Video Games And Linux

The operating system GNU/Linux can be used for playing video games. Because many games are not natively supported for the Linux kernel, various software has been made to run Windows games, such as Wine, Cedega, 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 normally not 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. 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 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, ''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 dedicated emulation setups 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.

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 implementation. 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

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.

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 July 2021, 1% 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 ran on Linux, such as Game Editor, GDevelop, Construct and Stencyl, as well as beta versions of GameMaker. 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 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 SLUDGE adventure game engine is available. ZGameEditor, Novashell, GB Studio, and the ZZT inspired MegaZeux are also options.

Level editors

Various level editors exists for Linux, such as Qoole, 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 LLDtk, 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.

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 (emulator), higan and ZSNES for the Super NES;
* Stella (emulator), Stella for the Atari 2600;
* UAE (emulator), 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 Linux, Xbox, Linux for PlayStation 2, 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 are used by many video games and run on top of Linux include:
* C4 Engine (Terathon Software)
* CryEngine ( Crytek)
* Diesel (game engine), Diesel 2.0 (Grin (company), Grin)
* Godot Engine, Godot engine (Godot Foundation)
* HPL Engine 1–3 (Frictional Games)
* id Tech ( id Software)
* Leadwerks (Leadwerks Software)
* Open 3D Engine (Linux Foundation, Open 3D Foundation)
* Serious Engine (Croteam)
* Source (game engine), Source ( Valve)
* Torque (game engine), Torque engine (GarageGames)
* Unigine (Unigine Corp)
* Unity 5 ( 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. (video game), 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 (mascot), Tux.
* ''Urban Terror'' is a standalone ''Quake III Arena'' first-person shooter. (Proprietary mod).
* ''Vega Strike'' is a space flight simulation.
* ''Warsow (video game), Warsow'' is a ''Quake (series), Quake''-like, fast-paced first-person shooter.

= Clones and remakes

=

There are a larger number of open source Clone (video games), 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 (video game), Guitar Hero''.
* ''Frozen Bubble'' is a clone of ''Puzzle Bobble''.
* ''Grid Wars'' is a clone of ''Geometry Wars''.
* ''Head Over Heels (video game), Head Over Heels'', a ZX-Spectrum action platformer, was remade for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and BeOS.
* ''Oolite (video game), Oolite'' is a free and open-source remake of ''Elite (video game), 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 (video game), Guitar Hero'', ''SingStar'' and ''Dance Dance Revolution''.
* ''Pingus (video game), Pingus'' is a clone of ''Lemmings (video game), Lemmings''.
* ''Scorched 3D'' is a 3D adaptation of ''Scorched Earth (computer game), Scorched Earth''.
* ''Spring (computer game), 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 (video 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#The Ur-Quan Masters, 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. 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 (video game), Another World''
* ''Aquaria (video game), Aquaria''
* ''Bastion (video game), Bastion''
* ''The Binding of Isaac (video game), The Binding of Isaac''
* ''BioShock Infinite''
* ''Borderlands 2''
* ''Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!''
* ''Braid (video game), 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''
* ''Fez (video game), Fez''
* ''Freedom Planet''
* ''GRID Autosport''
* ''Grim Fandango Remastered''
* ''Half-Life (video game), Half-Life''
* ''Half-Life 2''
* ''Hitman (2016 video game), Hitman''
* ''Hitman Go''
* ''Kerbal Space Program''
* ''Lara Croft Go''
* ''Left 4 Dead 2''
* ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is Strange''
* ''Life Is Strange 2''
* '' Limbo''
* ''Mad Max (2015 video game), Mad Max''
* ''Madout Big City Online''
* ''Metro 2033 (video game), Metro 2033''
* ''Metro: Last Light''
* ''Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor''
* ''Mini Metro (video game), Mini Metro''
* ''Pillars of Eternity''
* ''Portal (video game), 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 (2013 video game), 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 (video 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 List of Devolver Digital games, a number of indie games for Linux, including ''Hotline Miami'', ''Hatoful Boyfriend'', ''Minit (video game), Minit'', ''Ruiner (video game), Ruiner'', ''Reigns (video game), Reigns'', ''OlliOlli'', ''Carrion (video game), Carrion'' and ''Broforce''. Vlambeer has released ''Luftrausers'' and ''Nuclear Throne''. Supergiant Games has released ''Bastion (video game), Bastion'', ''Transistor (video game), Transistor'', and ''Pyre (video game), 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'', Daisuke Amaya, Studio Pixel released ''Cave Story'', Number None released ''Braid (video game), Braid'', Subset Studios released ''FTL: Faster Than Light'', The Indie Stone released ''Project Zomboid'', Vblank Entertainment released ''Retro City Rampage'', Bit Kid released ''Chasm (video game), Chasm'', Rocketcat Games released ''Death Road to Canada'', Ape Marina released ''Tales (video game), Tales'', HuniePot released ''HuniePop'', Toby Fox has released ''Undertale'', ConcernedApe has released ''Stardew Valley'', Skookum Arts released ''The Pedestrian (video game), 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 (video game), The Binding of Isaac'', and ''The End Is Nigh (video game), 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 (video game), 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 (video game), 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 (video game), 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 ''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 (computer game), Darwinia'', ''Uplink (computer game), Uplink'', and ''DEFCON (computer game), DEFCON''. Cartesian Theatre is a Vancouver, 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 (video game), 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 (video game), 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 voxel-based space sandbox game, ''ScrumbleShip'' by indie developer Dirkson was under development for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.

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 (video game), Grappling Hook'', a first-shooter like puzzle game using the jMonkeyEngine, was released by Christian Teister. David Pittman released his game ''Eldritch (video 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 (video game), 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 (2014 video game), Ziggurat'' for Linux, while Crema released ''Immortal Redneck'', Terrible Posture Games released ''Tower of Guns'', Terri Vellmann released ''Heavy Bullets'', Pixel Titans released ''Strafe (video game), 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 (video game), Caffeine'', Bloober Team released ''Layers of Fear'', Red Barrels released ''Outlast (video game), Outlast'', Saibot Studios released ''Doorways'', Camel 101 and Bigmoon Entertainment released ''Syndrome (video game), 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''.

The German indie-studio Pixel Maniacs released both of their games, ''ChromaGun'' and ''Can't Drive This'' for Linux.

In the Adventure game#Walking simulators, 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 (video game), Firewatch'' and ''Proteus (video game), 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 (computer game), Postal'', ''Railroad Tycoon II'', ''Quake III Arena'', ''Rune (video game), Rune'', ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri'', ''Sim City 3000'', ''Soldier of Fortune (video game), Soldier of Fortune'', ''Tribes 2'', and ''MindRover'' to Linux.

Tribsoft created a Linux version of ''Jagged Alliance 2'' by Sir-Tech Canada before shutting down in 2002. Linux Game Publishing was founded in 2001 in response to the impending demise of Loki, and has brought ''Creatures (artificial life program)#Creatures Internet Edition / Creatures Gold, Creatures: Internet Edition'', ''Candy Cruncher'', ''Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Majesty: Gold Edition'', ''NingPo MahJong'', ''Hyperspace Delivery Boy!'', ''Software Tycoon'', ''Postal², Postal²: Share The Pain'', ''Soul Ride'', ''X2: The Threat'', ''Gorky 17'', ''Cold War (computer game), Cold War'', ''Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom'', ''Ballistics (computer game), Ballistics'', ''X3: Reunion'', ''Jets'n'Guns'', ''Sacred (video game), 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 episodic game, 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), 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 (video game), Devastation'', versions of ''America's Army'', and the titles ''Prey (2006 video game), Prey'', ''Aquaria (video game), Aquaria'', ''Braid (video game), Braid'', ''Hammerfight'' and ''Cogs (video game), Cogs''.

The Germany, German publisher RuneSoft was founded in 2000. They ported the games ''Northland'',
''Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood'', ''Airline Tycoon Deluxe'', ''Ankh (video game), Ankh'', ''Ankh: Heart of Osiris'', ''Barkanoid 2'', and ''Jack Keane (video game), Jack Keane'' 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, 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. Alternative Games brought ''Trine (video game), Trine'' and ''Shadowgrounds'', and ''Shadowgrounds Survivor'' for Linux Game Publishing.

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), Doom'' series, the ''Quake (series), 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 (video game), 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 (computer game), Theocracy'' on the retail disk. Absolutist has supported Linux for a number of years. GLAMUS GmbH released a Linux version of their game ''Mobility (computer game), Mobility''. Vicarious Visions ported the space-flight game ''Terminus (2000 video game), Terminus'' to Linux.

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.

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 (2002 video game), 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''.

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 EA Digital Illusions CE, DICE, said to polygon.com

Commercial games for non-x86 instruction sets

Some companies ported games to Linux running on instruction sets other than x86, such as DEC Alpha, 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 (video game), 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.

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: Aliens of Gold, Blake Stone'', ''Ken's Labyrinth'', ''Catacomb 3D'', ''Seven Kingdoms (video game), Seven Kingdoms'', ''Warzone 2100'', ''Homeworld'', ''Call to Power II'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Heretic (video game), Heretic'', ''Hexen: Beyond Heretic, Hexen'', ''Hexen II'', ''Aliens versus Predator (video game), Aliens versus Predator'', ''Descent (video game), 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 or otherwise unavailable, such as the video game ''Strife: Quest for the Sigil, Strife'', ''Blood (video game), 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 (computer gaming), mod on another native title, such as with the original ''Unreal (1998 video game), 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. Games derived from released code, with both free and proprietary media, that are released for Linux include ''Urban Terror'', ''OpenArena'', ''Freedoom'', ''World of Padman'', ''Nexuiz/Xonotic'', ''Warsow (video game), 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, A Tale in the Desert III'' (2003, eGenesis) – A trading and crafting game, set in ancient Egypt, pay-to-play.
* ''Crossfire (computer game), Crossfire'' (1992) – A medieval fantasy 2D game.
* ''Dofus'' (2005, Ankama Games) – A 2D fantasy MMORPG.
* ''PlaneShift (video game), PlaneShift'' – A free 3D fantasy game.
* ''Regnum Online'' – A 3D fantasy game, free-to-play with premium content.
* ''RuneScape'' – Java virtual machine, Java fantasy 3rd person MMORPG.
* ''Salem (video game), Salem'' – An isometric, 3D fantasy game with a focus on crafting and Permanent death, permadeath.
* ''Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues, Shroud of the Avatar'' – An isometric, 3D fantasy game and the spiritual successor to '' Ultima Online''.
* ''Spiral Knights'' – Java virtual machine, Java fantasy 3rd person game.
* ''The Saga of Ryzom'' – has a Linux client and source code available.
* ''Tibia (computer game), 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 (Online Game), Wyvern'' – A 2D fantasy MMORPG that runs on Java virtual machine, Java.
* ''Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates'' – A puzzle game which runs on Java virtual machine, 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

Open-source video game, Libre gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizes Free software, 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

Digital rights management#Opposition, 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 Command-line interface, console, often programmed within Bash (Unix shell), 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, Game engine recreation, 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 CD, 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.

BSD gaming

Owing to a common Unix-like heritage and free software ethos, many games for Linux are also ported to BSD List of BSD operating systems, 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 Homura launcher exists to facilitate running Windows games through Wine, which can still be used standalone. A 2011 Benchmark (computing), benchmark by Phoronix even found certain speed advantages over running games on Linux itself, comparing PC-BSD 8.2 to Ubuntu (operating system), Ubuntu 11.04. Most BSD systems come with the same pack in desktop games as Linux. The Permissive license, 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.

Unix gaming

A further niche exists for running games, either through ports or lxrun, on Solaris (operating system), Solaris and derivatives such as OpenIndiana, Darwin (operating system), Darwin distributions such as PureDarwin, HarmonyOS and OpenHarmony, Coherent (operating system), Coherent, SerenityOS, Redox OS, ToaruOS, Xv6, Fiwix, or on Minix and GNU Hurd, Hurd based systems. There has been some cross-pollination with purely proprietary Unix List of Unix systems, derivatives, such as AIX, QNX, Domain/OS, HP-UX, IRIX (:category:IRIX games, 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 games
** List of video game console emulators
* Linux gaming software
** Direct3D#Alternative implementations, Direct3D (alternative implementation)
** Lutris
** PlayOnLinux
** Proton (software)
** Steam (service)
** Vulkan (API)
** Wine (software)
* Other articles
** Linux for PlayStation 2
** Sega Lindbergh

References

{{Linux

Gaming
Linux games,
Video game development software for Linux,
Video game platforms