A round-up of what was hot on GamingOnLinux through August 2021

Here is a look back some of the most popular articles on GamingOnLinux for August 2021, an easy way to for you to keep up to date on what has happened in the past month for Linux gaming, open source and other general Linux news that we cover!

If you wish to keep track of these overview posts you can with our Overview RSS.

Here's what was popular with our readers:

• Linux has finally hit that almost mythical 1% user share on Steam again
  • The day I'm sure many have been waiting for, and just as many probably thought it wouldn't happen. Linux has finally hit 1% again on the Steam Hardware Survey.
• Seems the Valve Steam Deck has been impressing people with some hands-on time
  • Recently a bunch of people from other sites went to Valve's offices for some hands-on time with the Steam Deck and it seems the overall impression was pretty positive.
• I look forward to all the improvements KDE Plasma will get with the Steam Deck
  • One thing I am excited about when it comes to the Steam Deck is that it has a full desktop Linux mode, which is powered by KDE Plasma and I don't think that's getting the attention it deserves.
• Impressive free and open source RTS 0 A.D. Alpha 25 is out now
  • The twenty-fifth Alpha version of 0 A.D., a very impressive free and open source RTS is out now. Much earlier than usual since they managed to get over some development hurdles in the previous release.
• Zorin OS 16 Pro brings a little Windows 11 flavour to Linux
  • Zorin OS 16 Pro, the upcoming release that will replace Zorin OS Ultimate has been announced and one of the features they're showing off is a pre-made style to look like Windows 11.
• elementary OS 6 Odin is an absolute beauty and it's out now
  • The Linux distribution elementary OS 6 Odin is finally here, coming in years after their last release and honestly - it really is a thing of absolute beauty.
• Valve dumped Debian Linux for Arch Linux with SteamOS 3 because surprise - faster updates
  • It was likely no secret to most Linux users who know a bit about distributions but Valve has clarified directly that the main reason for dumping Debian Linux for Arch Linux was for faster updates.
• NVIDIA DLSS for Proton + Linux with DirectX 11 / 12 lands in September
  • NVIDIA announced today an expansion of RTX and DLSS for plenty of Windows games, and for Linux users there's something exciting coming too: NVIDIA will hook up DLSS with DirectX 11 and 12 with Proton in September.
• Steam Play Proton 6.3-6 is out now with lots of fixes and new game support
  • Following on from the Release Candidate testing earlier this month, Steam Play Proton 6.3-6 has rolled out to improve Windows games running on Linux.
• DXVK Native gets an official release to help Linux ports with Vulkan
  • For developers looking to bring their games to Linux officially, DXVK Native can be a good option to help reduce the time and complexity involved in doing so.
• Lutris game manager 0.5.9-beta1 is out adding Epic Games Store support
  • It's been a while since we had a new major release of Lutris, the free and open source game manager that allows you to bundle together all of your games in a single application.
• Valve fires back in the lawsuit from Wolfire Games
  • We've been waiting to hear how the lawsuit from Wolfire Games (and others) would progress against Valve, and now we at least have word from Valve on what they think.
• Valve catches a break in the Steam Controller patent trial versus Ironburg
  • In the ongoing saga between Ironburg Inventions and Valve, a new ruling appeared on August 17 that gives Valve another chance to invalidate some parts of the patents involved.
• Proton 6.14 GE-2 and Wine 6.14 GE-2 are out, easily update Proton GE with ProtonUp
  • Multiple updates to community-built versions of Proton and Wine, along with a very interesting bit of software to help you upgrade Proton GE called ProtonUp.
• A fan for the Valve Index? Consider it an essential upgrade purchase
  • It's Summer here in the UK, it's bloody hot and that has meant that playing VR has turned into a very sweaty experience.
• Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu gets much improved performance and rendering accuracy
  • While it's still a real PITA to setup, the Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu has released what they call Project Hades, a massive rewrite to their shader decompiler which is a big thing for it.
• It's hard to believe Selaco is running on GZDoom in the latest 3 minute trailer
  • We've seen plenty of gamepacks and mods for various things running on GZDoom and some are pretty awesome but the upcoming Selaco looks like it's going to be one of the absolute best.
• Proton GE sees another new release pulling in lots of fixes
  • Proton GE, the community-built version of the Windows compatibility layer Proton has a new release available and there's quite a lot of fixes included.
• Imagine if you could customize the Steam Deck colours - try it out with this tool
  • With the upcoming Steam Deck from Valve only (currently) coming in one colour, it's fun to imagine what it would look like if you could customize the casing colours - so let's try it out.
• Valve puts up a Steam Deck trailer and the head of Xbox seems to really like it
  • Valve has remembered they have an official YouTube channel with the release of a new advert for the Steam Deck, plus the Steam Deck gets a nod of approval from an unlikely source.
• Steam Play tool Luxtorpeda gets some needed upgrades and better KDE Plasma support
  • Luxtorpeda is a Steam Play tool (like Proton, Boxtron) that allows you to run games from Steam with compatible game engines that have Linux native builds.
• GameMaker Studio 2 introduces an Ubuntu Linux editor in Beta
  • Well this is certainly a surprise. YoYo Games have announced an early Beta for GameMaker Studio 2 version 2.3.4 that brings with it a new IDE for Ubuntu Linux. So you can make GMS games on Ubuntu now.
• Feral Interactive confirms Total War: WARHAMMER III for Linux is in progress
  • After recently mentioning that A Total War Saga: TROY for Linux was no longer happening, the other side of the coin here is that Total War: WARHAMMER III is still coming to Linux officially from Feral Interactive.
• Collabora cut down futex2 patches for the Linux Kernel to help Steam Play Proton
  • After attempting for some time now to get their futex2 work into the Linux Kernel, Collabora have cut it all down to focus on one part that has seen thorough testing to help Windows games on Linux with Steam Play Proton.
• Spore but with lots more science, Thrive has a new release out
  • Thrive is a free and open source evolution sim, a bit like the early stages of Spore and there's a new release out.
• Manjaro Linux 21.1.0 Pahvo is out with installer improvements, new desktop upgrades
  • Manjaro Linux, the distribution based on Arch Linux but with an aim to make it more suitable for less advanced users, has a big new version released with Manjaro 21.1.0.
• Valve talk about learning from mistakes with the upcoming Steam Deck
  • As we all know the Steam Machines didn't go anywhere and Valve have clearly learned a lot from it, as they spoke about in a recent video from IGN.
• CodeWeavers still hiring for a 'General Wine Developer' to work on Wine and Proton
  • CodeWeavers announced recently they need a bit of help on finding more developers, with a spot still currently open for a 'General Wine Developer' who will work on Wine and Proton.
• I'm now a true convert after using a Vertical Mouse
  • After using traditional PC mouse for most of my computing life, I decided to finally see what all the fuss was about with a Vertical Mouse and I'm sold.

We published a total of 182 articles last month! You can see who contributed articles on this page.

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What was your favourite Linux and Gaming news through August 2021?