Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
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Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
1–10 of 75 posts
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#2I don't expect to play any big AAA titles but I also remember only having Nethack and tux racer. So I am over the moon being able to play these current titles on Linux.
Caves of Qud, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, Rimworld, Oxygen Not Included, Stellaris, Civ, Streets of Rogue, Pillars of Eternity and many more. Those are just my favorites so I hope others will list theirs.
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#3Because if you don't then you can be sure that they will never sell.
And Linux is the only game platform without garden walls.
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#4Stadia changes the math a bit. If you’re already targeting Stadia, which uses a Linux variant under the hood, the time to make it widely available might be worth it.
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#5I don't expect to play any big AAA titles but I also remember only having Nethack and tux racer. So I am over the moon being able to play these current titles on Linux. Caves of Qud, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, Rimworld, Oxygen Not Included, Stellaris, Civ, Streets of Rogue, Pillars of Eternity and many more. Those are just my favorites so I hope others will list theirs.
Hey don't forget XBill, Linux game of the year 1994
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#6Because if you don't then you can be sure that they will never sell. And Linux is the only game platform without garden walls.
Windows still lets you download and install software last I checked.
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#7These two options can work well:
1. The Radiohead model: download and pay anything from 0$ to X$ as you wish. IIRC with the Radiohead release X == 100$.
2. Sell Merchandise. If your game features a character like Lara or Mario, this could go very well.
There used to be a lot more of this in the early days of indy development. Postcardware for instance, were you would "pay" for the software by sending the author a nice postcard.
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#8Stadia changes the math a bit. If you’re already targeting Stadia, which uses a Linux variant under the hood, the time to make it widely available might be worth it.
Might be... but (I assume; I don't have any specific knowledge) that Stadia runs everything on a single known software stack, and quite possibly a single hardware stack. This would make it an easier platform to target than the wider range of general consumer hardware running Linux.
Personally, I run Linux as my daily driver and I hope game developers see the success of Steam's Linux support and decide that targeting Linux is viable and worth doing. But I wouldn't assume that building for Stadia necessarily has a big overlap with building for consumer Linux.
Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#9Because if you don't then you can be sure that they will never sell. And Linux is the only game platform without garden walls.
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Re: Why make games for Linux if they don't sell?
#10Stadia changes the math a bit. If you’re already targeting Stadia, which uses a Linux variant under the hood, the time to make it widely available might be worth it.
When making a game for Stadia you can target a very small subset of hardware and test on those on one single linux distribution/software stack (at the moment all stadia servers are identical). When you make a game that anyone can download on their machine the amount of different hardware + os/driver combinations grows a lot and requires a lot more effort for a quality product.