Another year has completely flown by and with that another year of our GOTY Awards comes to a close, here's the results of the Linux 2017 GOTY Awards, as voted by you!
Some categories didn't get a huge amount of votes, likely category fatigue since we had 16 of them. A little overkill, so we will probably tone it down a bit for next year to help with that. Also keep in mind, these are only the Top 10 from each category, there were plenty more votes for games that didn't reach the top, so keep that in mind.
First up, let's take a look at what the current Favourite fully open source game is: 0 A.D. is the winner!
The developers behind 0 A.D. have put in an incredible amount of effort into making the game look as good as possible. I'm always blown away by the quality of it and I look forward to watching it grow as the developers continue getting it ready for a final release.
I have to say, I'm not even the tiniest bit surprised by what the current Favourite FOSS project is for Linux gamers: Wine is the winner!
Wine is always a hot topic, as there's extremes on both sides of the Wine argument. You have to be impressed by what the Wine developers have been able to achieve though, to be able to play some well-known and popular titles on Linux without needing Windows is good for a lot of people dipping their toes into Linux gaming for the first time. It certainly helped me stay interested in Linux in the early days, so I fully appreciate it.
I have to say, what was voted as having the Best graphics for a game released in 2017 did take me by surprise: HITMAN is the winner!
I wouldn't say HITMAN was a bad looking game, far from it (and I certainly enjoy it), however it's certainly not something I would have considered to be top here. That's the fun of voting, I like knowing what you think!
As for the Best story for a game released in 2017: Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition is the winner!
Some real tough choices for best story, my personal favourite was probably Observer! I was absolutely hooked on Observer from start to finish, it was quite an experience.
Ps. Yes, I am well aware Planescape is an older title, but it wasn't officially on Linux until 2017 with the Enhanced Edition release.
The Most promising Early Access game in 2017 was incredibly close, there's only one winner here though: Factorio is the winner!
I'm so totally torn by the best EA game, I love so many of them! With the exception of Black Mesa that crashed on me last I played, I've enjoyed a lot of time in each of those EA games, a very hard category for me to vote in that's for sure.
In the Best update released in 2017 it seems Croteam got a lot of love: Serious Sam Fusion 2017 (beta) is the winner!
Again, not surprising. Croteam put out Vulkan support quickly and their games are well supported on Linux. The Fusion engine was a great thing for us Linux gamers too, since it gives us proper access to the older Serious Sam titles in an official and supported way.
Next up, Best free game released in 2017: Doki Doki Literature Club! is the winner!
I guess I really should try Doki Doki soon then…
Feral Interactive and Croteam battled it out for this one—Best version quality & performance released in 2017: DiRT Rally is the winner!
That's some serious competition there, but DiRT Rally was not only a release many Linux gamers wanted, it turned out the Linux version was really quite good too! I regularly boot it up to do daily runs and have a blast, especially after watching The Grand Tour, I can't help but load it up for a blast. There's also a regular community tournament going on for DiRT Rally, check it out in our forum.
We made this category a little tough, I will admit, as we bundled what could have been multiple categories together. Even so, the competition was fierce for Best audio of a game released in 2017: Hollow Knight is the winner!
Our Friday livesteamer Samsai will be upset his beloved Pyre didn't win…
It was absolutely no contest here for the Best DLC release in 2017: XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is the winner!
Surprised? I'm certainly not! XCOM 2: WotC was an absolutely massive expansion to the strategy game XCOM 2. For me, it's absolutely hands-down the best DLC release last year. It made a game I already enjoyed, even better.
The Biggest surprise Linux release of 2017: HITMAN is a winner again!
Personally, I was more surprised by F1 2017. I'm still surprised to this day, but hopefully it's a sign that racing games on Linux are doing okay.
And here's the Best local multiplayer gamer released in 2017: Gang Beasts is the winner!
Here we have the Best online multiplayer game released in 2017: Ballistic Overkill is the winner!
I'm shocked by this, considering the popularity of Ballistic Overkill has taken a nosedive, must be a bunch of hardcore fans on Linux! I honestly thought Tooth and Tail or possible Faeria would have grabbed this one!
Taking everything into account, the Overall best Linux game released in 2017: HITMAN is the winner!
Personally, I thought the Favourite Linux game porter of 2017 category was going to be quite obvious: Feral Interactive is the winner!
I personally feel that Feral Interactive firmly deserve to be at the top of such an award category. They put out some really fantastic Linux games, a lot of which I enjoy regularly and I'm sure we will see more this year! Well done to all the others too, you're all doing amazing work for Linux gaming!
Finally, let's see what you voted as your Most anticipated game for 2018: Rise of the Tomb Raider is the winner!
It seems there's a lot of people that think Rise of the Tomb Raider is coming to Linux, despite there not being any confirmation yet! I wonder how many of those titles will actually launch for Linux this year? It's going to fun to find out. I'm sure there's plenty more people haven't even thought about.
Congratulations to every game that was nominated, that made it to the Top 10 lists above and the winners!
2017 was great, let's make 2018 even better!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
And I know I myself am guilty of this. There's even many nominated titles that I'd not even heard of before. Obviously they'd never get my vcote, even if deserved.
This is why I still firmly argue that you, Liam, should decide the most important categories, and have dedicated "readers awards" on just a few. Why? Cause you've played them all. Simple as that. You have a much, much better perspective on this than any average reader will.
The problem with relying these kind of things on the readers, is that nobody has played all the titles nominated - far from it. So in fact it becomes a popularity contest instead. For example, I bet my left arm that the only reason Hitman won best graphics is cause that's the game of the nominees that most own and has played. And sadly, I think that will be the case for several of the winners.Thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated :).
And I know I myself am guilty of this. There's even many nominated titles that I'd not even heard of before. Obviously they'd never get my vcote, even if deserved.
This is why I still firmly argue that you, Liam, should decide the most important categories, and have dedicated "readers awards" on just a few. Why? Cause you've played them all. Simple as that. You have a much, much better perspective on this than any average reader will.
No matter how we run it, any time users are involved it will of course depend on what they've played. Even so, it's fun for what it is.
We will likely do it differently next time.
Cheeseness Jan 22, 2018
I'm a bit gutted that Wine beat out Mesa in the end, and I like to think that Feral won their "best porter" award based on how much they've contributed to that effort, and NOT relied on Wine.
I've never been a fan of Wine, but even I can grudgingly admit that they've done some incredible work over the decades and more recently it even feels like there's a momentum there that never existed before. If only I got consistent results when using it, I'm sure I'd get over my bias about it all! :D
Sir_Diealot Jan 22, 2018
So, Pyre won nothing? This is absolutely unacceptable and I will thusly dedicate a segment of the next Friday Livestream to a special Pyre of the Year awards where Pyre wins all the categories. :P
No dear Samsai... Pyre got beaten by Hollow Knight!
Last edited by Ehvis on 22 January 2018 at 7:40 pm UTC
Jan 22, 2018
So, Pyre won nothing? This is absolutely unacceptable and I will thusly dedicate a segment of the next Friday Livestream to a special Pyre of the Year awards where Pyre wins all the categories. :P
<3
For favourite porter I voted for Knockout games because I found Aaron Melcher's name in the credits for Linux/Mac programming. I hadn't even heard that he was involved before then, so I decided to reward the work done completely out of the spotlight. Seems I was the only one.In the credits of Tacoma I assume? Was he involved in any other ports last year?
Seriously, Ballistic Overkill!!!! Thats a shell of what it used to be.
I do love these award type things, shows how different views can be.
For favourite porter I voted for Knockout games because I found Aaron Melcher's name in the credits for Linux/Mac programming. I hadn't even heard that he was involved before then, so I decided to reward the work done completely out of the spotlight. Seems I was the only one.In the credits of Tacoma I assume? Was he involved in any other ports last year?
Tacoma was the only one (game for Linux) in 2017 (source. ;)
For favourite porter I voted for Knockout games because I found Aaron Melcher's name in the credits for Linux/Mac programming. I hadn't even heard that he was involved before then, so I decided to reward the work done completely out of the spotlight. Seems I was the only one.In the credits of Tacoma I assume? Was he involved in any other ports last year?
Tacoma was the only one (game for Linux) in 2017 (source. ;)
Huh - he was interviewed by Liam back in 2015 too! Didn't realise. Loved Tacoma though, so he has my thanks, if not my vote in this case (I voted for Ethan Lee, I think, basically because of Salt and Sanctuary).
Is Doki Doki Literature Club a Linux Game? Linux icon does not appear on steam and I cannot install it on my distro by clicking on "play".
Yeah, just download it from itch.io.
I guess I really should try Doki Doki soon then…
Oh, I (don't) wanna see that.
If you dislike Visual Novels just have Sin play it for us, she had quite an experience with Dream Daddy.
What's up with all this wishful thinking?! I mean, games got purged out of the lists just because they were not released in 2017, which means a year is important! And now this! "Rise of the Tomb Raider" should be excluded from the list entirely! Otherwise, why there were no "Half-Life 3", "Squadron 42", "Cyberpunk 2077" and other mythical games that may see a release in 2018 despite there being absolutely no indication they ever will be?
Oh, what's your issue with me playing it exactly?Is Doki Doki Literature Club a Linux Game? Linux icon does not appear on steam and I cannot install it on my distro by clicking on "play".
Yeah, just download it from itch.io.
I guess I really should try Doki Doki soon then…
Oh, I (don't) wanna see that.
If you dislike Visual Novels just have Sin play it for us, she had quite an experience with Dream Daddy.
I can live with Feral being the "best" porter (ekkhhm…), but "Rise of the Tomb Raider"? Seriously?!I think you need to calm down a little.
What's up with all this wishful thinking?! I mean, games got purged out of the lists just because they were not released in 2017, which means a year is important! And now this! "Rise of the Tomb Raider" should be excluded from the list entirely! Otherwise, why there were no "Half-Life 3", "Squadron 42", "Cyberpunk 2077" and other mythical games that may see a release in 2018 despite there being absolutely no indication they ever will be?
Almost all the other categories (open source/foss are exceptions) were for 2017, hence removing games released before 2017. I don't get why you're even mentioning that. It does nothing to help your point.
Half-Life 3 doesn't even exist, Squadron 42 hardly exists, Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't exist yet either.
Rise of the Tomb Raider does exist, it's already released as a full game on Windows and people suspect it's a possible port from Feral, just look at the replies here. So yes, there are indications.
In the credits of Tacoma I assume? Was he involved in any other ports last year?
I have no idea how I managed to forget to type that little detail. Rectified!
Oh, what's your issue with me playing it exactly?Is Doki Doki Literature Club a Linux Game? Linux icon does not appear on steam and I cannot install it on my distro by clicking on "play".
Yeah, just download it from itch.io.
I guess I really should try Doki Doki soon then…
Oh, I (don't) wanna see that.
If you dislike Visual Novels just have Sin play it for us, she had quite an experience with Dream Daddy.
No issues at all, I only thought two things:
-for what I've seen in the livestreams, you're not too fond on reading a lot (but I may be wrong about it)
-Sin has a camera to capture the best moments;)
Maybe you're thinking about that "don't".
Well, part of me doesn't want to replay the experience(:O), so it wasn't something about you or anyone.
The other part though, want to see the livestream in action,so just do it!;)
Sorry for the misunderstanding!
Hey no worries at all :)Oh, what's your issue with me playing it exactly?Is Doki Doki Literature Club a Linux Game? Linux icon does not appear on steam and I cannot install it on my distro by clicking on "play".
Yeah, just download it from itch.io.
I guess I really should try Doki Doki soon then…
Oh, I (don't) wanna see that.
If you dislike Visual Novels just have Sin play it for us, she had quite an experience with Dream Daddy.
No issues at all, I only thought two things:
-for what I've seen in the livestreams, you're not too fond on reading a lot (but I may be wrong about it)
-Sin has a camera to capture the best moments;)
Maybe you're thinking about that "don't".
Well, part of me doesn't want to replay the experience(:O), so it wasn't something about you or anyone.
The other part though, want to see the livestream in action,so just do it!;)
Sorry for the misunderstanding!
Actually, there's only been one time I complained about reading, which was the first time I tried ATOM and that was mainly as I was ill at the time, but still wanted to livestream and chill. I went back to it and did it once I was feeling better :)
I get what you mean now, I've heard it can be a little disturbing. Maybe we can butter Sin up to just do it ;)
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