Linux Gamers Are Excited For New Games

A few hours ago we invited everyone to come play this new Linux-native game with us, which happened to be Heroes of Newerth by S2 Games. This game is still under development and details surrounding this title are very scarce as the media (including Phoronix), is not yet allowed to post any media or really talk about the game that much. However, a closed beta is currently going on for this game, both with the Linux and Windows editions. S2 Games was surprised by the interest that was building around this new game of theirs on Linux, so they decided to let us start handing out keys to join the beta program. Well, so far, that is going extremely well.

A thread in the forums now has over 18 pages worth of replies of Linux gamers interested in testing out this retail game for free. We have also received dozens of emails and other requests, but as the instructions are clearly outlined in the previous news posting, only requests done through that Phoronix Forums thread are being honored. We are set to hand out hundreds of beta invites today alone.

There is clearly interest building around Heroes of Newerth on Linux. Let's see though in the coming days how many Linux users end up partaking in this beta program. Once this game has launched, we will also try to get word from S2 Games on how the Linux sales are going and whether they have any comment from the developers on the process of bringing this game to Linux. For those that have not yet tried out this beta, S2 Games has done a nice job with this Linux version -- there is even real 64-bit binaries available.

Game studios, are you listening? There is such a thing as a Linux gamer, and there are many of them. Those out there might as well read our interview with a Linux game porter and talking to the developers of the Unigine Engine.

If you want to start beta testing Heroes of Newerth for Linux, read the instructions in this post and then stop by this forum thread.