Misplaced Pages

Video games
Platforms Arcade video game Console game Game console Home console Handheld console Electronic game Audio game Electronic handheld Online game Browser game Social-network game Mobile game PC game Linux Mac Virtual reality game
Genres Action Shooter Action-adventure Adventure Casual Puzzle Role-playing Simulation Sports Racing Strategy
Lists Arcade games highest-grossing Best-selling games franchises Most-played mobile games Games considered the best Game of the Year soundtracks Negative reception Cancelled games
Development Producer Developer Designer Artist Programmer Design Level design Programming Engine AI Graphics Music Testing
v t e

This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately. (May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Linux-based operating systems can be used for playing video games. Because few games natively support the Linux kernel, various software has been made to run Windows games, software, and programs, such as Wine, Cedega, DXVK, and Proton, and managers such as Lutris and PlayOnLinux. The Linux gaming community has a presence on the internet with users who attempt to run games that are not officially supported on Linux.

History

Linux gaming started largely as an extension of the already present Unix gaming scene, which dates back to that system's conception in 1969 with the game Space Travel and the first edition in 1971, with both systems sharing many similar titles. These games were mostly either arcade and parlour type games or text adventures using libraries like curses. A notable example of this are the "BSD Games", a collection of interactive fiction and other text-mode amusements. The free software philosophy and open-source methodology which drove the development of the operating system in general also spawned the creation of various early free games.

Popular early titles included Netrek and the various XAsteroids, XBattle, XBill, XBoing, X-Bomber, XConq, XDigger, XEmeraldia, XEvil, XGalaga, XGammon, XLander, XLife, XMahjong, XMine, XSoldier, XPilot, XRobots, XRubiks, XShogi, XScavenger, XTris, XTron, XTic and XTux games using the X Window System. Other games targeted or also supported the SVGAlib library allowing them to run without a windowing system, such as LinCity, Maelstrom, Sasteroids, and SABRE. The General Graphics Interface was also utilized for games like U.R.B.A.N The Cyborg Project and Dave Gnukem ported from MS-DOS. As the operating system itself grew and expanded, the amount of free and open-source games also increased in scale and complexity, with both clones of historically popular releases beginning with BZFlag, LinCity, and FreeCiv, as well as original creations such as Rocks'n'Diamonds, Cube, The Battle for Wesnoth, and Tux Racer.

1994–1997

The beginning of Linux as a gaming platform for commercial video games is widely credited to have begun in 1994 when Dave D. Taylor ported the game Doom to Linux, as well as many other systems, during his spare time. Shareware copies of the game were included on various Linux discs, including those packed in with reference books. From there Taylor would also help found the development studio Crack dot Com, which released the video game Abuse, with the game's Linux port even being distributed by Linux vendors Red Hat and Caldera. The studio's never finished Golgotha was also slated to be released by Red Hat in box. Ancient Domains of Mystery was also released for Linux in 1994 by Thomas Biskup, building on the roguelike legacy of games such as Moria and its descendent Angband, but more specifically Hack and NetHack.

id Software, the original developers of Doom, also continued to release their products for Linux. Their game Quake was ported to Linux via X11 in 1996, once again by Dave D. Taylor working in his free time. An SVGALib version was also later produced by Greg Alexander in 1997 using recently leaked source code, but was later mainlined by id. Later id products continued to be ported by Zoid Kirsch and Timothee Besset, a practice that continued until the studio's acquisition by ZeniMax Media in 2009. The ports of Quake and Quake II were released physically by Macmillan Computer Publishing USA, while Quake III was released for Linux by Loki Software. Red Hat had previously passed on publishing Quake for Linux, since it was not open-source at the time.

In 1991 DUX Software contracted Don Hopkins to port SimCity to Unix, which he later ported to Linux and eventually released as open source for the OLPC XO Laptop. Other early commercial Linux games included Hopkins FBI, an adventure game released in 1998 by MP Entertainment, and Inner Worlds in 1996, which was released for and developed on Linux. In 1998, two programmers from Origin ported Ultima Online to Linux. The UNIX Book of Games, a 1996 publication by Janice Winsor, described various games with an accompanying CD-ROM containing executables and source code for Linux and SCO Unix.

A website called The Linux Game Tome, also known as HappyPenguin after its URL, was begun by Tessa Lau in 1995 to catalogue games created for or ported to Linux from the SunSITE game directories as well as other classic X11 games for a collection of just over 100 titles. It was taken over by Bob Zimbinski in 1998 eventually growing to over 2000 entries, sponsored by retailer Penguin Computing and later LGP until it went down in 2013, although mirrors still exist.

1998–2002

The site LinuxGames covered news and commentary from November 1998 until its host Atomicgamer went down in 2015. It was established by Marvin Malkowski, head of the Telefragged gaming network, alongside Al Koskelin and Dustin Reyes; Reyes passed away August 8, 2023.

On November 9, 1998, a new software firm called Loki Software was founded by Scott Draeker, a former lawyer who became interested in porting games to Linux after being introduced to the system through his work as a software licensing attorney. Loki, although a commercial failure, is credited with the birth of the modern Linux game industry. Loki developed several free software tools, such as the Loki installer (also known as Loki Setup), and supported the development of the Simple DirectMedia Layer, as well as starting the OpenAL audio library project. These are still often credited as being the cornerstones of Linux game development. They were also responsible for bringing nineteen high-profile games to the platform before its closure in 2002.

Loki's initial success also attracted other firms to invest in the Linux gaming market, such as Tribsoft, Hyperion Entertainment, Macmillan Digital Publishing USA, Titan Computer, Xatrix Entertainment, Philos Laboratories, and Vicarious Visions. During this time Michael Simms founded Tux Games, one of the first online Linux game retailers, later followed by Fun 4 Tux, Wupra, ixsoft, and LinuxPusher. The Indrema Entertainment System (also known as the L600) was also in development since 1999 as a Linux based game console and digital media player, but production halted in 2001 due to a lack of investment, although the TuxBox project attempted a continuation.

The period also saw a number of commercial compilations released, such as 100 Great Linux Games by Global Star Software, Linux Games by Walnut Creek CDROM, Linux Games++ by Pacific Hitech, Linux Cubed Series 8 LINUX Games by Omeron Systems, Best Linux Games by SOT Finnish Software Engineering, LinuxCenter Games Collection, Linux Games & Entertainment for X Windows by Hemming, Linux Spiele & Games by more software, Linux Spiele by Franzis Verlag, and play it! Linux: Die Spielesammlung by S.A.D. Software. Numerous Linux distributions and collections packed in Loki games and demos, including Red Hat Linux, Corel Linux and WordPerfect Office, and the complete Eric's Ultimate Solitaire bundled with PowerPlant by TheKompany.

The release of ScummVM in 2001, Dosbox in 2002, as well as video game console emulators like MAME from 1997 and released as open source in 2016, helped make Linux a viable platform for retro gaming (facilitated by the RetroArch frontend since 2010). This is especially the case for the GP2X series of handheld game consoles by GamePark Holdings in addition to the community driven Pandora and DragonBox Pyra. Dedicated emulation setups are also built on single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi released in 2012, which are most often Linux based including with Raspberry Pi OS. Wine is also useful for running older Windows games, including 16-bit and even some 32-bit applications that no longer work on modern 64-bit Windows. The Sharp Zaurus personal data assistants adopted a Linux derived system called OpenZaurus, which attracted its own gaming scene. This was also the case with the Agenda VR3, advertised as the first "pure Linux PDA".

2003–2007

After Loki's closure, the Linux game market experienced some changes. Although some new firms, such as Linux Game Publishing and RuneSoft, would largely continue the role of a standard porting house, the focus began to change with Linux game proponents encouraging game developers to port their game products themselves or through individual contractors. Influential to this was Ryan C. Gordon, a former Loki employee who would over the next decade port several game titles to multiple platforms, including Linux.

Around this time many companies, starting with id Software, also began to release legacy source code leading to a proliferation of source ports of older games to Linux and other systems. This also helped expand the already existing free and open-source gaming scene, especially with regards to the creation of free first person shooters. In addition, numerous game engine recreations have been produced to varying levels of accuracy using reverse engineering or underlying engine code supporting the original game files including on Linux and other niche systems.

The company TransGaming marketed as a monthly subscription its own proprietary fork of Wine called WineX in October 2001, later renamed Cedega in 2004 and discontinued in 2011, which aimed for greater compatibility with Microsoft Windows games. CodeWeavers also offered an enhanced version of Wine called CrossOver Games. The reliance on such compatibility layers remains controversial with concerns that it hinders growth in native development, although this approach was defended based on Loki's demise. PlayOnLinux, established in 2007, provides a community alternative, with various guides being written on how to get games to run through Wine. A special Gaming Edition of Mandrake Linux 8.1 was released that featured WineX packed in with The Sims. The fact that the fork of Wine did not release source back to the main project was also a point of contention, despite promises to release code after achieving a set number of subscribers.

2008–2011

Number of sales of the first Humble Indie Bundle across systems

Proportional values of payments

The Linux gaming market also started to experience some growth towards the end of the decade with the rise of independent video game development, with many "indie" developers favouring support for multiple platforms. The Humble Indie Bundle initiatives inaugurated in 2010 helped to formally demonstrate this trend, with Linux users representing a sizable population of their purchase base, as well as consistently being the most financially generous in terms of actual money spent. The Humble Indie Bundle V in 2012 faced controversy for featuring a Wine-based release of Limbo prepared by CodeWeavers, while a native version was later released in 2014. Humble eventually began offering Windows-only games in their bundles and on their store.

In 2009, the small indie game company Entourev LLC published Voltley to Linux which is the first commercial exclusive game for this operating system. In the same year, LGP released Shadowgrounds which was the first commercial game for Linux using the Nvidia PhysX middleware. The GamingOnLinux website was launched on July 4, 2009, and eventually succeeded LinuxGames as the main source of news and commentary.

The release of a Linux version of Desura in 2011, a digital distribution platform with a primary focus on small independent developers, was heralded by several commentators as an important step to greater acknowledgement of Linux as a gaming platform. Shortly before this, Canonical launched the Ubuntu Software Center which also sold digital games. The digital store Gameolith also launched in 2011 focused principally on Linux before expanding in 2012 and closing in 2014.

2012–2016

In July 2012, game developer and content distributor Valve announced a port of their Source engine for Linux as well as stating their intention to release their Steam digital distribution service for Linux. The potential availability of a Linux Steam client had already attracted other developers to consider porting their titles to Linux, including previously Mac OS only porting houses such as Aspyr Media and Feral Interactive.

In November 2012, Unity Technologies ported their Unity engine and game creation system to Linux starting with version 4. All of the games created with the Unity engine can now be ported to Linux easily.

In September 2013 Valve announced that they were releasing a gaming oriented Linux based operating system called SteamOS with Valve saying they had "come to the conclusion that the environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself." This was used for their Steam Machine platform released on November 10, 2015, and discontinued in 2018.

In March 2014 GOG.com announced they would begin to support Linux titles on their DRM free store starting the same year, after previously stating they would not be able due to too many distributions. GOG.com began their initial roll out on July 24, 2014, by offering 50 Linux supporting titles, including several new to the platform.

Despite previous statements, GOG have confirmed they have no plans to port their Galaxy client to Linux. The free software Lutris started in 2010, GameHub from 2019, MiniGalaxy from 2020, and the Heroic Games Launcher from 2021, offer support for GOG as well as the Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect and Origin.

In March and April 2014 two major developers Epic Games and Crytek announced Linux support for their next generation engines Unreal Engine 4 and CryEngine respectively.

Towards the end of 2014 the game host itch.io announced that Linux would be supported with their developing open source game client. This was fully launched simultaneously on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux on December 15, 2015. The service had supported Linux since it was first unveiled on March 3, 2013, with creator Leaf Corcoran personally a Linux user. The similar Game Jolt service also supports Linux and has an open source client released on January 13, 2016. GamersGate also sells games for Linux.

2017-present

On August 22, 2018, Valve released their fork of Wine called Proton, aimed at gaming. It features some improvements over the vanilla Wine such as Vulkan-based DirectX 11 implementation, Steam integration, better full screen and game controller support and improved performance for multi-threaded games. It has since grown to include support for DirectX 9 and DirectX 12 over Vulkan. The itch.io app added its own Wine integration in June 2020, while Lutris and PlayOnLinux are long-standing independent solutions for compatibility wrappers.

As with Wine and Cedega in the past, concerns have been raised over whether Proton hinders native development more than it encourages use of the platform. Prodeus dropped native support in favour of Proton shortly before final release and Arcen Games cancelled planned native support for Heart of the Machine. Valve has expressed no preference over Proton or native ports among developers.

On February 25, 2022, Valve released Steam Deck, a handheld game console running SteamOS 3.0. The deployment of Proton and other design decisions were based on the limited response to their previous Steam Machines. Linux was also used as a base for several nostalgia consoles, including the Neo Geo X, NES Classic Edition, Super NES Classic Edition, Sega Genesis Mini, Intellivision Amico, Lichee Pocket 4A, and the Atari VCS. It also powers the more general Polymega, Anbernic RG351 and 5G552, as well as the Game Gadget, Evercade, VS, EXP and Super Pocket retrogaming consoles by Blaze Entertainment.

As of early 2023, the retro game store Zoom Platform was enhancing Linux support on their available titles.

Market share

The Steam Hardware Survey reports that as of January 2024, 2% of users are using some form of Linux as their platform's primary operating system. The Unity game engine used to make their statistics available and in March 2016 reported that Linux users accounted for 0.4% of players. In 2010, in the first Humble Bundle sales, Linux accounted for 18% of purchases.

Supported hardware

Linux as a gaming platform can also refer to operating systems based on the Linux kernel and specifically designed for the sole purpose of gaming. Examples are SteamOS, which is an operating system for Steam Machines, Steam Deck and general computers, video game consoles built from components found in the classical home computer, (embedded) operating systems like Tizen and Pandora, and handheld game consoles like GP2X, and Neo Geo X. The Nvidia Shield runs Android as an operating system, which is based on a modified Linux kernel.

The open source design of the Linux software platform allows the operating system to be compatible with various computer instruction sets and many peripherals, such as game controllers and head-mounted displays. As an example, HTC Vive, which is a virtual reality head-mounted display, supports the Linux gaming platform.

Performance

In 2013, tests by Phoronix showed real-world performance of games on Linux with proprietary Nvidia and AMD drivers were mostly comparable to results on Windows 8.1. Phoronix found similar results in 2015, though Ars Technica described a 20% performance drop with Linux drivers.

Software architecture

An operating system based on the Linux kernel and customized specifically for gaming, could adopt the vanilla Linux kernel with only little changes, or—like the Android operating system—be based on a relative extensively modified Linux kernel. It could adopt GNU C Library or Bionic or something like it. The entire middleware or parts of it, could very well be closed-source and proprietary software; the same is true for the video games. There are free and open-source video games available for the Linux operating system, as well as proprietary ones.

Linux kernel

The subsystems already mainlined and available in the Linux kernel are most probably performant enough so to not impede the gaming experience in any way, however additional software is available, such as e.g. the Brain Fuck Scheduler (a process scheduler) or the Budget Fair Queueing (BFQ) scheduler (an I/O scheduler).

Similar to the way the Linux kernel can be, for example, adapted to run better on supercomputers, there are adaptations targeted at improving the performance of games. A project concerning itself with this issue is called Liquorix.

Available software for video game designers

Game creation systems

Several game creation systems can be run on Linux, such as Game Editor, GDevelop, Construct and Stencyl, as well as beta versions of GameMaker. A Linux version of Clickteam Fusion 3 was mentioned, but has yet to be released. The Godot, Defold, and Solar2D game engines also supports creating games on Linux, as do the commercial UnrealEd and Unity Editor, The visual programming environments Snap!, Scratch 1.X and Tynker are Linux compatible. Enterbrain's RPG Maker MV was released for Linux. In addition, open-source, cross-platform clones of the RPG Maker series exist such as Open RPG Maker, MKXP and EasyRPG, as well as the similar OHRRPGCE and Solarus. The Adventure Game Studio editor is not yet ported to Linux, although games made in it are compatible, and the Wintermute and SLUDGE adventure game engines are available. ZGameEditor, Novashell, GB Studio, and the ZZT inspired MegaZeux are also options. Versions of Mugen were made available for Linux, and open-source re-implementations such as IKEMEN Go are compatible. The JavaScript based Ct.js Pixelbox.js, and Superpowers are also options.

Level editors

Various level editors exists for Linux, such as wxqoole, GtkRadiant, TrenchBroom and J.A.C.K. for the id Tech engines and related, Eureka, SLADE and ReDoomEd for the Doom engine, and the general purpose tile map editors LDtk, Ogmo, and Tiled.

Debuggers

Several game development tools have been available for Linux, including GNU Debugger, LLDB, Valgrind, glslang and others. VOGL, a debugger for OpenGL was released on 12 March 2014.

Available interfaces and SDKs

There are multiple interfaces and Software Development Kits available for Linux, and almost all of them are cross-platform. Most are free and open-source software subject to the terms of the zlib License, making it possible to static link against them from fully closed-source proprietary software. One difficulty due to this abundance of interfaces, is the difficulty for programmers to choose the best suitable audio API for their purpose. The main developer of the PulseAudio project, Lennart Poettering, commented on this issue. Physics engines, audio libraries, that are available as modules for game engines, have been available for Linux for a long time.

The book Programming Linux Games covers a couple of the available APIs suited for video game development for Linux, while The Linux Programming Interface covers the Linux kernel interfaces in much greater detail.

Library		License	in	Language bindings		Back-ends				Description
Icon	Name			Official	3rd-party	Linux	Windows	OS X	Other
	Allegro	zlib License	C			Yes	Yes	Yes	Android, iOS
	ClanLib	zlib License	C++	Python, Lua, Ruby		Yes	Yes	—	—
	GLFW	zlib License	C	—	Ada, C#, Common Lisp, D, Go, Haskell, Java, Python, Rebol, Red, Ruby, Rust	Yes	Yes	Yes		a small C library to create and manage windows with OpenGL contexts, enumerate monitors and video modes, and handle input
	Grapple	LGPL-2.1+	C			Yes	Yes	Yes		free software package for adding multiplayer support
	Nvidia GameWorks	Proprietary	Unknown			WIP	Yes	—	—	As the result of their cooperation with Valve, Nvidia announced a Linux port of GameWorks. As of June 2014, PhysX, and OptiX have been available for Linux for some time.
	OpenPlay	APSL	C			Yes	Yes	Yes	—	networking library authored by Apple Inc.
	Pygame	LGPL-2.1	Python			Yes	Yes	Yes		build over SDL
	RakNet	3-clause BSD	C++	C++, C#	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	PlayStation 3, iOS, ...	game network engine for multi-player
	SDL	zlib License	C	C	C#, Pascal, Python, Gambas	EGL, Xlib, GLX?	GDI, Direct3D	Quartz, Core OpenGL?	PSP-stuff	a low-level cross-platform abstraction layer
	SFML	zlib License	C++	C, D, Python, Ruby, OCaml, .Net, Go		Yes	Yes	Yes
	wxWidgets	LGPL-like	C++			Yes	Yes	Yes

Available middleware

Beside majority of the software which acts as an interface to various subsystems of the operating system, there is also software which can be simply described as middleware. A multitude of companies exist worldwide, whose main or only product is software that is meant to be licensed and integrated into a game engine. Their primary target is the video game industry, but the film industry also utilizes such software for special effects. Some very few well known examples are

• classical physics: Havok, Newton Game Dynamics and PhysX
• audio: Audiokinetic Wwise, FMOD
• other: SpeedTree

A significant share of the available middleware already runs natively on Linux, only a very few run exclusively on Linux.

Available IDEs and source code editors

Numerous source code editors and IDEs are available for Linux, among which are Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, Code::Blocks, Qt Creator, Emacs, or Vim.

Multi-monitor

A multi-monitor setup is supported on Linux at least by AMD Eyefinity & AMD Catalyst, Xinerama and RandR on both X11 and Wayland. Serious Sam 3: BFE is one example of a game that runs natively on Linux and supports very high resolutions and is validated by AMD to support their Eyefinity. Civilization V is another example, it even runs on a "Kaveri" desktop APU in 3x1 portrait mode.

Voice over IP

The specifications of the Mumble protocol are freely available and there are BSD-licensed implementations for both servers and clients. The positional audio API of Mumble is supported by e.g. Cube 2: Sauerbraten.

Wine

Wine is a compatibility layer that provides binary compatibility and makes it possible to run software, that was written and compiled for Microsoft Windows, on Linux. The Wine project hosts a user-submitted application database (known as Wine AppDB) that lists programs and games along with ratings and reviews which detail how well they run with Wine. Wine AppDB also has a commenting system, which often includes instructions on how to modify a system to run a certain game which cannot run on a normal or default configuration. Many games are rated as running flawlessly, and there are also many other games that can be run with varying degrees of success. The use of Wine for gaming has proved controversial in the Linux community as some feel it is preventing, or at least hindering, the further growth of native gaming on the platform.

Emulators

There are numerous emulators for Linux. There are also APIs, virtual machines, and machine emulators that provide binary compatibility:

• Anbox and Waydroid for the Android operating system;
• Basilisk II for the 68040 Mac;
• DOSBox and DOSEMU for MS-DOS and compatibles;
• DeSmuME and melonDS for the Nintendo DS;
• Dolphin for the GameCube, Wii, and the Triforce;
• FCEUX, Nestopia and TuxNES for the Nintendo Entertainment System;
• Flashpoint for Adobe Flash;
• Frotz for Z-Machine text adventures;
• Fuse for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum;
• Hatari for the Atari ST, STe, TT and Falcon;
• gnuboy for the Nintendo Game Boy and Game Boy Color;
• MAME for arcade games (and previously MESS for multiple hardware platforms);
• Mednafen and Xe emulating multiple hardware platforms including some of the above;
• Mupen64Plus and the no longer actively developed original Mupen64 for the Nintendo 64;
• PCSX-Reloaded, pSX and the Linux port of ePSXe for the PlayStation;
• Neko Project for the NEC PC-9801;
• PCSX2 for the PlayStation 2;
• PPSSPP for the PlayStation Portable;
• ScummVM for LucasArts and various other adventure games;
• SheepShaver for the PowerPC Macintosh;
• Snes9x, higan and ZSNES for the Super NES;
• Stella for the Atari 2600;
• UAE for the Amiga;
• VICE for the Commodore 64, 128, VIC-20, Plus/4 and PET;
• VisualBoyAdvance, mGBA and Boycott Advance for the Game Boy Advance;
• Mini vMac and the no longer actively developed original vMac for the 680x0 Macintosh;

Linux homebrew on consoles

Linux has been ported to several game consoles, including the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, GameCube, and Wii which allows game developers without an expensive game development kit to access console hardware. Several gaming peripherals also work with Linux.

Linux adoption

Adoption by game engines

The game engine is the software solely responsible for the game mechanics, or rules defining game play. There are different game engines for first-person shooters, strategy video games, etc. Besides the game mechanics, software is also needed to handle graphics, audio, physics, input handling, and networking.

Game engines that have been used by a number of video games and run on top of Linux include:

• 4A Engine (4A Games)
• C4 Engine (Terathon Software)
• CryEngine (Crytek)
• Diesel (Grin)
• Godot engine (Godot Foundation)
• HPL Engine 1–3 (Frictional Games)
• id Tech (id Software)
• Irrlicht Engine (Irrlicht Project)
• Leadwerks (Leadwerks Software)
• LithTech (Monolith Productions)
• OGRE (The OGRE Team)
• Open 3D Engine (Open 3D Foundation)
• Road Hog Engine (Flying Wild Hog)
• Serious Engine (Croteam)
• Source (Valve)
• Storm3D (Frozenbyte)
• Torque engine (GarageGames)
• Unigine (Unigine Corp)
• Unity 5-6 (Unity Technologies)
• Unreal Engine (Epic Games)

Adoption by video games

There are many free and open-source video games as well as commercially distributed proprietary video games that run natively on Linux. Some independent companies have also begun porting prominent video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux.

Free and open-source games

Original games

A few original open source video games have attained notability:

• 0 A.D. is a real-time strategy game of ancient warfare, similar to Age of Empires.
• AssaultCube is a first-person shooter.
• AstroMenace is a 3D scroll-shooter.
• BZFlag is a 3D First person tank shooter (With jumping).
• Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based strategy game.
• Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid is a 2D platform game.
• Chromium B.S.U. is a fast-paced, arcade-style, top-scrolling space shooter.
• CodeRED: Alien Arena is a sci-fi first-person shooter derived from the Quake II engine.
• Crimson Fields is a turn-based tactical wargame.
• Cube 2: Sauerbraten is a 3D first-person shooter with an integrated map editing mode.
• Danger from the Deep is a submarine simulator set in World War II.
• Glest is a real-time strategy game, with optional multiplayer.
• NetHack and Angband are text-based computer role-playing games.
• Netrek is a Star Trek themed multiplayer 2D space battle game.
• Nexuiz is a first-person shooter. Although, this has been replaced by Xonotic.
• TORCS (The Open Racing Car Simulator) – considered one of the best open-source racing simulators, with realistic graphics and vehicle handling.
• Tremulous is a 3D first-person shooter/real-time strategy game.
• Tux Racer is a 3D racing game featuring Tux.
• Urban Terror is a standalone Quake III Arena first-person shooter. (Proprietary mod).
• Vega Strike is a space flight simulation.
• Warsow is a Quake-like, fast-paced first-person shooter.

Clones and remakes

There are a larger number of open source clones and remakes of classic games:

• FreeCiv is a clone of Civilization II.
• FreeOrion is inspired by Master of Orion.
• Frets on Fire is a clone of Guitar Hero.
• Frozen Bubble is a clone of Puzzle Bobble.
• Grid Wars is a clone of Geometry Wars.
• Head Over Heels, a ZX-Spectrum action platformer, was remade for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and BeOS.
• Oolite is a free and open-source remake of Elite.
• OpenClonk is a free and open-source remake of Clonk.
• OpenTTD is a remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
• OpenMW game engine reimplementation of Morrowind.
• Performous is a remix of the ideas behind Guitar Hero, SingStar and Dance Dance Revolution.
• Pingus is a clone of Lemmings.
• Scorched 3D is a 3D adaptation of Scorched Earth.
• Spring originally is a clone of Total Annihilation, but actually is a platform for real time strategy games.
• StepMania is a clone of Dance Dance Revolution
• SuperTuxKart and TuxKart are clones of Mario Kart.
• SuperTux and Secret Maryo Chronicles are both clones of Super Mario Bros.
• The Dark Mod is a stealth game inspired by the Thief (series) games (particularly 1 and 2) from Looking Glass Studios
• The Zod Engine is an actively developed open source remake of the game Z.
• UFO: Alien Invasion is heavily influenced by the X-COM series, mostly by UFO: Enemy Unknown.
• UltraStar is an open source clone of SingStar
• Ur-Quan Masters is based on the original source code for Star Control II
• Warzone 2100 is a real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game. Originally published by Eidos Interactive and later released as open source.
• Widelands is a clone of The Settlers II.
• Bill Kendrick has developed many free software games, most inspired by games for the Atari 8-bit and other classic systems.

Proprietary games

Available on Steam

Valve officially released Steam for Linux on February 14, 2013. As of June 2020 the number of Linux-compatible games on Steam exceeds 6,500. With the launch of SteamOS, a distribution of Linux made by Valve intended to be used for HTPC gaming, that number is quickly growing. Listed below are some notable games available on Steam for Linux:

• Age of Wonders III
• Alien: Isolation
• American Truck Simulator
• And Yet It Moves
• Another World
• Aquaria
• Bastion
• The Binding of Isaac
• BioShock Infinite
• Borderlands 2
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!
• Braid
• Brütal Legend
• Cave Story+
• Civilization V
• Civilization VI
• Civilization: Beyond Earth
• Counter-Strike
• Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
• Counter-Strike: Source
• Day of the Tentacle Remastered
• Dead Island
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Dirt Rally
• Don't Starve
• Dota 2
• Empire: Total War
• Factorio
• Fez
• Freedom Planet
• GRID Autosport
• Grim Fandango Remastered
• Half-Life
• Half-Life 2
• Hitman
• Hitman Go
• Kerbal Space Program
• Lara Croft Go
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Life Is Strange
• Life Is Strange 2
• Limbo
• Mad Max
• Madout Big City Online
• Metro 2033
• Metro: Last Light
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• Mini Metro
• Pillars of Eternity
• Portal
• Portal 2
• Saints Row 2
• Saints Row IV
• Saints Row: The Third
• Shovel Knight
• Skullgirls
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
• Super Meat Boy
• System Shock 2
• The Talos Principle
• Tank Force
• Team Fortress 2
• Tomb Raider
• Total War: Warhammer
• TowerFall Ascension
• Undertale
• VVVVVV
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown
• XCOM 2

Independent game developers

Independent developer 2D Boy released World of Goo for Linux. Role-playing video game titles like Eschalon: Book I, Eschalon: Book II and Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness were developed cross-platform from the start of development, including a Linux version. Sillysoft released Linux versions of their game Lux and its various versions, as did My Game Company and its Dirk Dashing series. Donohoe Digital released War! Age of Imperialism and DD Poker for Linux. Devolver Digital has released a number of indie games for Linux, including Hotline Miami, Hatoful Boyfriend, Minit, Ruiner, Reigns, OlliOlli, Carrion and Broforce. Vlambeer has released Luftrausers and Nuclear Throne. Supergiant Games has released Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre.

Hemisphere Games has released a Linux version of Osmos. Koonsolo has released a Linux version of Mystic Mine. Amanita Design released Linux versions of Machinarium and Samorost 2. Irrgheist released a Linux version of their futuristic racing game H-Craft Championship before later releasing the source code. Gamerizon released a Linux version of QuantZ. InterAction Studios ported several titles mostly in the Chicken Invaders series. GridWars was released for Linux by Canadian developer Marco Inciti.

Young Horses released Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Studio Pixel released Cave Story, Number None released Braid, Subset Studios released FTL: Faster Than Light, The Indie Stone released Project Zomboid, Vblank Entertainment released Retro City Rampage, Bit Kid released Chasm, Rocketcat Games released Death Road to Canada, Ape Marina released Tales, HuniePot released HuniePop, Toby Fox has released Undertale, ConcernedApe has released Stardew Valley, Skookum Arts released The Pedestrian, and Data Realms released Cortex Command. Yacht Club Games has released Shovel Knight and Mina the Hollower. Drinkbox Studios released Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack and Guacamelee!. Edmund McMillen has released Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, and The End is Nigh.

Kristanix Games released Linux versions of Crossword Twist, Fantastic Farm, Guess The Phrase!, Jewel Twist, Kakuro Epic, Mahjong Epic, Maxi Dice, Solitaire Epic, Sudoku Epic, and Theseus and the Minotaur. Anawiki Games released Linux versions of Path of Magic, Runes of Avalon, Runes of Avalon 2, Soccer Cup Solitaire, The Perfect Tree and Dress-Up Pups. Gaslamp Games released a Linux version of Dungeons of Dredmor. Broken Rules released a Linux version of And Yet It Moves. Klei Entertainment have released Shank, Mark of the Ninja, Don't Starve and more. Tomorrow Corporation has released Little Inferno, Human Resource Machine and 7 Billion Humans. Alientrap released Nexuiz, Capsized, Apotheon, and Cryptark. Freebird Games has released To the Moon, A Bird Story, Finding Paradise and Impostor Factory. 17-Bit released Skulls of the Shogun and Galak-Z: The Dimensional.

Frictional Games released Linux versions of both Penumbra: Black Plague and Penumbra: Overture, as well as the expansion pack Penumbra: Requiem. They also released Amnesia: The Dark Descent for Linux simultaneously with the Windows and Mac OS X versions, a practice they continued through to Amnesia: Rebirth (2020). S2 Games released Linux clients for their titles Savage: The Battle for Newerth, Savage 2: A Tortured Soul and Heroes of Newerth. Wolfire Games released a Linux version of their game Lugaru and supported its sequel Overgrowth on Linux; David Rosen's earlier Black Shades was also ported to Linux via released source code. Arctic Paint released a Linux version of Number Drill. Charlie's Games has released a Linux version of Bullet Candy Perfect, Irukandji, Space Phallus and Scoregasm. Spiderweb Software has released Exile III: Ruined World, Blades of Exile, and Avadon: The Black Fortress for Linux.

Illwinter Game Design released Conquest of Elysium II, Dominions: Priests, Prophets and Pretenders, Dominions II: The Ascension Wars, and Dominions 3: The Awakening for Linux. Introversion Software released Darwinia, Uplink, and DEFCON. Cartesian Theatre is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, based software house specializing in free, commercial, games for Linux, most notably Avaneya. Kot-in-Action Creative Artel released their Steel Storm games for Linux. Hazardous Software have released their game Achron for Linux. Harebrained Schemes has released Shadowrun Returns, Shadowrun: Dragonfall, Shadowrun: Hong Kong, and BattleTech.

UNIGINE Company developed Oil Rush using its Unigine engine technology that works on Linux. Unigine Corp was also developing a "shooter-type game" that would have been released for Linux, but development was later frozen while OilRush developed. The MMORPG game Syndicates of Arkon was also supposed to come to Linux. The game Dilogus: The Winds of War was also being developed with Unigine and was planned to have a Linux client. Cradle was released for Linux in 2015, as was Sumoman in 2017.

A number of visual novel developers support Linux. Winter Wolves released titles such as Spirited Heart, Heileen, The Flower Shop, Bionic Heart, Card Sweethearts, Vera Blanc, Planet Stronghold, and Loren The Amazon Princess for Linux. Hanako Games released Science Girls, Summer Session, Date Warp, Cute Knight Kingdom, and were considering porting Fatal Hearts to Linux. sakevisual brought Jisei, Kansei, Yousei, RE: Alistair and Ripples to Linux. Four Leaf Studios also released Katawa Shoujo for Linux and Christine Love released Digital: A Love Story, both of which, along with Summer Session mentioned previously, are powered by the free software Ren'Py game engine.

The Java-based sandbox game Minecraft by then indie developer Mojang is available on Linux, as are any other video games compiled for the Java virtual machine. Linux support was maintained even following Mojang's purchase by Microsoft in November 2014.

Dwarf Fortress, a sandbox management simulator / roguelike, has been made available for Linux by Tarn Adams.

The realistic replay baseball simulation Out of the Park Baseball by OOTP Developments was made available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows, for single player and multiplayer online leagues.

Grappling Hook, a first-person shooter like puzzle game using the jMonkeyEngine, was released by Christian Teister. David Pittman released his game Eldritch for Linux. Big Robot released Sir, You Are Being Hunted and The Signal From Tölva. Superhot Team released Superhot. New Blood Interactive has released Dusk and Ultrakill for Linux. Sorath released Devil Daggers, Free Lives released the prototype of Anger Foot, and Samurai Punk released Screencheat. Pine Studio released SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell and Quicktequila released Lovely Planet. Milkstone Studios has released the first-person shooter roguelike Ziggurat for Linux, while Crema released Immortal Redneck, Terrible Posture Games released Tower of Guns, Terri Vellmann released Heavy Bullets, Pixel Titans released Strafe, and Code Avarice released Paranautical Activity. Magellanic Games has released Office Point Rescue and Affliction Rescue based on the Godot engine.

Pillow Castle Games released Superliminal, Gone North Games released A Story About My Uncle, and Manekoware with Fire Hose Games released Catlateral Damage. Incandescent Imaging released Caffeine, Bloober Team released Layers of Fear, Red Barrels released Outlast, Krillbite Studio released Among the Sleep, Saibot Studios released Doorways, Camel 101 and Bigmoon Entertainment released Syndrome, Adam Pype released No Players Online, Arbitrary Metric released Paratopic, Mystman12 released Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, and Kindly Beast released Bendy and the Ink Machine.

In the walking simulator space, Dan Ruscoe's Dark Hill Museum of Death is available for Linux, as well as the better known Gone Home, The Stanley Parable, Jazzpunk, Firewatch and Proteus. Blendo Games has released their games, including Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving and Quadrilateral Cowboy built on the open source id Tech code, for Linux.

Game porters

Independent companies have also taken on the task of porting prominent Windows games to Linux. Loki Software was the first such company, and between 1998 and 2002 ported Civilization: Call to Power, Descent³, Eric's Ultimate Solitaire, Heavy Gear II, Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.², Heretic II, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, Myth II: Soulblighter, Postal, Railroad Tycoon II, Quake III Arena, Rune, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Sim City 3000, Soldier of Fortune, Tribes 2, and MindRover to Linux.

Tribsoft created a Linux version of Jagged Alliance 2 published by Titan Computer before shutting down in 2002. Linux Game Publishing was founded in 2001 in response to the impending demise of Loki, and has brought Creatures: Internet Edition, Candy Cruncher, Majesty: Gold Edition, NingPo MahJong, Hyperspace Delivery Boy!, Software Tycoon, Postal²: Share The Pain, Soul Ride, X2: The Threat, Gorky 17, Cold War, Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom, Ballistics, X3: Reunion, Jets'n'Guns, Sacred: Gold, Shadowgrounds, and Shadowgrounds Survivor to Linux. Some of these games were ported for them by Gordon.

LGP-associated but freelance consultant Frank C. Earl is porting the game Caster to Linux and has released the first episode and also developed the Linux version of Cortex Command being included in the second Humble Indie Bundle. He is also working towards other porting projects such as the entire Myth series. He is largely taking recommendations and he comments as part of the Phoronix community. icculus.org has ported beta releases for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Devastation, versions of America's Army, and the titles Prey, Aquaria, Braid, Hammerfight and Cogs.

The German publisher RuneSoft was founded in 2000. They ported the games Northland, Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood, Airline Tycoon Deluxe, Ankh, Ankh: Heart of Osiris, Barkanoid 2, Jack Keane and Earth 2140 to Linux, as well as porting Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom and Software Tycoon, for Linux Game Publishing. Hyperion Entertainment ported games to several systems. They have ported Shogo: Mobile Armor Division and SiN to Linux, both published by Titan Computer as well as porting Gorky 17 for Linux Game Publishing. Wyrmkeep Entertainment has brought the games The Labyrinth of Time and Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb to Linux. IGIOS ported Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor for Linux Game Publishing, and it shortly closed after it. Alternative Games brought Trine and updated Shadowgrunds games for HIB.

Aspyr Media released their first Linux port in June 2014, they claim they are porting to Linux due to Valve bringing out SteamOS. Aspyr Media later ported Borderlands 2 to Linux in September 2014.

Having ported games to the Macintosh since 1996, video game publisher Feral Interactive released XCOM: Enemy Unknown, its first game for Linux, in June 2014. Feral Interactive stated they port games to Linux thanks to SteamOS.

Other developers

Some id Software employees ported the Doom series, the Quake series, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Some games published by GarageGames which have Linux versions include Bridge Builder, Marble Blast Gold, Gish, Tribal Trouble, and Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion.

MP Entertainment released Hopkins FBI and Crack dot com released Abuse for Linux, becoming one of the first developers to release a native port. Inner Worlds, another early commercial Linux title, was released for and developed on Linux. Philos Laboratories released a Linux version of Theocracy on the retail disk. Absolutist has supported Linux for a number of years. GLAMUS GmbH released a Linux version of their game Mobility. Vicarious Visions ported the space-flight game Terminus to Linux. Oliver Hamann released the driving game Odyssey by Car in 2001. Futureware 2001 released a trading simulation Würstelstand in 1999.

Mountain King Studios released a port of Raptor: Call of the Shadows. BlackHoleSun Software released Krilo, Bunnies and Aftermath, and worked on Atlantis: The Underwater City - Interactive Storybook. RedLynx released the freeware Phobia III - Edge Of Humanity for Linux. Revolution Software released source code to Lure of the Temptress and Beneath a Steel Sky to facilitate compatibility with ScummVM, which later also grew to support Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror and Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars, with Revolution later also releasing native ports of the sequels Beyond a Steel Sky and Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse.

Lava Lord Games released their game Astro Battle for Linux. Xatrix Entertainment released a Linux version of Kingpin: Life of Crime. BioWare released Neverwinter Nights for Linux. Croteam released the Serious Sam series, with the first game ported by Gordon and with the second self-ported. Gordon also ported Epic Games' shooter games Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004.

The Project Aon effort to digitize and distribute Joe Dever's Lone Wolf gamebooks distributed archives in the tar.gz format popular among Linux users, and later player aid programs such as Seventh Sense have supported Linux directly.

Revolution System Games released their game Decadence: Home Sweet Home through Steam only for Linux for a period of time after Mac or Windows release.

On 12 October 2013 Lars Gustavsson, creative director at DICE, said to polygon.com

We strongly want to get into Linux for a reason," Gustavsson said. "It took Halo for the first Xbox to kick off and go crazy — usually, it takes one killer app or game and then people are more than willing — it is not hard to get your hands on Linux, for example, it only takes one game that motivates you to go there.

Commercial games for non-x86 instruction sets

Some companies ported games to Linux running on instruction sets other than x86, such as Alpha, PowerPC, Sparc, MIPS or ARM.

Loki Entertainment Software ported Civilization: Call to Power, Eric's Ultimate Solitaire, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Myth II: Soulblighter, Railroad Tycoon II Gold Edition and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri with Alien Crossfire expansion pack to Linux PowerPC. They also ported Civilization: Call to Power, Eric's Ultimate Solitaire, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri with Alien Crossfire expansion pack to Linux Alpha and Civilization: Call to Power, Eric's Ultimate Solitaire to Linux SPARC.

Linux Game Publishing published Candy Cruncher, Majesty Gold, NingPo MahJong and Soul Ride to Linux PowerPC. They also ported Candy Cruncher, Soul Ride to Linux SPARC and Soul Ride to Linux Alpha.

Illwinter Game Design ported Dominions: Priests, Prophets and Pretenders, Dominions II: The Ascension Wars and Dominions 3 to Linux PowerPC, as well as Conquest of Elysium 3, Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension to Raspberry Pi.

Hyperion Entertainment ported Sin to Linux PowerPC published by Titan Computer and Gorky 17 to Linux PowerPC which later was published by LGP.

Runesoft hired Gunnar von Boehn which ported Robin Hood – The Legend of Sherwood to Linux PowerPC. Later Runesoft ported Airline Tycoon Deluxe to Raspberry Pi was running Debian GNU/Linux.

Iain McLeod ported Spheres of Chaos to Linux on the PlayStation 2 consoles and later re-released it as a freeware game.

Source ports

Several developers have released the source code to many of their legacy titles, allowing them to be run as native applications on many alternative platforms, including Linux. Examples of games which were ported to Linux this way include Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Rise of the Triad, Blake Stone: Planet Strike, Ken's Labyrinth, Catacomb 3D, Seven Kingdoms, Warzone 2100, Homeworld, Call to Power II, Wolfenstein 3D, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Aliens versus Predator, Arx Fatalis, Gloom, Descent, Descent II and Freespace 2. Several game titles that were previously released for Linux were also able to be expanded or updated because of the availability of game code, including Doom, Abuse, Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena and Jagged Alliance 2. Some derivatives based on released source code have also been released for Linux, such as Aleph One and Micropolis for Marathon 2: Durandal and SimCity respectively.

Certain game titles were even able to be ported due to availability of shared engine code even though the game's code itself remains proprietary, lost, or otherwise unavailable, such as the video games Strife, Doom 64, Catacomb Abyss, Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Super 3D Noah's Ark, Pathways Into Darkness, Marathon, Ultimate Gloom, Zombie Massacre, Blood, PowerSlave, Redneck Rampage, or the multiplayer component of Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force. Some games have even been ported entirely or partially by reverse engineering and game engine recreation such as WarCraft II through Wargus or Commander Keen through Commander Genius. Another trick is to attempt hacking the game to work as a mod on another native title, such as with the original Unreal. Additionally, some games can be run through the use of Linux specific runtime environments, such as the case of certain games made with Adventure Game Studio such as the Chzo Mythos or certain titles made with the RPG Maker tool such as those by Freebird Games. Games derived from released code, with both free and proprietary media, that are released for Linux include Urban Terror, OpenArena, Freedoom, Blasphemer, World of Padman, Nexuiz/Xonotic, War§ow, The Dark Mod, and Excalibur: Morgana's Revenge.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games

This is a selected list of MMORPGs that are native on Linux:

• A Tale in the Desert III (2003, eGenesis) – A trading and crafting game, set in ancient Egypt, pay-to-play.
• Crossfire (1992) – A medieval fantasy 2D game.
• Dofus (2005, Ankama Games) – A 2D fantasy MMORPG.
• PlaneShift – A free 3D fantasy game.
• Regnum Online – A 3D fantasy game, free-to-play with premium content.
• RuneScape – Java fantasy 3rd person MMORPG.
• Salem – An isometric, 3D fantasy game with a focus on crafting and permadeath.
• Shroud of the Avatar – An isometric, 3D fantasy game and the spiritual successor to Ultima Online.
• Spiral Knights – Java fantasy 3rd person game.
• The Saga of Ryzom – has a Linux client and source code available.
• Tibia – A 2D Medieval fantasy MMORPG game. Free-to-play with premium content. One of the oldest MMORPG, created January 1997. With Official Linux client.
• Ultima Online has an unofficial Linux client.
• Vendetta Online – A 3D spacecraft MMOFPS with growing RPG elements, pay to play. Maintains both Linux/32 and Linux/64 clients.
• WorldForge – A game engine. There are Linux clients available.
• Wyvern – A 2D fantasy MMORPG that runs on Java.
• Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates – A puzzle game which runs on Java.
• Many Virtual Worlds – (such as Second Life) also have Linux clients.

Types of Linux gaming

Linux gaming can be divided into a number of sub-categories.

Libre gaming

Libre gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizes libre software, which often includes levels and assets as well as code.

Native gaming

Native gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizes using only native games or ports and not using emulators or compatibility layers.

DRM-free gaming

DRM-free gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizes boycotting DRM technologies. This can include buying games from GOG.com, certain Humble Bundles or itch.io and avoiding Steam and similar services.

Terminal gaming

Terminal gaming is the playing of text-based games from within a console, often programmed within Bash or using libraries such as ncurses.

Retro gaming

Retrogaming is the playing of older games using emulators such as MAME or Dosbox, compatibility layers such as Wine and Proton, engine reimplementations and source ports, or even older Linux distributions (including live CDs and live USB, or virtual machines), original binaries, and period hardware.

Live gaming

A number of games can be played from live distributions such as Knoppix, allowing easy access for users unwilling to fully commit to Linux. Certain live distros have specially targeted gamers, such as SuperGamer and Linux-Gamers.

Browser gaming

Browser gaming is the act of playing online games through a web browser, which has the advantage of largely being platform independent. The same largely applies to social network games hosted on social media sites. Older games were largely based on Adobe Flash, while modern ones are mostly HTML5.

Cloud gaming

Cloud gaming is the streaming of games from a central server onto a desktop client. This is another way to play games on Linux that are not natively supported, although some cloud services, such as the erstwhile Google Stadia, are hosted on Linux and Android servers. GamingAnywhere is an open source implementation.

On Windows

Although less exploited than the reverse, as few programs are Linux exclusive, support does exist for running Linux binaries from Windows. The Windows Subsystem for Linux allows the running of both command line and graphical Linux applications from Windows 10 and Windows 11. An earlier implementation is Cygwin, started by Cygnus Solutions and later maintained by Red Hat, although it has limited hardware access and required adaptation. The use of Wine can even allow for the running of Windows games on Linux from Windows. The LibTAS library for tool assisted speedruns currently recommends WSL to run on Windows. Naughty Dog meanwhile have used Cygwin to run old command-line tools for use in their game development, which is a broader use for the platform. As with running Windows applications on Linux, there is controversy over whether running Linux applications on Windows will dilute interest in Linux as distinct platform, though it has speciality uses.

Android gaming

Originally derived from Linux, the Android mobile operating system has a distinct and popular gaming ecosystem. It has also been used as the base for several game consoles, such as the Nvidia Shield Portable and the Ouya. Popular games include Pokemon Go, Genshin Impact, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Dead Cells and Call of Duty: Mobile. Certain games, such as Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Papers Please, are available for both Android and desktop Linux.

ChromeOS gaming

ChromeOS is another Linux derived operating system by Google for its Chromebooks, and it too has a dedicated gaming ecosystem. Partly owing to a lack of high end graphics hardware, it is especially oriented towards cloud gaming via services like GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming, with models featuring Nvidia GPUs ultimately being cancelled. Numerous games for Android have also been made compatible with ChromeOS, as well as a standard Linux games, Windows games via Wine or Proton, and with browser games also being popular. A version of Steam has been in development for ChromeOS, with third party launchers also available such as the Heroic Games Launcher for the Epic Games Store. Popular titles include Among Us, Genshin Impact, Alto's Odyssey, Roblox, and Fortnite. Skepticism remains for using ChromeOS and Chromebooks as gaming machines.

BSD gaming

Owing to a common Unix-like heritage and free software ethos, many games for Linux are also ported to BSD variants or can be run using compatibility layers such as Linuxulator. BSDi had partnered with Loki Software to ensure its Linux ports ran on FreeBSD. The Mizutamari launcher exists to facilitate running Windows games through Wine, which can still be used standalone. A 2011 benchmark by Phoronix even found certain speed advantages over running games on Linux itself, comparing PC-BSD 8.2 to Ubuntu 11.04. Most BSD systems come with the same pack in desktop games as Linux. The permissive licensing of BSD has also lead to its inclusion in the system software of several game consoles, such as the Sony PlayStation line and the Nintendo Switch.

OpenHarmony gaming

HarmonyOS with custom kernel and OpenHarmony-Oniro based operating systems distros of these newer platforms has a dedicated gaming ecosystem with compatibilities with third-party Linux libraries by developers on Linux kernel subsystem such as musl-libc of C standard library that targets the Linux syscall and POSIX APIs compatibility for native compatible games as well as limited virtual machines such as Android-based sandboxed ones.

Unix gaming

A further niche exists for running games, either through ports or lxrun, on Solaris and derivatives such as OpenIndiana, Darwin distributions such as PureDarwin, Coherent, SerenityOS, Redox OS, ToaruOS, Xv6, Fiwix, or on Minix and Hurd based systems. There has been some cross-pollination with purely proprietary Unix derivatives, such as AIX, QNX, Domain/OS, HP-UX, IRIX (see here), Xenix, SCO Unix, Unixware, Tru64 UNIX, LynxOS (which features inbuilt Linux compatibility), Ultrix, OpenVMS, z/OS UNIX System Services, and even A/UX. The games Doom and Quake were developed by id Software on NeXTStep, a forerunner of modern macOS, before being ported to DOS and back to numerous other Unix variants. This involved reaching out to numerous Unix vendors to supply machines to use in the build and testing process.

See also

• Directories and lists
  • Free Software Directory
  • List of emulators
  • List of open-source video games
  • List of video game console emulators
• Linux gaming software
  • Direct3D (alternative implementation)
  • Lutris
  • PlayOnLinux
  • Proton (software)
  • Steam (service)
  • Vulkan
  • Wine (software)
• Other articles
  • Linux for PlayStation 2
  • Sega Lindbergh

References

1. Ritchie, Dennis (June 2001). "Ken, Unix and Games". ICGA Journal. 24 (2): 67–70. doi:10.3233/ICG-2001-24202. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
2. Jowitt, Tom (May 26, 2017). "Tales In Tech History: Unix". Silicon UK. Retrieved March 5, 2023. The developers wanted to play the game on a PDP-7, a minicomputer built by Digital Equipment Corp found in the corner of their building. But the game couldn't be run run on more modern (and hence costly) equipment, as computing resource was a precious commodity back then. By the summer of 1969 they had developed the new Unix OS that could run the computer game and in 1971 the first ever edition of Unix was released. A second edition of Unix arrived in December 1972 and was rewritten in the higher-level language C.
3. Crick, Joseph (December 12, 2017). "Lessons from the Development of Unix". Medium. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
4. Toomey, Warren (December 2011). "The Strange Birth and Long Life of Unix" (PDF). IEEE Spectrum. Apart from the text-processing and general system applications, the first edition of Unix included games such as blackjack, chess, and tic-tac-toe.
5. Bronnikov, Sergey. "Unix ASCII games". GitHub. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
6. Allen Holm, Joshua (June 21, 2017). "Revisit Colossal Cave with Open Adventure". Opensource.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
7. Hasan, Mehedi (November 24, 2022). "Top 20 Best ASCII Games on Linux System". Ubuntu Pit. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
8. Gagné, Marcel (September 1, 2000). "The Ghost of Fun Times Past". Linux Journal. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
9. Woodman, Lawrence (August 11, 2009). "My Top 10 Classic Text Mode BSD Games". TechTinkering. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
10. Stallman, Richard. "Linux and the GNU System". GNU Project. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2022. Some of our system components, the programming tools, became popular on their own among programmers, but we wrote many components that are not tools. We even developed a chess game, GNU Chess, because a complete system needs games too.
11. Wen, Howard (November 21, 2001). "Building Freeciv: An Open Source Strategy Game". LinuxDevCenter.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
12. Armstrong, Ryan (November 18, 2020). "Old X Games". Zerk Zone. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
13. Wilson, Hamish (January 10, 2022). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 8: Shovelware with a Penguin". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
14. Link, Jay (September 30, 1999). "Easy graphics: A beginner's guide to SVGAlib". Developer.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
15. Pitzel, Brad (February 12, 1994). "Sasteroids v1.0 release (vga arcade game)". Retrieved October 1, 2023.
16. Ayers, Larry (July 1, 1998). "Sabre: An Svgalib Flight Sim". Linux Gazette. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
17. Beck, Andreas (November 1, 1996). "Linux-GGI Project". Linux Journal. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
18. Wilson, Hamish (March 12, 2024). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 40: The Cyborg Project". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
19. "Software Announcements". Linux Weekly News. January 6, 2000. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
20. Fox, Alexander (January 5, 2018). "The Best Open Source Clones of Great Old Games". Make Tech Easier. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
21. Maskara, Swati (March 3, 2021). "33 Best Open Source Games That Are Forever Free To Play". TechNorms. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
22. Johnson, Michael K. (December 1, 1994). "DOOM". Linux Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
23. Zimbinski, Bob (January 1, 1999). "Getting Started with Quake". Linux Journal.
24. Hellums, Duane (March 1, 1999). "Red Hat LINUX Secrets, Second Edition". Linux Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2023. It would be nice to see some extra CD goodies included, such as Doom and Quake which are freely available elsewhere.
25. Tackett, Jack (1997). Special Edition. Using Linux. United States: Que Corporation. p. 287. ISBN 9780470485460. The X Windows version supplied on the accompanying Slackware CD-ROM in the /contrib directory is a complete hareware version. (The Red Hat distribution automatically installs the game during installation.) Although this version runs on 386 computers, it was built to run on high-end 486 systems. If you run DOOM on a 386 with a small amount of physical RAM, be prepared to be disappointed; the game will be too slow to be enjoyable. You need lots of horse-power to play DOOM under Linux.
26. Barkakati, Naba (1996). Linux Secrets. United States: IDG Books Worldwide. p. 96. ISBN 9781568847986. This disk set contains a collection of well-known UNIX games (X is not required), such as Hangman, Dungeon, and Snake. The set also includes id Software's DOOM. (This game comes in two versions, one runs under X, and the other runs without X.) You may want to install this disk set just so you can try out DOOM.
27. Parker, Tim (1996). Linux Unleashed. United States: Macmillan Computer Publishing. p. 981. ISBN 0672313723. DOOM - This exciting, though controversially gory, game is now ported to Linux as well. Complete with sound support and exquisite graphics, this Linux port does its DOS counterpart justice.
28. "So Long, Crack.com". loonygames. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
29. "Partnership with Crack dot Com Brings Games to Linux" (Press release). Red Hat. October 7, 1997. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
30. Anonymous (2000). Maximum Linux Security: A Hacker's Guide to Protecting Your Linux Server and Workstation, Volume 1. United States: Sams Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 9780672316708. A classic, and very easy-to-follow SUID attack is the on the file /usr/lib/games/abuse/ abuse.console—part of a game that was distributed with Open Linux 1.1 and Red Hat 2.1. Yes, you read that right: Even a game can be a security risk to the system.
31. Jebens, Harley (April 26, 2000). "Okay, Dave Taylor: Why Linux?". GameSpot. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
32. "'Dave Taylor Interview - game developer'". blankmaninc.com. October 27, 2012. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
33. Mrochuk, Jeff (November 15, 2000). "How To Install Quake 1". Linux.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
34. Wilson, Hamish (February 27, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 27: Lost Souls". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
35. Raghavan, Barath; Katz, Jeremy; Moffitt, Jack (February 19, 1999). "An interview with Dave "Zoid" Kirsch of linux quake fame". Linux Power. Archived from the original on September 10, 1999. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
36. Reyes, Dustin (August 22, 2004). "Interview with id Software's Timothee Besset". LinuxGames. Archived from the original on September 24, 2004. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
37. Chalk, Andy (February 6, 2013). "John Carmack Argues Against Native Linux Games". The Escapist. Archived from the original on January 21, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
38. "Macmillan Says 'Let the Linux Games Begin!'; Market Leader in Linux Software & Books Offers 'Quake' & 'Civilization'". Business Wire. June 17, 1999. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
39. Shah, Rawn (March 9, 2000). "Quake III Arena on Linux". CNN. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
40. CmdrTaco (November 5, 1998). "Red Hat not Interested in Publishing Id Games". Slashdot. Retrieved September 12, 2023.
41. Sawicki, Antoni (December 30, 2022). "SimCity for Unix Liberated". Virtually Fun. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
42. "History and Future of OLPC SimCity / Micropolis". Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
43. Kuhnash, Jeremy (February 9, 2000). "Hopkins FBI". Linux.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007.
44. Hitchens, Joe (September 19, 2001). "Internet Based Software Development". Sleepless Software Inc. Archived from the original on December 31, 2001.
45. "Ultima Online for Linux". Archived from the original on February 29, 2004.
46. Dicks, Steve (December 1998). "REVIEW - The UNIX Book of Games". ACCU. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
47. "[ANNC] The Linux Game Tome on the Web". groups.google.com. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
48. Gasperson, Tina (December 16, 2004). "Site review: Linux Game Tome". Linux.com. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
49. Larabel, Michael (November 18, 2010). "LGP Has Been Down For A Month And A Half". Phoronix. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
50. Stieben, Danny (February 6, 2013). "Top 4 Websites To Discover Free Linux Games". Make Use Of. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
51. Wagh, Amol (September 14, 2011). "Best Web Places to Find Amazing Free Linux Games". Digital Conqueror. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
52. Barr, Joe (July 1, 1999). "You can tell a lot about an OS from its games". CNN. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
53. Dawe, Liam (August 14, 2023). "Rest in peace Dustin 'Crusader' Reyes, a pioneer of Linux gaming news". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
54. "Interview: Scott Draeker and Sam Lantinga, Loki Entertainment". Linux Journal. August 1, 1999.
55. Lynch, Jim (September 7, 2016). "Remembering Loki's Linux games from the '90s". InfoWorld. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
56. "Interview with Ryan Gordon: Postal2, Unreal & Mac Gaming – Macologist". Archived from the original on March 9, 2005.
57. Lantinga, Sam (September 1, 1999). "SDL: Making Linux fun". IBM. Archived from the original on May 11, 2003. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
58. Kreimeier, Bernd (January 1, 2001). "The Story of OpenAL". Linux Journal.
59. Hills, James. "Loki and the Linux World Expo – GameSpy chats with Linux legend Scott Draeker about the future of Linux gaming". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006.
60. Foster-Johnson, Eric. "Does Ragnarok for Loki Spell Doom for Linux Games?". Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
61. Hills, James (March 1, 2001). "Is Linux Gaming here to stay?". GameSpy. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
62. "Linux Game Publishing Blog, LGP History pt 1: How LGP came to be". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
63. Dawe, Liam (June 30, 2011). "Gameolith - The Linux Game Download Store". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
64. Bush, Josh (September 11, 2018). "Cheese talks to himself (about Proton and the history of modern Linux gaming)". CheeseTalks. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
65. Larabel, Michael (April 1, 2014). "Linux Game Publishing Remains Dormant". Phoronix. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
66. Gestalt (November 21, 2000). "Indrema to bring Linux to the masses?". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
67. Shankland, Stephen (January 2, 2002). "Game start-up faces major rivals with Linux console". CNET. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
68. Manjoo, Farhad (March 13, 2001). "Game Arrives Only in Dreams". Wired. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
69. Becker, David (January 2, 2002). "Plans for Linux game console fizzle". CNET. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
70. Smith, Tony (April 11, 2001). "Linux games console fragged". The Register. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
71. Gross, Grant (April 18, 2001). "TuxBox: Rising from Indrema's ashes". Linux.com. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
72. Wilson, Hamish (December 12, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 36: Entertainment for X Windows". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved December 15, 2023. While still being the most elaborate, 100 Great Linux Games was far from the only shovelware set of games released for Linux, with several UNIX CD-ROM vendors such as Walnut Creek CDROM and Omeron Systems also seeking a piece of the action for themselves.
73. Ajami, Amer (April 26, 2000). "Take-Two Jumps on Linux". GameSpot. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
74. "Linux Games". Walnut Creek CDROM. Archived from the original on October 28, 2000. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
75. "Walnut Creek CDROM Catalog". Walnut Creek CDROM. December 17, 2000. Retrieved April 7, 2023. Linux Games (Linux) - Large collection of games, graphics, sound, and video applications, plus related development tools.
76. "PC CD-ROM - Shareware & utlity". Zeta. Italy. May 1997. p. 92. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
77. "PHT Products". Pacific Hitech. 1998. Archived from the original on December 6, 1998. Retrieved April 4, 2024. Formerly known as 'Linux Games++', this is a collection of the best entertainment and multimedia programs for the Linux operating system. It also contains multimedia development tools to assist you in creating your own games and multimedia applications for Linux. This is the latest issue, volume 4, and features a new and improved user interface. The CD contains packages for i386, DEC Alpha, and PPC platforms. This product is only available through Walnut Creek CD-ROM.
78. "Linux Cubed Series 8 LINUX Games". Internet Archive Community Software. December 11, 1997. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
79. Thomas, Benjamin D. (April 2, 2000). "Best Linux". Linux.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
80. Knight, Will (February 5, 2000). "CeBIT 2000: "Consumer" Linux from Finland". ZDNet. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
81. "Linux is Best". SOT Finnish Software Engineering Ltd. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
82. Wilson, Hamish (August 8, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 31: The Fear of Loss". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved August 10, 2023. I did discover that Phobia III was later packaged as part of the Russian made LinuxCenter Games Collection Vol.2 compilation, a selection of Linux gaming files that was sold on either four CD-ROMs or a single DVD, but this too appeared to have been scrubbed from the internet.
83. Wilson, Hamish (December 12, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 36: Entertainment for X Windows". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
84. "Linux Products". Hemming Ag. Archived from the original on January 16, 2001. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
85. "SPIELE-TEST: Linux – Spiele & Games". PC Player. Germany. May 2000. p. 122. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
86. "Linux Spiele". GameFAQs. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
87. "play it! Linux: Die Spielesammlung …the funny side of Linux!". SocksCap64. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
88. "Loki Software Games Demos". Halo Linux Services. June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
89. "Red Hat brings out Linux 7.1". ITWeb. April 19, 2001. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
90. Menalo, Nikolina (May 18, 2000). "Corel puts out the Word on Office 2000". IT World Canada News. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
91. Knight, Will (December 9, 1999). "Corel Linux Deluxe won't cross the pond". ZDNet. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
92. Gilbert, Jim (December 1, 2000). "PowerPlant Review". Linux Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
93. Moss, Richard (January 16, 2012). "Maniac Tentacle Mindbenders: How ScummVM's unpaid coders kept adventure gaming alive". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
94. Dawe, Liam (July 15, 2019). "DOSBox-X and DOSBox Staging both had new releases lately". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
95. Diener, Derrik (February 5, 2018). "How To Play Arcade Games Using MAME On Linux". Addictivetips. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
96. Dawe, Liam (July 15, 2019). "RetroArch, the front-end app for emulators and more is heading to Steam". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
97. Dawe, Liam (April 30, 2020). "If you have the retro gaming itch RetroPie 4.6 is out with support for the Raspberry Pi 4". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
98. Long, Moe (September 23, 2016). "How to Play Retro Windows Games on Linux". MakeUseOf. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
99. Warrington, Don (May 11, 2020). "Is the Best Place to Run Old Windows Software... on Linux or a Mac?". Vulcan Hammer. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
100. Aznar, Guylhem (July 2, 2002). "Applications for the Sharp Zaurus". Linux Journal. Retrieved October 28, 2023. An excellent way to start using the Zaurus is by playing games. The best way to play games on the Zaurus is to install an emulator.
101. Kendrick, Bill. "Zaurus Software". New Breed Software. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
102. ""Agenda's agenda -- a Linux-based "Open PDA""". Archived from the original on May 13, 2008., LinuxDevices.com, retrieved July 17, 2008
103. "Games". Agenda Wiki. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
104. Kepley, Travis (May 13, 2010). "A brief history of commercial gaming on Linux (and how it's all about to change)". Opensource.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
105. Olson, Dana (April 18, 2003). "Gaming and Linux in 2003". LinuxHardware.org. Archived from the original on June 2, 2003. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
106. Larabel, Michael (December 14, 2010). "Alternative Games Is All About Linux Gaming". Phoronix.
107. Heggelund Hansen, Robin (March 10, 2009). "Porting games to Linux". hardware.no.
108. ^ Crider, Michael (December 24, 2017). "The Best Modern, Open Source Ports of Classic Games". How-To Geek. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
109. "Quake, Meet GPL; GPL, Meet Quake". Linux Journal. December 1, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
110. Bolding, Jonathan (September 4, 2022). "Y'all know about these huge lists of free, open-source game clones, right?". PC Gamer. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
111. ^ Kumar, Nitesh (2021). "Open Source Ports of Commercial Game Engines". LinuxHint. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
112. Rice, Christopher (December 28, 2009). "Linux Gaming: Are We There Yet?". AnandTech. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
113. Hoogland, Jeff (April 2010). "Codeweavers vs. Cedega, Commercial Wine Product Comparison". Linux Gazette. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
114. Vrabie, Stefan (July 31, 2006). "Cedega and Linux: Let the Windows games begin". Linux.com. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
115. ^ Lees, Jennie (December 4, 2005). "Linux gaming made easy". Engadget. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
116. Dave, Salvator (July 28, 2004). "Linux Takes on Windows Gaming". Extreme Tech. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
117. Millard, Elizabeth (June 24, 2004). "TransGaming Updates WineX for Linux Gaming". Ecommerce Times. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
118. M, Angelo (February 2, 2021). "PlayOnLinux vs Wine: The Differences". ImagineLinux. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
119. Husted, Steve (September 13, 2004). "Opinion: Regarding the Linux Gaming". OSNews. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
120. Robertson, F. Grant (December 12, 2001). "Review: Mandrake 8.1 Gaming Edition opens Linux to more games, more users". Linux.com. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
121. Gross, Grant (October 22, 2001). "TransGaming, Mandrake team up to bring PC games directly to Linux". NewsForge. Archived from the original on December 25, 2001. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
122. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (June 12, 2008). "Finally, it's time for Wine". Linux.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024. According to White in a 2006 NewsForge interview, this forking caused Wine's development to slow down for years. "Historically, the main interest for volunteer Wine developers was games; that was the primary focus for most of Wine's early years (~1993-2000). When Transgaming started in 2001, they promised that they would release their DirectX improvements back to Wine. That cast a chill over games in Wine — why work on DirectX if all these improvements would 'soon' be coming back? Of course, no meaningful improvements have ever come back, which had the effect of creating a huge hole in what had been Wine's very best facility." By 2007, White says, "The Wine community had recovered from the hole created by Transgaming."
123. ^ "Wolfire Stats" (TXT).
124. ^ "The State of Linux Gaming 2011". OSNews.com. November 14, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2012. In short: indie games are thriving on Linux. The Humble Bundles have not only helped publicize the games, but have also helped prove that there is an untapped market for games on Linux, and that Linux users have no problem paying to support the developers who support them.
125. Rosen, Jeffrey (December 28, 2008). "Why you should support Mac OS X and Linux". Wolfire Games. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
126. Kuchera, Ben (March 1, 2011). "Humble Bundle creator on Ars' influence and why Linux is important". Ars Technica. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
127. Orland, Kyle (February 28, 2011). "GDC 2011: Humble Indie Bundle Creators Talk Inspiration, Execution". Game Developer. Retrieved April 5, 2023. Linux users tended to be the most generous of these, leading Graham to suggest indie developers go after underserved markets. "If you support Mac and Linux as an independent developer you have a good chance of doubling your revenue," Graham said.
128. Sneddon, Joey (December 21, 2011). "Linux Users Continue To Pay Most for the @Humble Indie Bundle". OMG! Ubuntu!. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
129. Priestman, Chris (June 4, 2012). "LINUX USERS PETITION AGAINST 'HUMBLE BUNDLE V' DUE TO NON-NATIVE VERSION OF 'LIMBO'". Indie Game Magazine. Archived from the original on June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
130. Dawe, Liam (June 19, 2014). "LIMBO Dark Platformer Fully Native Linux Version Released, No More Wine". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
131. Orland, Kyle (November 29, 2012). "Humble THQ Bundle threatens to ruin the brand's reputation (Updated)". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
132. Machkovich, Sam (January 14, 2022). "Humble subscription service is dumping Mac, Linux access in 18 days". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
133. "Voltely product page". Entourev LLC. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
134. "Native Linux Games". Linuxexperten.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
135. Larabel, Michael (January 29, 2009). "LGP Is Now Porting Shadowgrounds: Survivor". Phoronix. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
136. "An Interview with Liam Dawe, Owner of GamingOnLinux". Linux Gaming Central. April 20, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
137. "Desura games now also for Linux". The H Online. November 18, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
138. "cheese talks to himself – Desura Beta". twolofbees.com. October 11, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
139. ^ "The state of Linux gaming in the SteamOS era". Ars Technica. February 26, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
140. Zinoune, M. (November 27, 2011). "Will it be Desura's Linux client Vs USC?". Unixmen. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
141. Dawe, Liam (August 21, 2011). "Interview with Jonathan Prior of Gameolith.com". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
142. Larabel, Michael (July 11, 2011). "A New Linux Game Store Is Launching Next Week". Phoronix. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
143. Albanesius, Chloe (July 17, 2012). "Valve Moves Forward With Steam for Linux | News & Opinion". PCMag.com. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
144. "Steam'd Penguins". Valve. July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
145. Lein, Tracey (July 16, 2012). "'Left 4 Dead 2' to be first Valve game on Linux". The Verve. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
146. Hillier, Brenna (July 24, 2012). "Serious Sam 3: BFE headed to Steam Ubuntu". VG247. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
147. Larbel, Michael (May 25, 2010). "Valve's Linux Play May Lead More Games To Follow Suit". Phoronix. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
148. Larbel, Michael (November 18, 2010). "Egosoft Wants To Bring Games To Steam On Linux". Phoronix. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
149. "Editorial: Linux Gaming Will Be Fine Even Without Steam Machines Succeeding". GamingOnLinux. February 20, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
150. "Unity 4.0 Launches". Marketwire. November 14, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
151. Makuch, Eddie (September 23, 2013). "Valve reveals SteamOS". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
152. Crecente, Brian (June 4, 2015). "The first official Steam Machines hit Oct. 16, on store shelves Nov. 10". Polygon. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
153. Dawe, Liam (March 18, 2014). "GOG.com Are Going To Support Linux, Confirmed!". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
154. Dawe, Liam (July 24, 2014). "GOG Com Now Officially Support Linux Games". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
155. "GOG finally remove the false 'in progress' note about GOG Galaxy for Linux". GamingOnLinux. July 1, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
156. "Lutris v0.5.12 out now fixing Origin, Epic Store, Ubisoft Connect, GOG". GamingOnLinux. December 5, 2022. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
157. "GameHub is another open source game launcher, giving Lutris some competition". GamingOnLinux. March 18, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
158. "Minigalaxy the simple GOG client for Linux has a big 1.0 release". GamingOnLinux. November 30, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
159. "Heroic Games Launcher is a new unofficial Epic Games Store for Linux". GamingOnLinux. January 5, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
160. "Unreal Engine 4.1 Update Preview". April 3, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
161. "CRYENGINE adds Linux Support as Crytek Prepare to Offer New Possibilities at GDC". March 11, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
162. Dawe, Liam (December 29, 2014). "The Itch Games Store Are Working On An Open Source Client". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
163. Corcoran, Leaf (December 14, 2015). "Say hello to the itch.io app: itch". Itch.io. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
164. Orphanides, K.G. (August 8, 2018). "Crossing Platforms: a Talk with the Developers Building Games for Linux". Linux Journal. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
165. Prakash, Abhishek (January 19, 2023). "Fantastic Linux Games and Where to Find Them". It's FOSS. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
166. Kerr, Chris (January 13, 2016). "Indie marketplace Game Jolt releases open source desktop client". Game Developer. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
167. Lee, Joel (August 30, 2015). "Where to Download the Best Linux Games Without Any Hassle". MakeUseOf. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
168. Sohail, Mohd (December 23, 2016). "Popular Gaming Platforms For Linux". LinuxAndUbuntu. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
169. Wong, Alistair (August 25, 2018). "Steam Play Proton To Improve Game Support For Linux Users". Siliconera. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
170. "Steam for Linux :: Introducing a new version of Steam Play". August 21, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
171. "Changelog · ValveSoftware/Proton Wiki". July 31, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
172. "Changelog · ValveSoftware/Proton Wiki". November 8, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
173. Dawe, Liam (September 7, 2020). "The itch.io app can now use a system installed Wine on Linux for Windows-only games". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
174. Kenlon, Seth (October 25, 2018). "Lutris: Linux game management made easy". Opensource.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
175. Saive, Ravi (July 18, 2022). "PlayOnLinux – Run Windows Software and Games in Linux". TechMint. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
176. Slater, Jack (July 19, 2021). "Native Linux Games vs Windows API Compatibility Layers on the Steam Deck". Nuclear Monster. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
177. LateToTheParty (July 22, 2021). "The Linux Gaming Conundrum: Proton vs. Native Linux Support". Publish0x. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
178. Dawe, Liam (September 6, 2022). "Prodeus cancels the Native Linux version, focusing on Proton compatibility (updated)". GamingOnLinux.
179. Dawe, Liam (August 14, 2023). "Heart of the Machine from Arcen Games dropping Native Linux for Proton". GamingOnLinux.
180. Dawe, Liam (November 13, 2021). "Valve answers the question: should developers do native Linux support or Proton?". Retrieved April 4, 2023.
181. Dawe, Liam (February 25, 2022). "The Steam Deck has released, here's my initial review". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
182. Larabel, Michael (February 25, 2022). "For Linux Enthusiasts Especially, The Steam Deck Is An Incredible & Fun Device". Phoronix. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
183. Marks, Tom (July 30, 2021). "Valve Explains How The Failure of Steam Machines Helped Build The Steam Deck". IGN. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
184. McFerran, Damien (September 11, 2013). "Neo Geo X Gold & Mega Pack Volume 1". Time Extension. Retrieved December 7, 2023. It uses a Linux-based emulator running on a 1GHz Jz4770 system-on-chip
185. Humphries, Matthew (November 7, 2016). "NES Classic Is a Quad-Core Linux Computer". PCMag. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
186. Ackerman, Dan (October 9, 2017). "Hackers crack SNES Classic to add more games and features". CNET. Retrieved December 7, 2023. Fortunately, the SNES Classic, like its predecessor, is basically a Nintendo emulator built on a Linux foundation, so it's not impossible to hack.
187. Machkovech, Sam (September 12, 2019). "Sega Genesis Mini review: $80 delivers a ton of blast-processing fun". Ars Technica. Retrieved December 7, 2023. Let this look at the taken-apart Sega Genesis Mini remind you that, like other recent retro consoles, the SGM relies on a Linux-driven SoC.
188. Takahashi, Dean (June 21, 2019). "Intellivision Entertainment prepares for its rebirth on 10-10-20". VentureBeat. Retrieved January 7, 2020. But our OS is a hybrid, a Linux/Android hybrid that we've created in house. It's very solid, but it's very flexible, with Linux being the flexible part and Android being the solid part.
189. Shilov, Anton (December 19, 2023). "World's first RISC-V handheld gaming system announced — retro gaming platform uses Linux". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
190. Portnoy, Sean (May 31, 2018). "Atari VCS gaming console Linux mini-PC finally available to pre-order". ZDNET. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
191. Grant, Christopher (September 3, 2021). "The Polymega is an all-in-one retro console worth your attention". Polygon. Retrieved December 7, 2023. The Polymega is a software emulation-based console with a custom, Intel-backed motherboard running on Linux with a custom user interface.
192. Welch, Thomas (November 28, 2012). "Game Gadget Review". Calm Down Tom. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
193. Linneman, John (April 25, 2020). "Evercade review: the cartridge-based retro handheld that works". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 7, 2023. Inside, the Evercade features a 1.2GHz Cortex A7 SoC running a customized Linux setup.
194. Petite, Steven (December 16, 2022). "Evercade EXP Review". GameSpot. Retrieved December 7, 2023. The custom Linux operating system that the EXP runs borrows from the VS home console.
195. Dawe, Liam (February 2, 2023). "Zoom Platform, a store aimed at 'Generation X' adds more Linux support". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
196. "Steam Hardware & Software survey". July 2021.
197. "Where's the Unity stats page gone?". Unity Forum. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
198. Platforms Top on 2016-03 Archived June 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Windows Players: 97.3%, OS X Players: 2.3%, Linux Players: 0.4%
199. "Humble Budle data".
200. "Ubuntu Linux Gaming Performance Mostly On Par With Windows 8.1". Phoronix. October 27, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
201. "NVIDIA GeForce: Windows 10 vs. Ubuntu 15.04 Linux OpenGL Benchmarks Review - Phoronix".
202. "SteamOS gaming performs significantly worse than Windows, Ars analysis shows". November 13, 2015.
203. "Budget Fair Queueing I/O Scheduler". Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
204. "Phoronix: Liquorix-benchmarks".
205. "Liquorix homepage".
206. Dawe, Liam (September 21, 2021). "GameMaker Studio 2 update released to bring forth the Ubuntu Linux editor Beta". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
207. Dawe, Liam (September 27, 2016). "Fusion 3, the next generation game engine and editor from Clickteam will support Linux". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
208. Dawe, Liam (September 13, 2023). "Here's some alternatives to the Unity game engine". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
209. Dawe, Liam (July 20, 2022). "Unreal Engine 5 editor quietly gets a proper Linux version". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
210. Best, Martin (May 30, 2019). "Announcing the Unity Editor for Linux". Unity Blog. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
211. Dawe, Liam (November 4, 2020). "Unity Technologies committed to supporting the Linux Editor for the Unity game engine". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
212. "Scratch - Scratch Offline Editor".
213. "RPG Maker MV Comes to Linux". GameFromScratch. March 24, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
214. Larabel, Michael (January 8, 2014). "MKXP: Open-Source, Linux Engine To RPG Maker XP". Phoronix. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
215. Dawe, Liam (March 6, 2020). "Solarus is a free and open source cross-platform game engine for 2D action-RPGs". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
216. Bush, Josh (July 9, 2015). "Cheese talks to himself (about the SLUDGE engine)". Cheese Talks. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
217. Schrier Shaenfeld, Karen (April 10, 2016). Learning and Education Games: Volume Two: Bringing Games into Educational Contexts. Lulu.com. p. 265. ISBN 978-1329703568.
218. "Open Source Game Creation Software: Working in 2D". Bright Hub. October 7, 2009.
219. Dawe, Liam (August 26, 2020). "Make retro Game Boy games with the open source GB Studio, now with colour in the 2.0 Beta". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
220. Wood, Evelyn (October 6, 2016). "Succeeding MegaZeux". fuzzy notepad. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
221. Arrows, Kevin (April 28, 2023). "How to Run Mugen Fighter Natively in a Linux Environment". Appuals. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
222. Blizen, Arthur (January 20, 2023). "IKEMEN Go Rollback Open Alpha Launches Today". DashFight. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
223. Dawe, Liam (August 21, 2019). "2D game editor ct.js goes open source and it's closing in on a new major release". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
224. "Pixelbox.js Game Engine". GameFromScratch. April 14, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
225. Dawe, Liam (January 17, 2016). "Superpowers, a HTML5 development environment for 2D & 3D games now open source". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
226. Pearson, Craig (March 12, 2013). "Make Quake With TrenchBroom". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
227. Stone, Venn (March 1, 2013). "TrenchBroom: Modern Cross Platform Map Editor For Quake 1". Linux Game Cast. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
228. Merkit, Hasan (March 22, 2022). "J.A.C.K. Hammer Editor". TeTeOS.Net. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
229. Wilson, Hamish (December 16, 2012). "Eureka offers a new option for Doom mappers". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
230. "How to install Slade 3 on a Chromebook". Linux Made Simple. February 1, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
231. Palacio, Daniel (January 26, 2020). "'ReDoomEd', a port of the original Doom level editor, was released on Linux". Retrieved September 17, 2023.
232. Dawe, Liam (March 30, 2022). "Free and open source level editor LDtk 1.0 is out now". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
233. "OGMO Level Editor". GameFromScratch. November 18, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
234. McKenzie, Theodore (June 21, 2021). "Tiled: A Flexible and Free-to-Use Level Editor". 80LV. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
235. Poettering, Lennart (September 24, 2008). "A Guide Through The Linux Sound API Jungle". 0pointer.de/blog. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
236. "Introducing NVIDIA GameWorks™ | NVIDIA Developer Zone". Developer.nvidia.com. March 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
237. "AMD Eyefinity Validated and Ready Software".
238. "Multi-monitor: Civilization V on A10-7850K "Kaveri"". YouTube. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
239. ^ Hills, James. "Ports vs. Wine". GameSpy. Archived from the original on May 11, 2001.
240. Larabel, Michael (July 3, 2009). "An Interview With A Linux Game Porter". Phoronix.
241. "Console Hacking 2015: Liner Notes". fail0verflow.com. December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
242. "Gamecube Linux Wiki". Gc-linux.org. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
243. Larabel, Michael (October 5, 2010). "A Gaming Mouse Vendor That Has Linux Drivers". Phoronix.
244. Larabel, Michael (September 5, 2011). "Roccat Linux Support Keeps Coming". Phoronix.
245. "UpFront". Linux Journal. July 2005.
246. Diehl, Mike (October 18, 2007). "Free Games for Linux". Linux Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
247. "Main Page – FreeOrionWiki". Freeorion.org. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
248. "Retrospec Head Over Heels Page". Retrospec.sgn.net. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
249. "The Spring Project". Spring.clan-sy.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
250. Wilson, Hamish (September 12, 2022). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 18: Run Away and Join the Circus". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
251. "SteamOS & Linux Games". Steam Store. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
252. Barr, Joe (December 22, 2006). "Commercial gaming: Can it thrive on Linux?". Linux.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011.
253. Wilson, Hamish (June 11, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 30: Imperial Purple". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
254. Larabel, Michael (September 4, 2010). "More Details On Unigine's OilRush Game". Phoronix.
255. "Linux Client?". Syndicates of Arkon game forums. Archived from the original on November 23, 2010.
256. Larabel, Michael (March 31, 2013). "There Isn't Too Much Progress On Unigine Linux Titles". Phoronix. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
257. "Vera Blanc: Full Moon Released – Linux Gaming News". LinuxGamingNews.org. July 5, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
258. "Linux games". Winter Wolves. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
259. "Mac and Linux Games". Hanako Games. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
260. "Hanako Games Linux Ports Are Coming – Linux Gaming News". LinuxGamingNews.org. June 16, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
261. "Sake Visual Indie Visual Novel Studio – Linux Gaming News". LinuxGamingNews.org. July 7, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
262. "Katawa Shoujo - Disabilities in a Dojin Visual Novel". Play This Thing. May 27, 2009. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
263. "Updated Dwarf Fortress comes to Linux, fixes those pesky marksdwarves". Yahoo Finance. September 23, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
264. Dawe, Liam (August 23, 2017). "Immortal Redneck, the FPS set in Egypt has arrived on GOG". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
265. Dawe, Liam (August 24, 2021). "Office Point Rescue - Out the Office is a wonderful homage to retro shooters". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
266. Dawe, Liam (November 10, 2020). "Deal with the infected and rescue survivors in the retro-arcade FPS 'Affliction Rescue'". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
267. Dawe, Liam (October 31, 2015). "Doorways: Holy Mountains Of Flesh, An Immersive Horror Adventure Now On Linux". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
268. ^ Mielewczik, Michael. "Spielspass pur. Kommerzielle Linux-Spiele". PC Magazin LINUX. 2/2007: 80–83.
269. Dawe, Liam (June 10, 2014). "Civilization V Strategy Game Launches Natively On SteamOS Linux". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
270. Dawe, Liam (July 23, 2014). "Interview With Aspyr Media About Civilization V & Linux Gaming". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
271. Dawe, Liam (September 30, 2014). "Borderlands 2 Released For Linux With A Sale". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
272. Dawe, Liam (June 26, 2014). "GamingOnLinux Interviews Feral Interactive About XCOM & Linux Game Development". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved July 17, 2016.
273. "Bubble Shoot review".
274. Wilson, Hamish (June 4, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 29: The Odyssey". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
275. Wilson, Hamish (January 16, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 21: Fluffy Bunnies". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
276. Wilson, Hamish (August 8, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 31: The Fear of Loss". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
277. "Download the Internet Editions". Aon Project. July 15, 2000. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
278. Gillen, Kieron (August 27, 2010). "Hungry Like The Wolf: Seventh Sense". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
279. "Decadence: Home Sweet Home on GreenLight". Revolution System Games posted Decadence on Steam for Linux.
280. "Linux only needs one 'killer' game to explode, says Battlefield director". Polygon. October 12, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
281. "PPC games made by Loki software – related posts LinuxGames". Archived from the original on October 19, 2013.
282. "Candy Cruncher Linux Sparc". September 9, 2005. Archived from the original on September 9, 2005.
283. "Linux Game Publishing: Interview with Michael Simms". Linux Gazette. March 6, 2005. Archived from the original on July 12, 2005.
284. "Dominions II: The Ascension Wars 2.12". June 8, 2004. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013.
285. Dawe, Liam (April 12, 2021). "Build engine port backed by GZDoom tech 'Raze' has a 1.0 release with Vulkan support". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
286. Procter, Lewie (August 13, 2020). "Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force Holomatch Gets Free 20th Anniversary Re-Release". wePC. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
287. Wilson, Hamish (February 28, 2022). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 13: Looks Almost Unreal". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 21, 2023. One of the selling points of Unreal Tournament pitched to the modding scene by Epic Games was its ability to load assets from the original Unreal into the new engine, further expanding the content base for what was already a highly modifiable game. After a few years this snowballed into a concerted community effort to make the entire Unreal singe player mode playable from within its own sequel, bringing it over to Linux in the process.
288. Wilson, Hamish (January 20, 2015). "The Chzo Mythos And Other Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw Games Updated For Linux". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
289. MrCopilot (December 17, 2007). "Free Quake: Open Source Gamer's Guide to Free Games". Yahoo! Voices. Archived from the original on June 19, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
290. Bisson, Marilyn (October 19, 2020). "Is Linux Good For Gaming?". Eldernode. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
291. Kenlon, Seth (February 7, 2021). "3 ways to play video games on Linux". Opensource.com. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
292. Zinoune, M. "Options for Linux Gamers". Unixmen. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
293. Marchant, Layla. "The Gaming Trap". The Diligent Circle. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2021 – via GitHub Pages.
294. Lunduke, Bryan (October 30, 2015). "The Gaming Paradox: There just aren't enough Free and Open Source video games". Network World. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
295. podiki (February 9, 2022). "Proton vs Native: Is There Really A Difference?". Boiling Steam. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
296. Gross, Grant (October 24, 2001). "Loki's Draeker: Why run Windows games on Linux?". NewsForge. Archived from the original on November 10, 2001. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
297. Dawe, Liam (August 22, 2018). "GOG have gone on the offensive with their new 'FCK DRM' initiative". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
298. Dawe, Liam (July 2, 2018). "The Humble DRM-Freedom Sale is live, plenty of Linux titles available". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
299. Bisson, Marilyn (October 19, 2020). "Is Linux Good For Gaming?". Eldernode. You can also play through the terminal; Of course, it depends on your expectations and definition of the game! But if the goal is entertainment, the Linux terminal offers you funny and nostalgic choices.
300. Kili, Aaron (August 15, 2016). "12 Amazing Terminal Based Games for Linux Enthusiasts". Retrieved March 19, 2023.
301. Kumar, Nitesh (2021). "Best Command Line Games for Linux". Linux Hint. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
302. Okoi, Divine (August 27, 2018). "4 Best Ways to Play Retro Games on Linux". FOSS Mint. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
303. Cawley, Christian (June 28, 2016). "7 Ways to Play Old Windows & DOS Games on Linux". MakeUseOf. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
304. "How to play Windows games under Linux". My Abandonware. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
305. Chakraborty, Angsuman (August 20, 2007). "How To Play Doom, Heretic, Hexen & Strife in Linux (Free)". The Gaea Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
306. Armstrong, Ryan (December 27, 2020). "Running Caldera OpenLinux 1.3 in QEMU". Zerk Zone. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
307. Barnes, Hayden (September 7, 2019). "The one in which I kind of get Corel Linux 1.2 to work 21 years later". Box of Cables. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
308. Lynch, Jim (September 7, 2016). "Remembering Loki's Linux games from the '90s". InfoWorld. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
309. Wilson, Hamish (March 22, 2021). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 4: Installing Red Hat Linux 7.3". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
310. Wilson, Hamish (February 20, 2023). "Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer - Part 26: Coming to You Live". GamingOnLinux. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
311. Powers, Shawn (January 14, 2010). "SuperGamer, 8GB of Linux-Only Gameplay". Linux Journal. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
312. Hernandez, Miguel (April 29, 2010). "How-to Become a Linux Gamer". Linux Journal. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
313. Abraham (December 24, 2022). "Top 10 browser games you should be playing in 2022". FOSS Linux. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
314. Mutai, Josphat (January 5, 2023). "From Valve to the Cloud: How Linux Gaming is Going to Evolve in 2022". Computing for Geeks. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
315. Kuchera, Ben (October 14, 2014). "Forget Windows, forget OS X, forget Linux: Humble Bundle is going truly multiplatform". Polygon. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
316. Zinoune, M. "Options for Linux Gamers". Unixmen. Retrieved March 19, 2023. The ever increasing popularity of social gaming is a definite threat to traditional forms of gaming. Social gaming comes in many forms, but an obvious example would be games that can be played on Facebook and other social networking websites where games and statistics can be viewed and shared online with a player's friends. This form of gaming is very limited as the games that can be played via social networks are usually targeted towards casual gamers and not the hardcore PC type. I don't see social gaming becoming an immediate threat to native gaming in the near future and will probably remain a casual space.
317. Travis (October 9, 2022). "How To Play Flash Games On Linux". Systran Box. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
318. ashar_oz (July 26, 2017). "HTML5 Games Are Improving - Perfect For Ubuntu & Linux". Ubuntu Buzz.
319. markd (November 25, 2020). "Cloud Gaming Services: Explained and Tested on Linux". Boiling Steam. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
320. Dickson, Jamie; Boxer, Benjy. "Play Any PC Game On Your Linux Machine With Cloud Gaming Or Game Streaming". Parsec. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
321. Kelestemur, Atalay (March 18, 2023). "Why Linux is a more attractive gaming platform?". Cloud7 News. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
322. Sneddon, Joey (March 19, 2019). "Stadia is Google's New Gaming Service Powered by Linux & Open-Source Tech". OMG Ubuntu. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
323. Palumbo, Alessio (March 19, 2019). "Stadia Is Google's Cloud Based Game Platform; Powered by AMD, Linux and Vulkan, Due in 2019". wccftech.
324. bapt (June 22, 2012). "Cloud Gaming, or a good reason to create Linux version of a game". drawcode.eu.
325. Larabel, Michael (December 14, 2021). "Amazon Is Hiring DXVK, Mesa & Proton Linux Developers For Luna Cloud Gaming in Mesa". Phoronix.
326. Larabel, Michael (March 19, 2023). "Canonical Gets Into Cloud Gaming & More With Anbox Cloud For Cloud-Based Android Apps/Gaming". Phoronix. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
327. "Open source cloud gaming, play remote games for free". HelpWire. April 26, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
328. Davenport, Corbin (June 21, 2019). "How to play Windows games in Linux". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
329. "Hands on with WSLg: Running Linux GUI". Bleeping Computer. May 29, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2023. While Hedgewars is not a Linux-only game, I wanted to include it to show that even games can run under WSLg. While WSLg is likely not designed for gaming, the fact that you can play games using it shows the full depth of this new feature.
330. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven (August 3, 2020). "3 good ways to run Linux on Windows". Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
331. Kiran, Amruth (November 7, 2022). "How to Run Linux Software on Windows". GeeksforGeeks. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
332. Brown, Pete (July 22, 2016). "Fun with the Windows Subsystem for Linux". Windows Developer. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
333. Hanselman, Scott (January 12, 2018). "Building 0verkill on Windows 10 Subsystem for Linux - 2D ASCII art deathmatch game". Retrieved March 18, 2023.
334. Fenton, Tom (February 8, 2017). "Running Graphical Programs on Windows Subsystem on Linux". Virtualization Review. Retrieved March 18, 2023. Blockout worked flawlessly, which surprised me as it is an extremely graphics-intensive application.
335. Buckler, Craig (September 1, 2022). "Windows Subsystem for Linux 2: The Complete Guide for Windows 10 & 11". SitePoint. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
336. Tozzi, Christopher (September 19, 2017). "Why Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux Is Not As Novel As It Sounds". Channel Futures. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
337. Hess, Ken (October 29, 2020). "Creating a Linux-Windows hybrid system with Cygwin". Red Hat. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
338. McIntyre-Bhatty, Hamish (May 21, 2018). "Cygwin review part 1: Running Linux programs… on Windows?". Retrieved March 18, 2023. Can you run games? I have absolutely no idea, but I would guess the answer is no, because of the lack of hardware access. I did have a quick look for games like Neverball and Extreme Tux Racer, but they were nowhere to be found. When I follow this up, I'll look a bit harder, and maybe try compiling them. Really, it's kind of pointless, because you could just run the games in Windows.
339. Finley, Klint (March 30, 2016). "Why Microsoft Making Linux Apps Run on Windows Isn't Crazy". Wired. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
340. "LibTAS FAQ". Retrieved March 18, 2023. If you have Windows 10, the easiest way is to use WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to run libTAS. Otherwise, you can install a Linux distribution (e.g. Ubuntu) on a virtual machine (e.g. using VirtualBox).
341. Nelva, Giuseppe (June 6, 2014). "Naughty Dog Still Uses Old School Linux and Cygwin Command Line Tools; TLOU Panel Coming Next Week". DualShockers. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
342. "Using Cygwin for SDL Development". No Quarter Arcade. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
343. Delony, David (January 21, 2022). "The Pros and Cons of Using Windows Subsystem for Linux". MakeUseOf. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
344. Bisson, Simon (April 23, 2021). "Linux on Windows: This new upgrade allows you to run graphical apps simply and effectively". Tech Republic. Retrieved March 18, 2023. Mesa3D support should help developers using WSL 2 to port games to Linux, as well as allowing complex Unix CAD applications and other design tooling to use WSLg to work on Windows, without needing a full port. If you're worried about application support, we've yet to find anything that didn't work over WSLg. We've been able to run Ubuntu desktop tools, classic Unix games like Nethack's X11 port, Linux games from Steam, a host of different editors and IDEs, the LibreOffice productivity suite, as well as Microsoft's own Edge browser (using it to stream video and audio). The experience of using Linux applications on Windows is much like running Windows applications on macOS via Parallels.
345. Montegriffo, Nicholas (October 30, 2017). "A player's journey: How I learned to love Android gaming". NextPit. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
346. Kian (December 20, 2022). "The 4 Best Android Game Consoles Out Right Now". Joy of Android. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
347. Hindy, Joe (April 1, 2023). "15 best Android games available right now". Android Authority. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
348. Sholtz, Matthew (April 19, 2023). "Best Android games in 2023: Top picks across every category". Android Police. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
349. "Are Chromebooks Good for Gaming?". Google. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
350. Baker, Luke (January 30, 2022). "Chromebook gaming: Everything you need to know". Pocket Lint. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
351. Dalton, Matt (March 30, 2022). "How Chrome OS is great for gaming Chromebooks can be easily picked up for gaming now". Chrome Ready. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
352. Scott, Hilda (January 2, 2023). "Best gaming Chromebooks 2024". Laptop Mag. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
353. Westover, Brian (November 22, 2023). "The Best Chromebooks for Gaming in 2024". PCMag. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
354. Takahashi, Dean (October 11, 2022). "Google supports cloud-gaming Chromebook laptops for gamers". Venture Beat. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
355. Murray, Sean (August 18, 2020). "GeForce NOW Comes To ChromeOS". The Gamer. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
356. Mehta, Ivan (October 11, 2022). "Google introduces Chromebooks geared for cloud gaming". Tech Crunch. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
357. Cunningham, Andrew (August 18, 2023). ""Gaming Chromebooks" with Nvidia GPUs apparently killed with little fanfare". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
358. Lawler, Richard (September 2, 2022). "A new ChromeOS gaming overlay puts touch-based Android games on your PC". The Verge. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
359. Nield, David (July 8, 2023). "How to run games on a Chromebook". The Verge. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
360. Sneddon, Joey (July 2, 2020). "Steam is Coming to Chromebooks with Ubuntu-based "Borealis" Feature". OMG Ubuntu. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
361. Duke, Kent (April 15, 2021). "Your Chromebook will be getting a massive gaming performance boost soon". Android Police. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
362. Perrigo, Michael (April 22, 2022). "How to play open-source retro games in your Chromebook's Linux terminal". Chrome Unboxed. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
363. Pereyra, Renato (January 24, 2023). "Windows games on ChromeOS with Proton". ChromeOS. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
364. Patkar, Mihir (February 20, 2018). "How to Install Windows Programs and Games on Chromebooks". MakeUseOf. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
365. Sattelberg, Will (August 6, 2021). "Steam for Chromebooks could be right around the corner". Android Police. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
366. Gordon, Whitson; Cohen, Jason (February 21, 2024). "How to Play Games on Your Chromebook". PCMag. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
367. Hill, Paul (November 3, 2022). "Steam enters beta on ChromeOS 108 following seven-month alpha period". NeoWin. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
368. Williams, Ian (September 19, 2022). "Playing Epic Games on ChromeOS - A Heroic Games Launcher Tutorial". CrosExperts. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
369. Devine, Richard; Bacchus, Arif (January 6, 2024). "Best ChromeOS games in 2023". XDA-Developers. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
370. Casey, Henry T.; Washington, Shamar (December 26, 2023). "Best Chromebook games 2024". Laptop Mag. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
371. Chakraborty, Suman (August 29, 2023). "Top 10 Games to Play on Chromebook". TechPP. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
372. Dalton, Matt (September 16, 2023). "Top 10 PC games to dive into on your ChromeOS". Chrome Ready. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
373. Gedeon, Kimberly (August 24, 2023). "Steam on Chromebooks is a joke — 5 reasons it hasn't gotten an official release". Laptop Mag. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
374. Guyton, Christian (December 10, 2022). "So-called 'gaming Chromebooks' are a con – here's why". Tech Radar. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
375. Gariffo, Michael (December 1, 2022). "Lenovo's IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook proves hardware isn't what's holding back cloud gaming". ZDNET. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
376. Rapenne, Solène (March 7, 2021). "Top 12 best opensource games available on OpenBSD". Data Swamp. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
377. Larabel, Michael (March 7, 2021). "Running Steam's Linux Build On FreeBSD Is Becoming Increasingly Capable For Gaming". Phoronix. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
378. Smith, JT (August 15, 2000). "Loki and BSDi partner to certify Linux games for BSD". Linux.com. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
379. Larabel, Michael (September 22, 2019). "Homura Is A Windows Game Launcher For FreeBSD - Supports Steam, Origin, UPlay + More". Phoronix. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
380. Larabel, Michael (December 14, 2014). "Steam Gaming On PC-BSD". Phoronix. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
381. Larabel, Michael (September 7, 2011). "FreeBSD: A Faster Platform For Linux Gaming Than Linux?". Phoronix. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
382. Lucas, Michael (March 22, 2001). "FreeBSD Gaming". ONLamp. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2023. If you're running KDE or Gnome, you already have a few simple games installed. I'm not a fan of either desktop -- both strike me as bloated and obtuse -- but their games packages are a nice way to pick up a dozen simple favorites such as Solitaire, Asteroids, and Tetris.
383. "Tweak It: PS3 GameOS". TheSixthAxis. July 17, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
384. Anthony, Sebastian (June 24, 2013). "PS4 runs Orbis OS, a modified version of FreeBSD that's similar to Linux". ExtremeTech. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
385. "What hackers know of the Nintendo Switch so far". Wololo.net. March 9, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
386. Shabir, Swaira (July 25, 2021). "Mini World: First Native HarmonyOS Game Now Available On AppGallery". Retrieved April 26, 2023.
387. Bates, Kryzt (April 10, 2023). "Developed based on the Cocos 2dx engine, the game "Happy Match" was successfully ported to OpenHarmony". Gaming Deputy. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
388. openharmony/third_party_musl, OpenHarmony, January 8, 2022, retrieved July 7, 2024
389. Blonia (June 28, 2024), SleepEatCoding/VirtualAndroidForHMOSNext, retrieved July 7, 2024
390. Chalmers, Rachel (June 1999). "Sun Releases Tool To Make Linux Apps Run On Solaris". AUUGEN. Australia: AUUG. p. 29. Retrieved March 5, 2023. But the real strength of Linux over Solaris is the availability of games. Kay reveals, "If you've got a developer who's been doing heads-down coding for hours, they might want to take a break to use the latest greatest games," she chuckles. "If games are available on Linux now you can get them and use them on your new Solaris workstation. Managers like making sure that kind of thing is available to their creative end users."
391. "Fun in the Sun". Sun Games. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
392. "Games". Oracle Solaris Blog. October 30, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
393. "Games". GNU-Darwin. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
394. Dyer, Bill (December 28, 2022). "Getting Nostalgic With the Historical Coherent Operating System". It's FOSS. For a small package, it was remarkably complete. Not only was it a standalone operating system, but came with a big box of goodies, such as a Bourne Shell, C compiler, assembler, debugger, DOS disk support, uucp, at least three editors, some games, mail, and around 200 of the most used and useful UNIX commands.
395. "SerenityOS Ports - Games". Retrieved March 5, 2023.
396. Straker, Adam (August 26, 2022). "SerenityOS, the 90's Windows-like Unix system built from scratch by one man as a therapeutic project". Gearrice. Retrieved March 5, 2023. Among the ports already available we can find those of several popular video games such as Quake (I and II), Half-Life (since last January), Doom or VVVVVV, which complement own developments of the project's collaborators
397. "Trying Out Redox". Redox OS. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
398. Larabel, Michael (February 13, 2024). "The Current State & Plans For Porting Linux/BSD Software To Redox OS". Phoronix. Retrieved February 24, 2024. While not yet having accelerated graphics and their Wayland support is still some ways out, they have ported some games/emulators to Redox OS already like DOSBox, Neverball, OpenTTD, ScummVM, 2048, and others.
399. gameblabla (November 8, 2016). "ToaruOS - Unix-like "hobby" operating system". codewalr.us. Retrieved April 25, 2023. I ported Helicopters, one of my games, just to show you how easy you can port games to it.
400. Saeki, Takaya (October 4, 2020). "How we ran a Unix-like OS (Xv6) on our home-built CPU with our home-built C compiler". Fuelled by Coffee. Retrieved April 25, 2023. However, some teams put more energy into doing fun such as running games or playing music by connecting a speaker with their CPU. Group 6, to which I belonged, was a group of such people who loved entertainment, and we decided to run an OS as our team goal.
401. "Packages". Fiwix. Retrieved April 25, 2023. lxdoom-1.4.4
402. "Porting NetBSD Userland to MINIX 3". MINIX 3 Wiki. October 28, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
403. "Bug#679330: marked as done (ioquake3: Add support for GNU/Hurd)". Debian. July 5, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
404. Pendleton, Bob. "Game Programming with the Simple DirectMedia Layer". ACM Digital Library. SDL officially supports Linux, Windows, BeOS, Mac OS, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS, Solaris and IRIX. SDL also works with Windows CE, AmigaOS, Atari, QNX, NetBSD, AIX, Tru64 UNIX and SymbianOS. However, those OSes are not yet officially supported. This means if you write your application using SDL, you can port it with minimal rework to all those OSes. SDL provides a portable way to write games and multimedia applications on every major OS currently in use.
405. Holwerda, Thom (May 21, 2022). "The nightmare of getting DOOM running on PowerPC AIX". OSNews. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
406. Williams, Al (May 3, 2017). "Your Next Desktop… QNX?". Hackaday. Retrieved March 5, 2023. The rest of the adventure went fairly well. He managed to build SDL and port over some games.
407. "FORTRAN Computer Games". The Cyber Vanguard. November 18, 2022. Remake of Battle Zone (1986) by Justin S. Revenaugh for Apollo Domain/OS, using the GPR graphics library. The game was later ported as XBZONE to X11.
408. "Games/Arcade". HP-UX Porting and Archive Centre. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
409. "SGI - Freeware - Games". Archived from the original on March 20, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
410. "SuperTuxKart IRIX Screenshots". SupterTuxKart.de. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
411. Knight, John (May 2021). "Exploring Microsoft's forgotten Unix distribution". Linux Magazine. Retrieved March 18, 2023. Thankfully XENIX users weren't all business, and there are at least a few games available for the system. Although the IMG file from Archive.org wouldn't work, we found a working disk image from YouTube user MentionedBefore, who provides a link below his XENIX 2.3.1 VirtualBox tutorial. The disk comes with Worms (not the famous DOS game!), Rogue, Hack, and Trek, plus fortune and mathrec. (And there is a terminal-based version of Tetris somewhere out there!) Once installed, the executables for the games/amusements are found under /usr/games
412. "Caldera Skunkware X11 Games". SCO Skunkware. July 6, 2001. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
413. Armstrong, James; Kent, Les (November 22, 1993). "32-bit desktop operating systems". InfoWorld. United States: IDG Communications, Inc. p. 75. Retrieved March 5, 2023. Once a user is logged in, a window displays a number of icons that group some standard applications: Accessories, Applications, Preferences, Disks, Games, Shutdown, System Setup, Utilities, and Folder Maps. User can open any file or folder by double clicking on the appropriate icon.
414. "Open Source Software Collection for Tru64 UNIX V5.1A". CLASSE. December 9, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
415. Magee, Mike (September 6, 1999). "1.6GHz Alpha to be fastest Quake chip on planet". The Register. Retrieved March 5, 2023. The beast is not designed for Windows - its OS preference a version of real time Tru64 using current OpenGL for the platform. Real time versions of Tru64 might be used in a high end arcade game console, with workstations using a more "normal" Tru64 Unix with OpenGL. Quake and Quake 2 are native on Alpha Linux platforms.
416. Lehrbaum, Rick (May 8, 2000). "Lynx + Linux = ... Lynux". ZDNET. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
417. "ULTRIX - Reference Pages for Unsupported Software" (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. June 1990. Retrieved March 18, 2023. Section 6: Games - The reference pages in this section describe the games that are available in the unsupported software subset.
418. Moreau, Patrick (January 2, 2003). "Thematic Download Pages". The DECWindows Archive. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
419. "Downloads: Games". OpenVMS Hobbyist Program. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
420. Kippins, Aaron; Ropes, Charlie; Huntington, Brad (May 21, 2020). "Minecraft on Z/OS". IBM Corporation. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
421. Holwerda, Thom (June 9, 2022). "Porting Doom to A/UX". OSNews. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
422. "Fiddling with NeXTSTEP". posts.boy. December 29, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2023. This screenshot shows Facebook, looking rather broken, and DOOM in the front. id Software used NeXT systems to create the famous first person shooter. Relying on the Objective-C based development environment to create most of the tools, like the level editor.
423. Edwards, Benj (August 24, 2020). "Before Mac OS X: What Was NeXTSTEP, and Why Did People Love It?". How-To-Geek. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
424. Sanglard, Fabien (December 10, 2018). "Chapter 3: NeXT". Game Engine Black Book: DOOM. p. 103. ISBN 978-1099819773.
425. Hills, James (June 19, 1999). "Interviews - Dave Taylor, Transmeta". GA-Source. Retrieved March 21, 2023. Anyway, so it felt almost natural to do weird things. Here was a company where hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands depending on moods and stories, Nextstep was the development environment, and showing up to work and seeing something truly miraculous in John Carmack's office or the art room about once a week was the norm. So when I started calling various workstation vendors like IBM, Sun, SGI, and asking they send workstations in exchange for typing "make", no one was terribly surprised. It was just one more of the weekly miracles, and a lesser one at that. "Oh look. There's our game running in a window on 5 architectures and as many OS's. Huh."

v t e Video game genres
List of video game genres
Action	Platformer Endless runner Platform fighter Shooter Arena First-person Hero Light gun Shoot 'em up Bullet hell Rail Twin-stick Tactical Third-person Survival Battle royale Survival horror Other Beat 'em up Hack and slash Fighting Platform fighter Maze Pac-Man clone Snake Stealth
Action-adventure	Grand Theft Auto clone Metroidvania
Adventure	Escape room Graphic adventure Interactive fiction Interactive film Visual novel Walking sim
Digital tabletop	Deck-building Roguelike deck-building Digital collectible card
Puzzle	Hidden object Sokoban Tile-matching
Role-playing	Action role-playing Looter shooter Soulslike Dungeon crawl MMORPG Monster-taming Roguelike Roguelike deck-building Tactical role-playing
Simulation	Life Dating Farming God Social Virtual pet CMS Business City-building Government Sports Fishing Racing Kart racing Sim racing Vehicle Flight simulation Combat Lunar Lander Space Submarine simulator Train simulator Vehicular combat Other Falling-sand Immersive sim
Strategy	4X Auto battler MOBA Real-time strategy Time management Real-time tactics Tactical role-playing Tower defense Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics Artillery Wargame Grand strategy
Other genres	Cozy Fitness Horror Survival horror Incremental Music Rhythm Non-game Party Photography Programming Typing
Related concepts	Themes Advergame Bishōjo Christian Comedy Educational Girls Licensed Otome Sexual Eroge Nonviolent Personalized Sci-fi Serious Art Climate change News Player modes Multiplayer Co-op MMO PVP Single-player Production AAA Indie Doujin soft Fan game Design Casual Hypercasual Emergent gameplay FMV Gacha Kaizo Masocore Nonlinear gameplay Open world Sandbox Side-scrolling Twitch gameplay Vertically scrolling Other Minigame Toys-to-life Video game clone Video game modding Video game remake

• Video gaming
• Linux games
• Video game development software for Linux
• Video game platforms