Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from GamingOnLinux

It's that time of the year again. 2021 is nearly over after what feels like the longest year ever so let's all hope for a better 2022 shall we? COVID-19 sadly continues being a big issue worldwide, so we hope you're all staying safe.

For Linux gaming, it was quite a year with so many announcements it's been hard to keep track of it all. The Steam Deck announcement being the biggest thing to happen this year of course, followed by Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye updates that were quite exciting. A couple of other favourites from this year:

• November marked 7 months of Linux rising on Steam & 5 months above 1%
• Linux Foundation launches the Open 3D Engine based upon Amazon Lumberyard
• DXVK Native gets an official release to help Linux ports with Vulkan (see also: our interview with Josh)
• Faster Zombies to Steam Deck: The History of Valve and Linux Gaming

For 2022, things are going to be both exciting and scary for Linux gaming. So much hinges on how the Steam Deck launch goes and if it will be a success or not. We're still a few months away yet and no doubt Valve have plenty more upgrades for Steam and Proton up their sleeves. We've no idea when we will be able to do our own direct Steam Deck coverage, as after the delay our reservation is currently sat on Q2 2022.

We'll be taking our usual end of year holiday break so expect us to be pretty quiet for the next week or so. Time to put our own feet up, grab a controller and catch up on some gaming. We may be doing some livestreams though, so be sure to follow us on Twitch and keep an eye on our Twitter for announcements!

If you need help with Linux and / or gaming - remember to hop on over to our Forum, as answered posts get picked up by the mighty search engines whereas they don't for other popular real-time chat areas. Although we do have plenty of other places to hangout and chat to other Linux gamers like Discord, Telegram, Matrix, IRC.

A big big thank you to all readers, supporters and helpers over the last year.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Peace and Love.

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