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Given, I'm not even a programmer by trade (merely by hobby), but this is my interpretation of the current state of Linux gaming and where it is going. Please, discuss.
Companies such as LGP are in the business of buying game licenses and then releasing ports using those licenses. I like to call it the Loki business model, after the first company to attempt such an approach. It's a decent approach on paper, but ultimately a dead end. As the GPU arms race marches on, the video game industry will continue to stagnate, publishers will demand larger and larger royalties (and more importantly, more and more frequently say no), and "loss prevention" attitudes are only going to get worse. As much as it hurts, the truth is, the Loki business model is ultimately doomed. Due to the same market forces, Linux developers are slowly but surely being pushed out of game development studios. The canceled UT3 port is not an isolated phenomenon, but a sign of things to come. Steam? Just a rumor. Postal 3? Probably wishful thinking on the developer's part. But hope is not lost; bear with me.
Svartalf talks about the 10-15% more investment involved in developing a Linux port for a game. What if we could make that 10-15% just disappear? Provide a platform where all game developers have to do is "make PLATFORM=Linux" and out pops a Linux binary? If they STILL can't be arsed to release a port, then damnit, somebody will leak one. But that's not enough, we need studios to use it.
Unreal Engine 3 is everywhere. id Tech has a following of massive proportions. Entire companies (such as Emergent Game Technologies) have built their business on the sole idea of developing game engines and licensing them to other companies, with overwhelming success. You might think it silly, but FOSS needs a piece of this action. Now. And while there are solid, stable projects with suitable licenses like Irrlicht and Sauerbraten, we don't have a complete, comprehensive solution that does the rendering, the sound, the scripting and the kitchen sink so all they have to do is make the content (and no, BGE and early id Tech are not eligible due to GPL). And more importantly, so far there hasn't been a solid technology demonstration that makes game developers stop and say, "we can make a AAA title with this". Unreal Engine would have been ignored completely if it weren't for the game of its namesake. Same with id Tech.
Remember, while companies like Bethesda and 2K may be happy with engines like Gamebryo and UE3, for every Bethesda, there's ten Wolfires with little renown and big dreams. And if we build it, they will come.
Companies such as LGP are in the business of buying game licenses and then releasing ports using those licenses. I like to call it the Loki business model, after the first company to attempt such an approach. It's a decent approach on paper, but ultimately a dead end. As the GPU arms race marches on, the video game industry will continue to stagnate, publishers will demand larger and larger royalties (and more importantly, more and more frequently say no), and "loss prevention" attitudes are only going to get worse. As much as it hurts, the truth is, the Loki business model is ultimately doomed. Due to the same market forces, Linux developers are slowly but surely being pushed out of game development studios. The canceled UT3 port is not an isolated phenomenon, but a sign of things to come. Steam? Just a rumor. Postal 3? Probably wishful thinking on the developer's part. But hope is not lost; bear with me.
Svartalf talks about the 10-15% more investment involved in developing a Linux port for a game. What if we could make that 10-15% just disappear? Provide a platform where all game developers have to do is "make PLATFORM=Linux" and out pops a Linux binary? If they STILL can't be arsed to release a port, then damnit, somebody will leak one. But that's not enough, we need studios to use it.
Unreal Engine 3 is everywhere. id Tech has a following of massive proportions. Entire companies (such as Emergent Game Technologies) have built their business on the sole idea of developing game engines and licensing them to other companies, with overwhelming success. You might think it silly, but FOSS needs a piece of this action. Now. And while there are solid, stable projects with suitable licenses like Irrlicht and Sauerbraten, we don't have a complete, comprehensive solution that does the rendering, the sound, the scripting and the kitchen sink so all they have to do is make the content (and no, BGE and early id Tech are not eligible due to GPL). And more importantly, so far there hasn't been a solid technology demonstration that makes game developers stop and say, "we can make a AAA title with this". Unreal Engine would have been ignored completely if it weren't for the game of its namesake. Same with id Tech.
Remember, while companies like Bethesda and 2K may be happy with engines like Gamebryo and UE3, for every Bethesda, there's ten Wolfires with little renown and big dreams. And if we build it, they will come.
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