linux gaming market

Do you guys see the linux gaming market as growing or shrinking? Do you think game companies are acting accordingly (ie, if it's growing, are they increasing their support as well or not)?

 

well it's def. come a long way from where it was before.
it seems to me right now its kinda leveled out..though i haven't read up on it much lately.
they are also trying to make more support for macs..
and don't forget all the bugs and what not that come with windows games...which makes linux not quite a priority..
but anyways..i def. think there is a future for linux gaming. (though that also means bringing ati..and nvidia..especially ati along with better gfx card support)
espeically how mainstream it has become..and one of the top reasons ppl don't use it more know is because of the gaming problem..
(not to mention certain driver support)
though there's a lot to be put into it..I would love to see linux bloom into a nice gaming market..being a linux user!

 

I don't think it'll ever compete. Most computer users use Windows and don't even know about Linux. Companies won't waste resources on this small market when there's no secure support. They're only focusing a bit on Macs because it's a growing trend, but even still, it's not substantial enough.

 

Besides, no company will make open-source games.

 

Considering that my first thought when I saw this thread was "What market?", I'd have to say I don't really see it growing. On the plus side, I don't see it shrinking either.

 

Linux gaming is a catch22. I love using my PC for games - a lot of my high end hardware is dedicated at least in part to gaming. I love to get these games working under Linux whenever possible. There are many who share my love of linux and my love of gaming, but due to the fact that most games are published exclusively for windows, it is often analogous to trying to fit a square peg in a round hole (and more often with the closed nature of Direct X and similar APIs, we don't truly even know the shape or dimensions of the peg, making it much harder to figure out how to shape the hole).

Many Gamers that use Linux (and often Mac as well), will say they keep a partition with Windows (usually XP Pro, or 7 HomePremium/Ultimate) for the games that just refuse to work even with the awesome work of the WINE project and its derivatives. This is especially true when DRM is involved. Most people hate booting back and forth whenever they want to play games or use a certain app, so it comes to the point that they end up spending lots of time in Windows. These factors mean that players often report (either by surveys like Steam, or through apps that gather data on players) Windows use, so companies figure "Hey, most people are using Windows".

On the corporate side, Microsoft heavily targets game developers and provides what seems to be a very easy toolkit and development environment that will get their games both on Windows PCs and on the Xbox 360. This is often far too lucrative which means developers eschew open standards that are just so if not more powerful and useful, like OpenGL, and instead go with proprietary DirectX.

Players say they wont switch until more games work on Linux, yet developers say they won't code for Linux until it has a larger userbase, players say the userbase won't grow until there are more games...ad infinium.

There are thankfully a handful of AAA developers like S2 Games (Heroes of Newerth, Savage 2), Unknown Worlds (Natural Selection 2), Wolfire Games (Overgrowth) that decide to make their titles available native on Linux. I suggest buying from these often indie devs and specifically noting it is because of their Linux support to show that just because we like "Freedom" in our software doesn't mean we aren't willing to contribute financially for hard work

There are also other companies that sort of "Split the difference", such as Blizzard. One of the reasons that World of Warcraft grew so big is that it was the only MMO for Mac gamers. Targeting a Mac client meant ensuring the game can run in OpenGL. OpenGL (as well as other open APIs) mean that programs like WINE will have a MUCH easier time getting the title to run. WoW runs flawlessly on Linux and has done so for a very long time because of this. Even when companies can't justify a Linux client yet, programming with as many Open libraries as possible means giving the community a fighting chance of running it.

Sadly DirectX has a stranglehold on the collective PC gaming mindset, but we have to nurture those that turn away from it and develop for Linux!

Edit: I just realized that there have been no confirmed Linux clients for Natural Selection 2 or Overgrowth yet I don't think, but the devs are very much in favor of OpenGL it seems and there are nice long threads on "Please make a Linux version!". Don't forget to add yours! Neither of these titles are out for release as of yet, and are actually in early Alphas and betas.

 

don't forget penumbra!
it opened up a nice door for games in linux
thats at least a good start..

 

I've gone back and forth between Linux and Windows many times. I really want to game in Linux, but Wine can only do so much. I can't really say it's a viable alternative until it has native support, which like ChivalricRonin said, is a catch 22. I hope that someday it is supported; imagine how fast games would run without Windows running.

I know Nvidia drivers are easily attainable, but are Ati drivers available?

 

they are available on the ati website..but with ati its a hit or miss..
some ati gfx cards do have support for opengl..just def. not as many as nvidia.
some of ati's newer 5000 series do come with opengl supported..as well as nvidia's newer gfx cards as well.
oh..and don't forget about Cedega..while you have to pay for it..there are games that will do better in cedega..or so that is my experience with both.
but anyways..as far as right now nvidia does support linux better so..i'm that's your best bet for driver support

 

First you need a gpu with proper drivers.
(ATI Catalyst is a mess, and even if they are closed source Nvidia gets the job done.)
Then you decide on what kind of solution you want to use to play Windows games on Linux.
The free and open source alternative is WINE.
Both Crossover Games by CodeWeavers and Cedega by TransGaming cost some money, but i tried Crossover Games as a 14 day demo and it works great.
But now that im stuck with open source ATI drivers i cant play games anymore, just gotta wait until they finalize OpenGL 2.0 support and full 3D accelleration.

 

Linux doesn't need a gaming market. It can play Doom 3 natively and that is all you will need. Ever.

 

I find Cedgea a bit of a bug bear when it comes to Linux based gaming - it uses Wine at its core and charges the end-user for a souped up version of Wine, but it does not contribute back to the Wine project.

Crossover on the other hand do contribute their efforts back into the Wine community.

Make your own mind up - support what gets you gaming on Linux and give back to the community that helped you get there or dont.

Apart from that, gaming on Linux will never become mainstream, it really is the realm of tweaking and tinkering for the most part. Sure you *can* get games to run, but its not mainstream, never will be, and a lot of Linux users are just not gamers anyway.

Its a great topic of discussion and probably will be amongst the Linux users for a long time yet, but without the backing of commercial gaming studios porting games across to Linux it will never become mainstream, and will always remain the realm of the die-hard few that do put in enormous effort to help the majority of Linux end users play some games. (refer back to my comments about Cedega now...)

I love Linux, but I also love reality