videos or other content which you purchase or access via us, the GOG web forums, GOG customer and technical support and other services we provide to you (we'll just call all this “GOG services” for short).
That came as a surprise to me. I thought they were based in eastern Europe.
Last edited by Duckeenie on 14 August 2017 at 5:53 pm UTC
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Kimyrielle Aug 14, 2017
Setting up proxy companies in tax havens to evade having to contribute to society is considered a standard practice in international business.
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I'm actually more optimistic for Linux gaming in the future than even today, as I think eventually gaming will largely be streaming, and as long as the streaming clients exist for Linux, then we'll be good. That way, if anything, we'll have an even bigger selection than we do today...
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