Happy New Year! Here's a short look back over what the most read articles were on GamingOnLinux throughout 2024. An easy way for you to refresh your memory and prepare for 2025.
Here's what was popular with our readers:
Steam games will now need to fully disclose kernel-level anti-cheat on store pages
"Valve announced a change for Steam today that will make things a lot clearer for everyone, as developers will now need to clearly list the kernel-level anti-cheat used on Steam store pages."
Stop Killing Games is a new campaign to stop developers making games unplayable
"We've all been there right? You paid for a game, it required an active internet connection and a couple of years later the publisher decided they're done with it and shut it down leaving you with a broken game. Annoying."
AYANEO NEXT LITE handheld announced with SteamOS Linux
"Finally we're seeing another handheld vendor jump in with Linux. The AYANEO NEXT LITE was announced today and much like the Steam Deck, they plan to ship it with SteamOS!"
And then not long after…
AYANEO NEXT LITE no longer ships with SteamOS-like HoloISO Linux - Windows 11 instead
"We were so close to seeing another gaming handheld ship with Linux out of the box that isn't the Steam Deck, but it seems AYANEO with the AYANEO NEXT LITE weren't convinced enough and so they've changed their minds."
The original SteamOS-like Linux distro HoloISO now dead, replaced with immutable version
"After a while of no updates to the actual ISO download of HoloISO, the creator of this SteamOS-like Linux distribution has announced the original is now dead. As it's being replaced by the newer immutable HoloISO."
Microsoft donates the Mono Project to the Wine team
"Well, this is surprising isn't it? Microsoft are handing over the Mono Project to the Wine developers with a thank you note."
Game over for Roblox on Linux / Steam Deck as it's now blocked
"Well, there it is, the update for Roblox has arrived that now forcefully blocks it from working with Wine on Linux systems (like Steam Deck)."
Microsoft Windows kernel changes don't suddenly mean big things for Linux gaming
"There's a lot of blog posts and news articles being written right now centred around Microsoft's plans for updates to Windows 11, and potential kernel changes, with some thinking this means big things for Linux gaming."
Valve (Steam) begin a direct collaboration with Arch Linux
"This is some pretty exciting news! The Arch Linux team have announced a new direct collaboration with Valve (Steam)."
GitLab takes down Nintendo Switch emulator suyu due to the DMCA
"Well, that didn't last long did it. After a first release, GitLab have already pulled down the Nintendo Switch emulator suyu, due to a DMCA hit as a result of it being forked from yuzu which Nintendo shut down."
Riot Games talk Vanguard anti-cheat for League of Legends and why it's a no for Linux
"While previously you've been able to play League of Legends on Linux, and there's some pretty die-hard fans using Wine to play it, that's set to end soon with Vanguard being introduced."
Unified Linux Wine Game Launcher (UMU) gets a first official release
"Unified Linux Wine Game Launcher (UMU) from Thomas "GloriousEggroll" Crider version 1.1.1 is out now as the first official release to help improve Linux desktop and Steam Deck gaming."
Linux hits nearly 4% desktop user share on Statcounter
"According to Statcounter, which should be taken with a pinch of salt of course like any sampling, the Linux share on the desktop hit nearly 4% in Decemeber 2023."
Linux user share on Steam breaks 2% thanks to Steam Deck
"A moment I've no doubt many Linux fans have been waiting to see. The Linux user share on Steam has smashed through the 2% barrier."
Yuzu agrees to pay Nintendo $2.4 million and will entirely shut down (Citra for 3DS too)
"After Nintendo recently filed a lawsuit against the Yuzu team, it was pretty much inevitable this was going to happen wasn't it."
Steam Deck officially hits over 13,000 games Playable and Verified
"Not too long after hitting 12,000 games, the Steam Deck now officially has over 13,000 games rated either Verified or Playable. There must be a little something for every type of gamer now right? My backlog is terrifying."
Proposed Windows NT sync driver brings big Wine / Proton performance improvements
"Zeb Figura of CodeWeavers has proposed a Windows NT synchronization primitive driver to help performance of running games and applications designed for Windows on Linux with Wine / Proton."
Valve seeing increasing bug reports due to Steam Snap - other methods recommended
"Canonical announced some time ago their Steam Snap which was promoted as stable with Ubuntu 23.04, as they continue to push their own packaging format with Snap but it seems this has been causing problems for Valve."
Valve still waiting on a 'generational leap' for Steam Deck 2 - but it's coming
"Valve gave us the strongest wording yet that a Steam Deck 2 is actually real, although it's still clearly going to be some time away before there's enough of an upgrade."
Nexus mods want feedback from Linux / Steam Deck users on their new cross-platform app
"I wrote about the brand new Nexus mods app before, as it's quite a promising and exciting development for the future of modding (especially for Linux and Steam Deck). And now, they want your feedback."
First Steam Deck plugin on Steam will bring GOG and Epic Games compatibility
"In a really surprising move the developers behind Decky Loader plugin Junk Store, which provides the ability to install games from GOG and Epic Games, are bringing the plugin to Steam officially."
Celebrating 6 years since Valve announced Steam Play Proton for Linux
"Today marks 6 years since Valve decided to change everything, especially for Linux fans, with the announcement of Steam Play Proton. Thanks to it, the Steam Deck and Desktop Linux gaming have continued to thrive."
Sober is a new way to play Roblox on Linux from the Vinegar team
"While Roblox does still remain blocked on Linux with Wine, as usual the community finds a way. The Vinegar team recently revealed Sober, a currently closed-source specialized runtime for the Android version of Roblox."
EmuDeck removes Yuzu And Citra emulator support
"The news of the Yuzu team agreeing to pay Nintendo $2.4 million in damages and immediately shut down all operations sent shock waves through the emulation landscape. EmuDeck will now also be removing Yuzu and Citra."
Black & White (2001) open source game engine sees a first release
"Black & White from Lionhead Studios released originally back in 2001 went on to great reviews, and won various awards. Sadly, it's one game that has also been lost to time but the openblack project plans to revive it with open source."
XZ tools and libraries compromised with a critical issue
"There's been an urgent security bulletin sent out in a few places today in the Linux sphere that relates to the XZ tools and libraries with liblzma, as certain version have been compromised."
Valve makes a big improvement for Native Linux games in a Steam Beta update
"Valve released a new update to the Steam Client Beta for Steam Deck and Desktop, with some Steam Input changes and some improvements for Linux too."
Grand Theft Auto V gets BattlEye anti-cheat, breaks online play on Steam Deck / Linux
"Surprisingly, Rockstar have now added BattlEye anti-cheat to Grand Theft Auto V / GTA Online, and sadly it seems they have not enabled the support for Linux desktop and Steam Deck with Valve's Proton."
EA / Respawn now block Apex Legends from running on Linux and Steam Deck
"The developers of Apex Legends have announced that they're going to be blocking the game completely on Linux platforms including Steam Deck."
Nintendo goes after Switch emulator yuzu in new lawsuit
"Well, here we go. Nintendo have formally filed a lawsuit against the creators of the popular open source Switch emulator yuzu."
We published a total of 2,094 articles last year! Thanks again to all of our readers and supporters. See how you can help support us on this dedicated page.
What was your favourite Linux and Gaming news from 2024?
Right now GamingOnLinux is beginning to come out of holiday hibernation, so regular news will begin again soon after a refreshing break. Rubbing away the sleep from our eyes, hydrating and catching up on emails before we start another year. And what a year it's going to be! There's already lots to go over and some exciting announcements to come.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
R Daneel Olivaw 3 days ago
That's a lot of articles~!! Happy new year to my favorite site! I'm sad that forums don't exist anymore, but at least we still have comments. (please don't ever do away with comments omg)
ElectricPrism 2 days ago
Steam games will now need to fully disclose kernel-level anti-cheat on store pages
I always ask AI if games on Steam have other DRM, Anti-cheat, Denuvo or 3rd party launchers -- I think Valve has done a great job and I would love to see this expanded even more to be more declarative.
Addition of a 3rd party launcher or significant changes in the deal should be immediate grounds for a refund from the publisher as well.
Linux_Rocks 2 days ago
It seems that the anticheat situation is still sadly the main blocker for many, so here's hoping that in 2025 we'll see something 🤞.
In any case, happy New Year everyone!
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