Now that 2018 is coming to a close, let’s go over what’s happened this year. It’s been incredibly interesting to follow, things haven’t been this lively for some time. Note: As this is a roundup of sorts, multiple links will go back to our articles talking about them.
The game porting company Feral Interactive have been busy this year, as they’ve released all these for Linux:
- Total War: Warhammer II
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen - Tactical Legacy Pack
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm
- Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
Additionally, they also put out their open source GameMode tool to help you get the most performance, although it’s still rather limited in scope right now. Looks like it’s still being worked on too, with “mdiluz” who left Feral Interactive for Unity working on their own fork to bring new features along with a Unity plugin.
Side-note: Marc "mdiluz" recently started a "side-gig" working on Linux tooling, thanks to a little help from Valve. Seems the first focus is GameMode mentioned above.
Feral Interactive have also been teasing a lot in the past few months. We now know that these confirmed titles will also be ported and officially supported on Linux in 2019:
I’m also hopeful we will see Feral Interactive team up with IO once again to bring HITMAN 2 officially to Linux, make it so! Quite a small list so far but a pretty strong one, let’s hope they have more in store for us.
Aspyr Media, another game porting company and publisher helped InnerSpace release and also finally managed to get out the cross-platform online patch for the Linux version of Civilization VI after much delay. Apart from that, they’ve been rather quiet for releases this year.
Virtual Programming released MXGP3 - The Official Motocross Videogame, while also teasing that Gravel is coming to Linux. A Hat in Time also appeared on their website to indicate a Linux port is coming, although it quickly vanished (the second time this has happened). Sadly, though the ARMA 3 experimental Linux port that Virtual Programming teamed up with Bohemia for was put on ice (for now) with no further updates.
Valve also did something that was quite unexpected with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive going free to play with a Battle Royale mode (thoughts here). That’s going to keep me entertained for some time! We were missing out on such a game for a while, so hopefully it keeps CS:GO strong.
Additionally, even though I absolutely love the gameplay in Valve’s card game Artifact (thoughts here), it seems the monetization model has caused a lot of players to look elsewhere. What started off as a strong start for it at around sixty thousand players has dropped like a rock. I fully expect them to make some changes to this. Even though a drop-off was expected, it’s a lot more dramatic than I thought and I imagine it has alarmed Valve somewhat. They say they’re “in this for the long haul” and they’ve been updating it with new features, so it will be interesting to see how they can turn it around.
We also had a few games (sadly) drop Linux support across this year. Notable titles including Rust, Phoenix Point and the aforementioned ARMA 3 Linux port experiment, although the Rust developers still keep the Linux version up to date with each new update and it may eventually see full Linux support again when Unity issues are ironed out.
Not forgetting the considerable amount of good indie games (and some a little bigger) that released for Linux this year! Honestly, I could sit here all day listing off great games released in full for Linux in 2018. I can’t list them all (obviously), but as a reminder of just how good a year it was, here’s a small slice in no particular order:
BATTLETECH
CrossCode
Cultist Simulator
Dead Cells
EVERSPACE
EXAPUNKS
Forsaken Remastered
Horizon Chase Turbo
Iconoclasts
Megaquarium
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition
Overload
Parkitect
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
RUINER
RimWorld
State of Mind
Surviving Mars
Two Point Hospital
Wizard of Legend
That’s quite a varied and impressive selection on offer. Through 2019, there will no doubt be plenty of surprises. We’re aware of a few and we’ve already tested a couple secrets, it’s going to be fun. Do let us know in the comments what Linux releases you're looking forward to in 2019! Personally, I'm quite excited about Insurgency: Sandstorm.
Valve’s Steam Play
By far the biggest news this year—Steam Play! Valve surprised everyone by announcing their own special fork of Wine named Proton, this includes DXVK which kicks over D3D11 and D3D10 into Vulkan (which Valve funded). Allowing many more games to be played on Linux easily through the Steam client, that don’t actually support Linux.
It was something users had asked Valve to do for a long time and I’m still surprised even now many months later that it happened. Linux as a gaming platform couldn’t noticeably grow from indies and a tiny trickle of AAA releases alone, something like this was needed to bridge the gap. Especially helpful to those on the fence about dual booting or fully switching to Linux, not instantly losing access to a vast Steam library makes it a lot more enticing.
Watching Steam Play evolve with each new release has been interesting, although it remains to be seen how far Valve will take it. Valve have stated multiple times now, that they will eventually have something on the Steam store directly to show Steam Play supported titles. I’m very curious how they plan to do this!
Seeing so many people enjoying games they previously wouldn’t have picked up, is quite interesting. I picked up DOOM to test it out myself and I’ve enjoyed it greatly.
The elephant in the room though, 2019 will be interesting to see how many developers decide to shy away from Linux support in favour of telling users to try Steam Play. I imagine a few, but I don’t think it will be anywhere near as drastic as some think.
Personally, I will still be firmly waiting a good year or so before buying anything for Steam Play to rule out a properly supported Linux version. I don’t care how a Linux version is done, I’m long past caring about such specific details. Does it run and run well and is it supported? That matters to me more than anything.
Battle of the stores
Previous years had been quite quiet when it came to stores fighting each other for the crown. It’s like a bunch suddenly woke up from a long sleep in 2018, with multiple stores making waves.
The Epic Store
Epic Games are going to be one watch next year. They’re going to give Valve some tough competition, although probably not right away but over time I think they will easily grow into a huge store thanks to the success of Fortnite.
Even with their popularity, Epic still faces an uphill battle like all other newcomer stores. Although, they’ve already managed to get some exclusive games, developers have pushed back or cancelled their Steam releases completely for it too so it’s going to make things interesting.
In their initial announcement, they did say it would come to “other open platforms”, which presumably means Linux when you see this Twitter post from the founder of Epic Games. I don’t think you would tease like that, unless the Epic Store was going to release on Linux too.
Epic are also opening up all their cross-platform online services, Linux again wasn’t mentioned specifically. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t work on Linux we will have to wait and see on that on. We did reach out to Epic about it, to no reply.
I think it’s going to make some big waves across the industry, you don’t have to believe me right now though but I firmly expect it to make a dent in Valve.
Discord Store
Discord also opened up their own store this year, with a recently announced revenue split of 90% for developers and only 10% for Discord. While I’m not entirely sure how big a splash their store will make, they already have a pretty large user-base thanks to the chat client.
They also confirmed that their store will in fact support Linux, although they’re not giving a date yet.
Now, onto GamingOnLinux itself (the website—duh)
Across the year, myself and contributors together put out the most articles in a single year since we began doing this (well above two thousand). Some big, some small but the point is it’s another sign of just how interesting things are.
Not that it’s really much of an indicator, but we seem to have done well this year across various social networks too. There’s been a lot of chatter, a lot of new followers and it’s looking good. Our Twitter account for example, went from 7.6K to over 10.3K which is the biggest increase in a single year we’ve ever seen. Our Mastodon account is also sitting pretty at well over 2K followers too, which isn’t bad at all considering it’s still a newbie. Even our Twitch account for livestreams is doing well, with over 600 new followers this year—we’re hoping they all continue growing nicely as they are.
As far as I’m concerned, if things continue the same we’re solid for many years to come. Good thing too, we all love doing this. We passed the nine year mark in July!
Support Us
If you wish to support the effort, you can find out the various ways to do so on this dedicated page any time.
Whatever you’re doing this holiday season, have a good one and all the best to you. Thank you for the support, the comments, the correction reports on my terrible grammar, the laughs in the livestreams and more. Thanks for the fun, here’s to a fantastic 2019.
Personal note: I will be completely away from December 24th to December 26th and again on December 31st for some rest and relaxation to prepare for another year.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Para-Gliding Dec 20, 2018
Both companies have engines that are capable of running on Linux natively, but Proton is some kind of lighthouse project that shines on Steam alone for the time being. Maybe that is the reason Epic only vaguely hints at open platform support in the future. Maybe that one even delayed their release.
One of the strongest points for Proton in my book: it will register the game as a Linux sale for the developer, if you spent about 2 hours in the game with it. I guess those numbers will open some eyes or at least raise some brows.
I don't intend to sound greedy or ungrateful, but how about a technology to enable Android software on Steam next?
Nevertheless Dec 20, 2018
Quoting: GoboIf you look at it from a "small world" perspective, the release of Proton/Steam Play this suddenly and quickly advancing it in the open just a few months before Epic announced their store is remarkable.
Both companies have engines that are capable of running on Linux natively, but Proton is some kind of lighthouse project that shines on Steam alone for the time being. Maybe that is the reason Epic only vaguely hints at open platform support in the future. Maybe that one even delayed their release.
I think Tim Sweeney will have seen the beacon. He was the one loudly complaining about Microsofts walled garden plans. He might believe to be able to stop those plans, but he at least should welcome Proton as an insurance against them!
Valve intentionally left Linux games support (including Proton) free for everyone, even releasing self developed software and standards open source.
It might be based on wishful thinking, but Linux support and even Proton support of the Epic store seems like a logical step to me (maybe a big one, but logical nonetheless).
Wouldn't it be great if avoiding Steam, would not automatically mean MS only?
Thanks again to Valve for this possibility!
Quoting: Alm888Yes, we should forget those Linux-supporting indies. After all, they are just a bunch of losers.
I was expecting a reply like that. But really, no need to be snarky. You might enjoy the small releases as much as you want, and I will not ridicule you for that, but the legitimacy of a platform as a gaming platform rests on not only what big titles are available, but also how well they run on the platform.
I guess most who's been around for a while remember how much flak Sony received when the developers struggled with their PS3 architecture.
And in the question of platform legitimacy the indies are simply put irrelevant. They do not hold the same significance, they barely hold any weight.
And I want to see Linux enter the big scene, not a side room.
Quoting: liamdaweI am genuinely curious, what about 2017 was bigger and better for you?
Totally legit question. And I do believe I voiced my similar concerns around this time of year last year too :)
But without refreshing my memory on the releases of 2017, last year we could at least hope it was just a dip. So from that perspective this year is even worse in that it indicates it is a steady trend.
Quoting: GuestLinux is not alone in this. PC is losing ground as part of a much wider trend.
In sheer numbers that's true, but really. There are plenty - PLENTY - of the big franchises also coming to Windows. If not on the same date as the consoles then at least later. We don't need to start listing? Fallout, Far Cry, Just Because, Dragon Age, Battlefield, Assassins Creed, GTA, Call Of Duty, Fortnite, Mass Effect, and so forth. We could continue for a really long time.
Quoting: SalvatosI'm just theorizing, but maybe this makes more sense than what we had been seeing. We got some of the biggest games before we had the market share to justify it. How many companies would port their games to a console that has a 1% market share? Isn't it pretty amazing that Linux got that treatment in the first place? Something like Steam Play can help us grow our market share demonstrably and feels less like putting the cart before the horse, in a way.
I think you are much right in this perspective. It was an "overheated" state back around the time when the news broke about the "Steam Machine" and all that. I guess we all still remember the "coming to Linux" announcements with a WALL of big titles.
So yeah, the fall back to reality was a bit tough to swallow for me. I guess that's the way to put it.
But as of right now, my main concern isn't really the number of big games released, but rather that it all hangs on one line: Feral. They are all we got left, to put it a bit simple. And they seem to have their regular 2-3 publishers as sources for their games.
And if they drop us? Who else can we turn to? It's that vulnerability that really really bothers me.
(Yes - there are a few others worth mentioning. And thank the gaming gods for them. But in volume they don't represent much).
Obviously, this kind of thing is very subjective. For me personally, it was a good year. Lots of games released or entered Early Access that I was excited about. It all depends on what titles you want and I imagine the people disappointed this year will continue to be until Linux really gains some actual traction.
Last edited by Shmerl on 20 December 2018 at 6:50 pm UTC
Quoting: BeamboomBut as of right now, my main concern isn't really the number of big games released, but rather that it all hangs on one line: Feral. They are all we got left, to put it a bit simple. And they seem to have their regular 2-3 publishers as sources for their games.I understand the feeling. When it comes to porting AAAs, it does feel like Feral are the only ones pulling their weight and the rest are just dipping a toe in the Linux water at this time. Fortunately I don't personally care too much about AAAs, although you're certainly correct that they play a major role in platform attractiveness at large. And in that light, what I do find reassuring is that we still see a high number of developers releasing on Linux natively on their own. And indie or not, many of those are high-production, original games (A? AA?), not just GameMaker clones and pixel-art rogue-likes and platformers (not hating on those genres, but holy shit there's a lot of them and they're usually not blockbusters).
And if they drop us? Who else can we turn to? It's that vulnerability that really really bothers me.
They may not be as prestigious, but there's something to be said for being a good ecosystem for the low- and mid-range productions. Those companies often have less shitty practices than AAA studios when it comes to DRM or data collection, if only because they don't have the means to implement them or the clout to get away with them, and as such are more in line with FLOSS philosophies even if they don't go as far as open sourcing their games. Honestly, even if EA or Ubisoft did make Linux versions of their games, I wouldn't want to put on the shackles that come with them, and I'm no Stallman.
I guess overall I prefer slow growth with more reasonable companies than Linux becoming popular with the masses by shedding off some its core values and becoming "Windows with a Linux kernel." I think we're treading a reasonable middle ground at the moment by accepting some proprietary software and DRM in our entertainment but preserving the "sanctity" of the OS and core applications. That's just my opinion, of course.
So I guess my short answer to your question would be: it doesn't really bother me if we end up losing all the AAAs as long as everything else keeps going well and better. I think we can continue to grow without them, if slower.
Last edited by Shmerl on 20 December 2018 at 8:17 pm UTC
Quoting: liamdaweI imagine the people disappointed this year will continue to be until Linux really gains some actual traction.
This is probably very right.
But if I at least get one major game to enjoy I feel the year had something in store for me. Like, 2017 gave us Xcom 2, who were in every way as great as the first and one of my absolute favs on Linux. And let's not forget that 2017 kicked off with Hitman pretty early on, another really great game.
This year... No titles that really tickles my preferences. Sure, Tomb Raider is a very beautiful game and I feel bad for not being more excited about it. I bought it, of course, but have yet top play it... I've also purchased a stack of small indies that was fun for a handful of hours, but nothing I couldn't live without, to put it like that.
So actually, yeah when I think about it, this year does indeed feel like another step down, from a very subjective point of view. Overall 2018 feels more empty!
Quoting: BeamboomThis year... No titles that really tickles my preferences... I've also purchased a stack of small indies that was fun for a handful of hours, but nothing I couldn't live without, to put it like that.That's how I felt about both Windows and Linux gaming in 2018. I'm playing a number of 2018 titles right now, but my stalwart favorites are still titles released anywhere between 3-5 years ago, and longer in some cases, half Linux native and half Proton/Steam Play. My favorite game in total right now is the Windows game Angels Fall First, and that feels like it's been kicking around in EA forever (but still continuously updated). And, of course, the Linux native Rocket League and Ballistic Overkill are always a blast, but neither are new...
So actually, yeah when I think about it, this year does indeed feel like another step down, from a very subjective point of view. Overall 2018 feels more empty!
Still awaiting X4 for Linux so I can play that exclusively a year straight...
Last edited by iiari on 20 December 2018 at 9:16 pm UTC
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