Is 2013, the year of Linux gaming?

Re:Is 2013, the year of Linux gaming? by AUmrysh on Friday February 15, 2013 @10:07AM (#5226474)

I think there is a real possibility that Linux will be a legitimate gaming platform from this point on thanks to steam and html5 games, it will still take a few years to knock MS off their throne due to the proprietary nature of DirectX and the perceived ease of development using it. When almost every game is supported on Windows, it will take a serious effort (like the steam box) to change that paradigm. The only reason I still use windows is because of the gaming. Wine helps a lot here as well, but it's not perfect. Developers will have to see the benefit of targeting linux before it becomes the platform for gaming.

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Re:Is 2013, the year of Linux gaming? by Shorel on Friday February 15, 2013 @01:35PM (#5227624)

The point is not 'the perceived ease of development' or something technical like that.

The issue is commercial. The mere existence of PS3 games proves that, as the PS3 was very hard to develop for, but it was worth it because the games would sell.

Steam makes possible for developers to target Linux and sell the games there, in an easy convenient way that is easier to use than pirating games via torrents, but with some DRM to prevent uploading the purchased game to torrents just after the purchase. Ubuntu also has a store that sells games, I can see at the very least: Bastion, World of Goo, Amnesia, Braid, Space Pirates and Zombies. I don't know if they use any DRM, I guess the answer is no.

The final success of this endeavor is also of commercial nature. The number of games sold in Linux will determine the future of Linux gaming, and nothing else will, no matter what the technical merits of Steam in Ubuntu are.

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