GameMaker on Linux gets big improvements and Steam Deck support

GameMaker Studio 2 is now just GameMaker, and there's a new update out with some dramatic improvements for Linux game exports and Steam Deck support.

For far too long, GameMaker exports for Linux have required some very specific dependencies, which often caused issues for developers as they weren't included directly. Game developers had to go and manually grab these files to include with the Linux games. Now, that's not required - at least for Steam anyway.

If developers are putting their games on Steam, the export there will now properly target the Steam Linux Runtime, where Valve handle the dependencies and include a ton of them. It's what all Steam games for Linux should target. This means games should be click and play on Steam, with developers not needing extra steps. With this, they've also added direct support for the Steam Deck.

On top of that, their "Ubuntu (Linux)" target now gives an AppImage.

Their video player also got a nice upgrade, which now works on all platforms.

I have to say, I was a bit worried when YoYo Games were acquired by Opera but they seem to be doing some pretty good upgrades lately. It's just a shame they moved over to subscriptions for the software.