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Linux-based operating systems can be used for playingvideo games. Because fewer games natively support the Linux kernel than Windows, various software has been made to runWindows games, software, and programs, such asWine,Cedega,DXVK, andProton, and managers such asLutris andPlayOnLinux. The Linux gaming community has a presence on the internet with users who attempt to run games that are not officially supported on Linux.
Linux gaming started largely as an extension of the already presentUnixgaming scene,[1] which dates back to thatsystem's conception in 1969 with the gameSpace Travel[2][3][self-published source?] and thefirst edition in 1971,[4] with both systems sharing many similar titles.[5][self-published source?][6] These games were mostly either arcade and parlour type games or text adventures using libraries likecurses.[7][8] A notable example of this are the "BSD Games", a collection ofinteractive fiction and othertext-mode amusements.[9][10] Thefree software philosophy andopen-source methodology which drove the development of the operating system in general also spawned the creation of various early free games.[11][12]
Popular early titles includedNetrek and the variousXAsteroids,XBattle,XBill,XBoing,X-Bomber,XConq,XDigger,XEmeraldia,XEvil,XGalaga,XGammon,XLander,XLife,XMahjong,XMine,XSoldier,XPilot,XRobots,XRubiks,XShogi,XScavenger,XTris,XTron,XTic andXTux games using theX Window System.[13][14] Other games targeted or also supported theSVGAlib library allowing them to run without awindowing system,[15] such asLinCity,Maelstrom,Sasteroids,[16] andSABRE.[17] TheGeneral Graphics Interface was also used[18] for games likeU.R.B.A.N The Cyborg Project[19] andDave Gnukem[20] ported fromMS-DOS. As the operating system itself grew and expanded, the amount of free and open-source games also increased in scale and complexity, with bothclones of historically popular releases beginning withBZFlag,LinCity, andFreeciv,[21] as well as original creations such asRocks'n'Diamonds,Cube,The Battle for Wesnoth, andTux Racer.[22]
The beginning of Linux as a gaming platform for commercial video games is widely credited to have begun in 1994 whenDave D. Taylor ported the gameDoom to Linux, as well as many other systems, during his spare time.[23][24]Shareware copies of the game were included on various Linux discs,[25] including those packed in withreference books.[26][27][28]
Ancient Domains of Mystery was also released for Linux in 1994 byThomas Biskup, building on theroguelike legacy of games such asMoria and its descendentAngband, but more specificallyHack andNetHack.
From there Taylor would also help found the development studio Crack dot Com, which released the video gameAbuse,[29] with the game's Linux port even being distributed by Linux vendorsRed Hat[30] andCaldera.[31] The studio's never finishedGolgotha was also slated to be released by Red Hat in box.[32]
In 1991 DUX Software contracted Don Hopkins to portSimCity to Unix,[33] which he ported to Linux in 1995 and eventually released as open source for theOLPC XO Laptop.[34]
A website called The Linux Game Tome, also known as HappyPenguin after itsURL, was begun byTessa Lau in 1995 to catalogue games created for or ported to Linux from theSunSITE game directories as well as other classic X11 games for a collection of just over 100 titles.[35]
id Software, the original developers ofDoom, alsocontinued to release their products for Linux. Their gameQuake was ported to Linux viaX11 in 1996, once again by Dave D. Taylor working in his free time.[36][37] AnSVGALib version was also later produced by Greg Alexander in 1997 using recently leaked source code, but was later mainlined by id.[38] Later id products continued to be ported byZoid Kirsch[39] andTimothee Besset,[40] a practice that continued until the studio's acquisition byZeniMax Media in 2009.[41] Initially, Zoid Kirsch was responsible for maintaining the Linux version of Quake and porting QuakeWorld to Linux.
Inner Worlds was released for and developed on Linux.[42]The UNIX Book of Games, a 1996 publication by Janice Winsor, described various games with an accompanying CD-ROM containing executables and source code forLinux andSCO Unix.[43]
The Linux Game Tome was taken over by Bob Zimbinski in 1998 eventually growing to over 2000 entries, sponsored by retailer Penguin Computing and laterLGP until it went down in 2013, although mirrors still exist.[44][45]
The site LinuxGames covered news and commentary from November 1998 until its host Atomicgamer went down in 2015.[46][47] It was established by Marvin Malkowski, head of the Telefragged gaming network, alongside Al Koskelin and Dustin Reyes;[48] Reyes died 8 August 2023.[49]
Zoid Kirsch from id Software ported Quake II to Linux. Two programmers fromOrigin portedUltima Online to Linux and MP Entertainment released an adventure gameHopkins FBI for Linux[50][51]
On 9 November 1998, a new software firm calledLoki 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.[52] Loki, although a commercial failure, is credited with the birth of the modern Linux game industry.[53] Loki developed several free software tools, such as the Loki installer (also known as Loki Setup),[54] and supported the development of theSimple DirectMedia Layer,[55] as well as starting theOpenAL audio library project.[56][57] These are still often credited as being the cornerstones of Linux game development.[58] They were also responsible for bringing nineteen high-profile games to the platform before its closure in 2002.
Loki publishedCivilization: Call to Power,Eric's Ultimate Solitaire, Heretic II, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition, Quake III: Arena, and Unreal Tournament for Linux.[59]
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, andVicarious Visions.[60]
The ports ofQuake andQuake II were released physically byMacmillan Computer Publishing USA,[61] whileQuake III was released for Linux byLoki Software.[62] Red Hat had previously passed on publishingQuake for Linux, since it was notopen-source at the time.[63]
Philos Laboratories released a Linux version ofTheocracy on the retail disk. Ryan "Ridah" Feltrin from Xatrix Entertainment released a Linux version ofKingpin: Life of Crime.
BlackHoleSun Software releasedKrilo and Futureware 2001 released a trading simulation Würstelstand for Linux.[64]
TheIndrema Entertainment System (also known as the L600) was also in development since 1999 as a Linux-basedgame console anddigital media player,[65][66][67] but production halted in 2001 due to a lack of investment,[68][69] although the TuxBox project attempted a continuation.[70]
Loki published Descent 3, Heavy Gear II, SimCity 3000, and Soldier of Fortune for Linux. They also released the expansion Descent 3: Mercenary as the downloadable Linux installer.[59]
Hyperion Entertainment ported Sin to Linux published by Titan Computer. Vicarious Visions ported the space-flight gameTerminus to Linux.Mountain King Studios released a port ofRaptor: Call of the Shadows and CipSoft published the Linux client of Tibia.[71]
Boutell.com portedExile III: Ruined World to Linux, which was a game created bySpiderweb Software.
During this time Michael Simms foundedTux Games, one of the first online Linux game retailers,[72] later followed by Fun 4 Tux,[73] Wupra,[74] ixsoft, and LinuxPusher.[75]
The period also saw a number of commercial compilations released,[76] such as100 Great Linux Games byGlobal Star Software,[77]Linux Games byWalnut Creek CDROM,[78][79]Linux Games++ byPacific Hitech,[80][81]Linux Cubed Series 8 LINUX Games by Omeron Systems,[82]Best Linux Games by SOT Finnish Software Engineering,[83][84][85]LinuxCenter Games Collection,[86]Linux Games & Entertainment for X Windows by Hemming,[87][88]Linux Spiele & Games by more software,[89]Linux Spiele by Franzis Verlag,[90] andplay it! Linux: Die Spielesammlung by S.A.D. Software.[91]
NumerousLinux distributions and collections packed in Loki games and demos,[92] includingRed Hat Linux,[93]Corel Linux andWordPerfect Office,[94][95] and the completeEric's Ultimate Solitaire bundled with PowerPlant by TheKompany.[96] Easy Linux 2000 similarly bundled in a copy of the Linux version ofHopkins FBI.[97]
Loki publishedHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K.²,Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns,Mindrover: The Europa Project,Myth II: Soulblighter, Postal Plus,Rune,Rune: Halls of Valhalla,Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, andTribes 2 for Linux.[59]
Linux Game Publishing was founded in 2001 in response to the impending demise of Loki. Creature Labs portedCreatures: Internet Edition to Linux, which was published by LGP.
Hyperion Entertainment portedShogo: Mobile Armor Division to Linux, and Tribsoft created a Linux version ofJagged Alliance 2, both published by Titan Computer.
Illwinter Game Design releasedConquest of Elysium II andDominions: Priests, Prophets & Pretenders for Linux.Introversion Software releasedUplink for Linux.
BlackHoleSun Software releasedBunnies, and worked onAtlantis: The Underwater City – Interactive Storybook published by Sterling Entertainment.[64]
GLAMUS GmbH released a Linux version of their gameMobility and Oliver Hamann released the driving gameOdyssey by Car.[98]
Small Rockets publishedSmall Rockets BackGammon, Small Rockets Mah Jongg, andSmall Rockets Poker for Linux.[citation needed]
The companyTransGaming marketed as a monthly subscription its own proprietary fork ofWine called WineX in October 2001, later renamedCedega in 2004 and discontinued in 2011, which aimed for greater compatibility withMicrosoft Windows games.A special Gaming Edition ofMandrake Linux 8.1 was released that featured WineX packed in withThe Sims.[99] 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.[100][101]
The release ofScummVM in 2001,[102]Dosbox in 2002,[103] as well asvideo game console emulators likeMAME from 1997 and released as open source in 2016, helped make Linux a viable platform forretro gaming (facilitated by theRetroArch frontend since 2010).[104][105] This is especially the case for theGP2X series ofhandheld game consoles byGamePark Holdings in addition to the community drivenPandora andDragonBox Pyra. Dedicatedemulation setups are also built onsingle-board computers like theRaspberry Pi released in 2012, which are most oftenLinux based including withRaspberry Pi OS.[106]Wine is also useful for running older Windows games,[107] including16-bit and even some32-bit applications that no longer work on modern64-bit Windows.[108] TheSharp Zauruspersonal data assistants adopted a Linux derived system calledOpenZaurus, which attracted its own gaming scene.[109][110] This was also the case with theAgenda VR3, advertised as the first "pure Linux PDA".[111][112]
After Loki's closure, the Linux game market experienced some changes.[113] Although some new firms, such asLinux Game Publishing and RuneSoft, would largely continue the role of a standard porting house,[114] the focus began to change with Linux game proponents encouraging game developers to port their game products themselves or through individual contractors.[115] Influential to this wasRyan C. Gordon, a former Loki employee who would over the next decade port several game titles to multiple platforms, including Linux.[116]
Ryan ported America's Army, Candy Cruncher, Serious Sam: The First Encounter, and Unreal Tournament 2003 to Linux.[117][118][119]
Linux Game Publishing had initially tried to pick up the support rights to many of Loki's titles, but in the end it was only able to acquire the rights to MindRover: The Europa Project. They released the updated version of Mindrover and its downloadable update for owners of the old Loki version.[120]
Return to Castle Wolfenstein was released forLinux and with the Linux port done in-house byTimothee Besset[121]
Chronic logic released Bridge Construction Set and Triptych for Linux.
Sunspire Studios released in retail commercial expansion of the game titledTux Racer.[122]
Ryan portedDevastation, Medal of Honor Allied Assault, andSerious Sam: The Second Encounter toLinux.[119]
LGP took interest in publishing Pyrogon games on physical CDs and they released Candy Cruncher.[123] Mathieu Pinard from Tribsoft got LGP in contact with Cyberlore to save the Linux port of Majesty because Titan Computer get out of Linux publishing. This turn of events helped LGP to release a Majesty for Linux after Pinard closed his company in 2002.[124]
Timothee Bessett from id Software ported Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to Linux.[125]
Around this time many companies,starting with id Software, also began to release legacysource code leading to a proliferation ofsource ports of older games to Linux and other systems.[126] This alsohelped expand the already existing free and open-source gaming scene, especially with regards to the creation of freefirst person shooters.[127] In addition, numerousgame engine recreations havebeen produced to varying levels of accuracy usingreverse engineering or underlying engine code supporting the original game files including on Linux and other niche systems.[128][129]
Ryan portedUnreal Tournament 2004 to Linux for Epic Games[130] and Timothee Bessett from id Software portedDoom 3 to Linux.[125]
David Hedbor, founder and main programmer ofEon Games portedNingPo MahJong andHyperspace Delivery Boy! to Linux, which later were published by LGP.[131]
Ryan portedPostal²: Share the Pain to Linux published by LGP.[132]
CodeWeavers offered an enhanced version of Wine calledCrossOver Games.[133][134] The reliance on such compatibility layers remains controversial with concerns that it hinders growth in native development,[135][136] although this approach was defended based on Loki's demise.[137][138]PlayOnLinux, established in 2007, provides a community alternative,[139] with various guides being written on how to get games to run through Wine.[140]
The Linux gaming market also started to experience some growth towards the end of the decade with the rise ofindependent video game development,[142] with many "indie" developersfavouring support for multiple platforms.[143] TheHumble Indie Bundle initiatives inaugurated in 2010 helped to formally demonstrate this trend,[144] 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.[145][146] The Humble Indie Bundle V in 2012 faced controversy for featuring a Wine-based release ofLimbo prepared byCodeWeavers,[147] while a native version was later released in 2014.[148] Humble eventually began offering Windows-only games in their bundles and on their store.[149][150]
In 2009, the small indie game company Entourev LLC publishedVoltley to Linux which is the first commercial exclusive game for this operating system.[151][152] In the same year, LGP releasedShadowgrounds which was the first commercial game for Linux using the Nvidia PhysX middleware.[153] The GamingOnLinux website was launched on 4 July 2009, and eventually succeeded LinuxGames as the main source of news and commentary.[154]
The release of a Linux version ofDesura in 2011,[155] adigital distribution platform with a primary focus on smallindependent developers, was heralded by several commentators as an important step to greater acknowledgement of Linux as a gaming platform.[142][156][157] Shortly before this,Canonical launched theUbuntu Software Center which also sold digital games.[158] The digital store Gameolith also launched in 2011 focused principally on Linux before expanding in 2012 and closing in 2014.[159][160]
In July 2012, game developer and content distributorValve announced a port of theirSource engine for Linux as well as stating their intention to release theirSteam digital distribution service for Linux.[161][162][163] The potential availability of a Linux Steam client had already attracted other developers to consider porting their titles to Linux,[157][164][165][166] including previouslyMac OS only porting houses such asAspyr Media andFeral Interactive.[167]
In November 2012,Unity Technologies ported theirUnity 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.[168]
In September 2013, Valve announced that they were releasing a gaming oriented Linux based operating system calledSteamOS 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."[157][169] This was used for theirSteam Machine platform released on 10 November 2015, and discontinued in 2018.[170]
In March 2014,GOG.com announced they would begin to support Linux titles on theirDRM free store starting the same year, after previously stating they would not be able due to too many distributions.[171] GOG.com began their initial roll out on 24 July 2014, by offering 50 Linux supporting titles, including several new to the platform.[172]
Despite previous statements, GOG have confirmed they have no plans to port their Galaxy client to Linux.[173] The free softwareLutris started in 2010,[174] GameHub from 2019,[175] MiniGalaxy from 2020,[176] and the Heroic Games Launcher from 2021,[177] offer support for GOG as well as theEpic Games Store,Ubisoft Connect andOrigin.
In March and April 2014, two major developersEpic Games andCrytek announced Linux support for their next generation enginesUnreal Engine 4 andCryEngine respectively.[178][179]
Towards the end of 2014, the game hostitch.io announced that Linux would be supported with their developingopen source game client.[180] This was fully launched simultaneously onWindows,Mac OS X and Linux on 15 December 2015.[181] The service had supported Linux since it was first unveiled on 3 March 2013, with creator Leaf Corcoran personally a Linux user.[182] The similarGame Jolt service also supports Linux and has an open source client released on 13 January 2016.[183][184]GamersGate also sells games for Linux.[185][186]
In 2015, started OpenXRay project — an improved version of theX-Ray Engine, the game engine used in the world-famousS.T.A.L.K.E.R, with Linux and macOS support.[187][188][189][190]
In July 2015, LinuxGames website shut down.[191]
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On 22 August 2018, Valve released their fork ofWine calledProton, aimed at gaming.[192] It features some improvements over the vanilla Wine such asVulkan-basedDirectX 11 implementation, Steam integration, better full screen and game controller support and improved performance for multi-threaded games.[193] It has since grown to include support forDirectX 9[194] andDirectX 12[195] over Vulkan. The itch.io app added its ownWine integration in June 2020,[196] whileLutris andPlayOnLinux are long-standing independent solutions for compatibility wrappers.[197][198]
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.[199][200]Prodeus dropped native support in favour of Proton shortly before final release[201] andArcen Games cancelled planned native support forHeart of the Machine.[202] Valve has expressed no preference over Proton or native ports among developers.[203]
On 25 February 2022, Valve releasedSteam Deck, ahandheld game console running SteamOS 3.0.[204][205] The deployment of Proton and other design decisions were based on the limited response to their previousSteam Machines.[206] Linux was also used as a base for several nostalgia consoles, including theNeo Geo X,[207]NES Classic Edition,[208]Super NES Classic Edition,[209]Sega Genesis Mini,[210]Intellivision Amico,[211]Lichee Pocket 4A,[212] and theAtari VCS.[213] It also powers the more generalPolymega,[214]Anbernic RG351 and5G552, as well as theGame Gadget,[215]Evercade,VS,EXP andSuper Pocketretrogaming consoles by Blaze Entertainment.[216][217]
As of early 2023, the retro game storeZoom Platform was enhancing Linux support on their available titles.[218]
Some companies ported games to Linux running on instruction sets other than x86, such asAlpha,PowerPC,Sparc, MIPS or ARM.
Loki Entertainment Software portedCivilization: Call to Power,Eric's Ultimate Solitaire,Heroes of Might and Magic III,Myth II: Soulblighter,Railroad Tycoon II Gold Edition andSid Meier's Alpha Centauri withAlien Crossfire expansion pack to Linux PowerPC.[219] They also portedCivilization: Call to Power,Eric's Ultimate Solitaire,Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri withAlien Crossfire expansion pack to Linux Alpha andCivilization: Call to Power,Eric's Ultimate Solitaire to Linux SPARC.[220]
Linux Game Publishing publishedCandy Cruncher,Majesty Gold,NingPo MahJong andSoul Ride to Linux PowerPC. They also portedCandy Cruncher,Soul Ride to Linux SPARC andSoul Ride to Linux Alpha.[221][222]
Illwinter Game Design portedDominions: Priests, Prophets and Pretenders,Dominions II: The Ascension Wars andDominions 3 to Linux PowerPC, as well asConquest of Elysium 3,Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension to Raspberry Pi.[223]
Hyperion Entertainment portedSin to Linux PowerPC published byTitan Computer[224] andGorky 17 to Linux PowerPC which later was published by LGP.[225]
Runesoft hired Gunnar von Boehn which portedRobin Hood – The Legend of Sherwood to Linux PowerPC.[226] Later Runesoft portedAirline Tycoon Deluxe toRaspberry Pi was runningDebian GNU/Linux.[citation needed]
Iain McLeod portedSpheres of Chaos to Linux on the PlayStation 2 consoles and later re-released it as a freeware game.
TheSteam Hardware Survey reports that as of January 2024, 2% of users are using some form of Linux as their platform's primary operating system.[227] TheUnitygame engine used to[228] make their statistics available and in March 2016 reported that Linux users accounted for 0.4% of players.[229] In 2010, in the firstHumble Bundle sales, Linux accounted for 18% of purchases.[230]
Linux as a gaming platform can also refer to operating systems based on the Linux kernel and specifically designed for thesole purpose of gaming. Examples areSteamOS, which is an operating system forSteam Machines,Steam Deck and general computers,video game consoles built from components found in the classical home computer, (embedded) operating systems likeTizen andPandora, andhandheld game consoles likeGP2X, andNeo Geo X. TheNvidia Shield runs Android as an operating system, which is based on a modified Linux kernel.[citation needed]
Theopen source design of the Linux software platform allows the operating system to be compatible with various computerinstruction sets and manyperipherals, such asgame controllers andhead-mounted displays. As an example,HTC Vive, which is avirtual reality head-mounted display,supports the Linux gaming platform.[citation needed]
In 2013, tests byPhoronix showed real-world performance of games on Linux with proprietary Nvidia and AMD drivers were mostly comparable to results on Windows 8.1.[231]Phoronix found similar results in 2015,[232] thoughArs Technica described a 20% performance drop with Linux drivers.[233]
An operating system based on the Linux kernel and customized specifically for gaming, could adopt thevanilla Linux kernel with only little changes, or—like the Android operating system—be based on a relative extensively modified Linux kernel. It could adoptGNU C Library orBionic or something like it. The entiremiddleware or parts of it, could very well be closed-source andproprietary 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.[citation needed]
The subsystems already mainlined and available in theLinux kernel are most probably performant enough so to not impede the gaming experience in any way,[citation needed] however additional software is available, such as e.g. theBrain Fuck Scheduler (a process scheduler) or the Budget Fair Queueing (BFQ) scheduler (an I/O scheduler).[234]
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.[235][236]
Severalgame creation systems can be run onLinux, such asGame Editor,GDevelop,Construct andStencyl, as well as beta versions ofGameMaker.[237] A Linux version ofClickteam Fusion 3 was mentioned, but has yet to be released.[238] TheGodot,Defold, andSolar2D game engines also supports creating games on Linux,[239] as do the commercialUnrealEd[240] andUnity Editor,[241][242] The visual programming environmentsSnap!,Scratch 1.X[243] andTynker are Linux compatible.Enterbrain'sRPG Maker MV was released for Linux.[244] In addition, open-source, cross-platform clones of theRPG Maker series exist such as Open RPG Maker, MKXP and EasyRPG,[245] as well as the similarOHRRPGCE and Solarus.[246] TheAdventure Game Studio editor is not yet ported to Linux, although games made in it are compatible, and theWintermute and SLUDGE[247] adventure game engines are available. ZGameEditor,[248] Novashell,[249] GB Studio,[250] and theZZT inspired MegaZeux[251] are also options. Versions ofMugen were made available for Linux,[252] and open-source re-implementations such as IKEMEN Go are compatible.[253] TheJavaScript basedCt.js[254]Pixelbox.js,[255] andSuperpowers[256] are also options.
Variouslevel editors exist for Linux, such aswxqoole,GtkRadiant,TrenchBroom[257][258] and J.A.C.K.[259] for theid Tech engines and related, Eureka,[260] SLADE[261] and ReDoomEd[262] for theDoom engine, and the general purposetile map editors LDtk,[263] Ogmo,[264] and Tiled.[265]
Several game development tools have been available for Linux, includingGNU Debugger,LLDB,Valgrind, glslang and others.VOGL, adebugger forOpenGL was released on 12 March 2014.
There are multipleinterfaces andSoftware Development Kits available for Linux, and almost all of them arecross-platform. Most arefree and open-source software subject to the terms of thezlib 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 thePulseAudio project,Lennart Poettering, commented on this issue.[266]Physics engines, audio libraries, that are available as modules for game engines, have been available for Linux for a long time.[time needed][citation needed]
The bookProgramming Linux Games covers a couple of the available APIs suited for video game development for Linux, whileThe Linux Programming Interface covers theLinux kernel interfaces in much greater detail.
| Library | License | in | Language bindings | Back-ends | Description | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Name | Official | 3rd-party | Linux | Windows | OS X | Other | |||
 | Allegro | zlib License | C | Yes | Yes | Yes | Android,iOS | |||
| ClanLib | zlib License | C++ | Python,Lua,Ruby | Yes | Yes | — | — | |||
| GLFW | zlib License | C | — | Ada,C#,Common Lisp,D,Go,Haskell,Java,Python,Rebol,Red,Ruby,Rust | Yes | Yes | Yes | a small C library to create and manage windows with OpenGL contexts, enumerate monitors and video modes, and handle input | ||
| Grapple | LGPL-2.1+ | C | Yes | Yes | Yes | free software package for adding multiplayer support | ||||
| Nvidia GameWorks | Proprietary | Unknown | WIP | Yes | — | — | As the result of their cooperation with Valve, Nvidia announced a Linux port of GameWorks.[267] As of June 2014,PhysX, andOptiX have been available for Linux for some time. | |||
| OpenPlay | APSL | C | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | networking library authored by Apple Inc. | |||
 | Pygame | LGPL-2.1 | Python | Yes | Yes | Yes | build over SDL | |||
| RakNet | 3-clause BSD | C++ | C++,C# | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | PlayStation 3,iOS, ... | game network engine for multi-player | |
 | SDL | zlib License | C | C | C#,Pascal,Python,Gambas | EGL,Xlib,GLX? | GDI,Direct3D | Quartz,Core OpenGL? | PSP-stuff | a low-level cross-platform abstraction layer |
 | SFML | zlib License | C++ | C,D,Python,Ruby,OCaml,.Net,Go | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
 | wxWidgets | LGPL-like | C++ | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
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 thevideo game industry, but the film industry also uses such software for special effects. Some very few well known examples are
A significant share of the available middleware already runs natively on Linux, only a very few run exclusively on Linux.
Numeroussource code editors andIDEs are available for Linux, among which areVisual Studio Code,Sublime Text,Code::Blocks,Qt Creator,Emacs, orVim.
Amulti-monitor setup is supported on Linux at least byAMD Eyefinity &AMD Catalyst,Xinerama andRandR 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.[268]Civilization V is another example, it even runs on a"Kaveri" desktop APU in 3x1 portrait mode.[269]
The specifications of theMumble 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 is acompatibility 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.[270][271]
There are numerousemulators for Linux. There are also APIs, virtual machines, and machine emulators that provide binary compatibility:
Linux has been ported to several game consoles, including theXbox,PlayStation 2,PlayStation 3,PlayStation 4,[272]GameCube,[273] andWii which allows game developers without an expensivegame development kit to access console hardware. Several gaming peripherals also work with Linux.[274][275]
Linux gaming can be divided into a number of sub-categories.[276][277][278]
Libre gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizeslibre software, which often includes levels and assets as well as code.[279][self-published source?][280][irrelevant citation]
Native gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizes using only native games or ports and not using emulators or compatibility layers.[270][136][281][282]
DRM-free gaming is a form of Linux gaming that emphasizes boycottingDRM technologies. This can include buying games fromGOG.com, certainHumble Bundles oritch.io and avoidingSteam and similar services.[283][284]
Terminal gaming is the playing oftext-based games from within aconsole,[285] often programmed withinBash or using libraries such asncurses.[286][287]
Retrogaming is the playing of older games[288] using emulators such asMAME orDosbox,[289] compatibility layers such asWine andProton,[290]engine reimplementations andsource ports,[291] or even olderLinux distributions (includinglive CDs andlive USB, orvirtual machines),[292][293] original binaries,[53]and period hardware.[294]
A number of games can be played fromlive distributions such asKnoppix, allowing easy access for users unwilling to fully commit to Linux.[295] Certain live distros have specially targeted gamers, such asSuperGamer and Linux-Gamers.[296][297]
Browser gaming is the act of playingonline games through a web browser,[298] which has the advantage of largely being platform independent.[299][300] The same largely applies tosocial network games hosted on social media sites.[301] Older games were largely based onAdobe Flash,[302] while modern ones are mostlyHTML5.[303]
Cloud gaming is thestreaming of games from a central server onto a desktop client.[304] This is another way to play games on Linux that are not natively supported,[305][306] although some cloud services, such as the erstwhileGoogle Stadia,[307][308] are hosted on Linux[309][310] and Android servers.[311] GamingAnywhere is an open source implementation.[312]
Although less exploited than the reverse,[313] as few programs are Linux exclusive,[314] support does exist for running Linux binaries from Windows.[315][316] TheWindows Subsystem for Linux allows the running of both command line[317][318] and graphical Linux applications[319] fromWindows 10 andWindows 11.[320] An earlier implementation isCygwin,[321] started byCygnus Solutions and later maintained byRed Hat,[322] although it has limited hardware access[323] and required adaptation.[324] The use ofWine can even allow for the running of Windows games on Linux from Windows.[citation needed] The LibTAS library fortool assisted speedruns currently recommends WSL to run on Windows.[325]Naughty Dog meanwhile have used Cygwin to run old command-line tools for use in their game development,[326] which is a broader use for the platform.[327] 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,[328] though it has speciality uses.[329]
Originally derived fromLinux, theAndroid mobile operating system has a distinct and popular gaming ecosystem.[330] It has also been used as the base for several game consoles, such as theNvidia Shield Portable and theOuya.[331] Popular games includePokémon Go,Genshin Impact,League of Legends: Wild Rift,Dead Cells andCall of Duty: Mobile.[332] Certain games, such asMinecraft,Stardew Valley, andPapers Please, are available for both Android and desktop Linux.[333]
ChromeOS is anotherLinux derived operating system by Google for itsChromebooks,[334] and it too has a dedicated gaming ecosystem.[335][336] Partly owing to a lack of high end graphics hardware,[337][338] it is especially oriented towardscloud gaming[339] via services likeGeForce Now andXbox Cloud Gaming,[340][341] with models featuringNvidiaGPUs ultimately being cancelled.[342] Numerous games forAndroid have also been made compatible with ChromeOS,[343][344] as well as a standard Linux games,[345][346][347]Windows games viaWine orProton,[348][349][350] and withbrowser games also being popular.[351] A version ofSteam has been in development for ChromeOS,[352] with third party launchers also available such as the Heroic Games Launcher for theEpic Games Store.[353] Popular titles includeAmong Us,Genshin Impact,Alto's Odyssey,Roblox, andFortnite.[354][355][356][357] Skepticism remains for using ChromeOS and Chromebooks as gaming machines.[358][359][360] In August 2025, Google announced that they will end Steam for Chromebook support in 2026.[361]
Owing to a commonUnix-like heritage andfree software ethos, many games for Linux are also ported toBSDvariants[362] or can be run usingcompatibility layers such asLinuxulator.[363]BSDi had partnered withLoki Software to ensure its Linux ports ran onFreeBSD.[364] The Mizutamari launcher exists to facilitate running Windows games throughWine,[365] which can still be used standalone.[366] A 2011benchmark byPhoronix even found certain speed advantages over running games on Linux itself, comparingPC-BSD 8.2 toUbuntu 11.04.[367] Most BSD systems come with the same pack in desktop games as Linux.[368] Thepermissive licensing of BSD has also lead to its inclusion in thesystem software of severalgame consoles, such as theSony PlayStation line[369][370] and theNintendo Switch.[371]
HarmonyOS with custom kernel[372] andOpenHarmony-Oniro based operating systems distros[373] of these newer platforms has a dedicated gaming ecosystem with compatibilities with third-party Linux libraries by developers onLinux kernel subsystem such asmusl-libc ofC standard library that targets the Linux syscall and POSIX APIs compatibility for native compatible games as well as limited virtual machines such asAndroid-based sandboxed ones.[374][375]
A further niche exists for running games, either through ports orlxrun,[376] onSolaris[377] and derivatives such asOpenIndiana,[378]Darwin distributions such asPureDarwin,[379]Coherent,[380]SerenityOS,[381][382]Redox OS,[383][384]ToaruOS,[385]Xv6,[386]Fiwix,[387] or onMinix[388] andHurd based systems.[389] There has been some cross-pollination with purely proprietaryUnixderivatives,[390] such asAIX,[391]QNX,[392]Domain/OS,[393]HP-UX,[394]IRIX (see here),[395][396]Xenix,[397]SCO Unix,[398]Unixware,[399]Tru64 UNIX,[400][401]LynxOS (which features inbuilt Linux compatibility[402]),Ultrix,[403]OpenVMS,[404][405]z/OSUNIX System Services,[406] and evenA/UX.[407] The gamesDoom andQuake were developed byid Software onNeXTStep,[408] a forerunner of modernmacOS,[409] before being ported toDOS and back to numerous other Unix variants.[410] This involved reaching out to numerous Unix vendors to supply machines to use in the build and testing process.[411]
The developers wanted to play the game on a PDP-7, a minicomputer built by Digital Equipment Corp found in the corner of their building. But the game couldn't be run run on more modern (and hence costly) equipment, as computing resource was a precious commodity back then. By the summer of 1969 they had developed the new Unix OS that could run the computer game and in 1971 the first ever edition of Unix was released. A second edition of Unix arrived in December 1972 and was rewritten in the higher-level language C.
Apart from the text-processing and general system applications, the first edition of Unix included games such as blackjack, chess, and tic-tac-toe.
Some of our system components, the programming tools, became popular on their own among programmers, but we wrote many components that are not tools. We even developed a chess game, GNU Chess, because a complete system needs games too.
It would be nice to see some extra CD goodies included, such as Doom and Quake which are freely available elsewhere.
The X Windows version supplied on the accompanying Slackware CD-ROM in the /contrib directory is a complete hareware version. (The Red Hat distribution automatically installs the game during installation.) Although this version runs on 386 computers, it was built to run on high-end 486 systems. If you run DOOM on a 386 with a small amount of physical RAM, be prepared to be disappointed; the game will be too slow to be enjoyable. You need lots of horse-power to play DOOM under Linux.
This disk set contains a collection of well-known UNIX games (X is not required), such as Hangman, Dungeon, and Snake. The set also includes id Software's DOOM. (This game comes in two versions, one runs under X, and the other runs without X.) You may want to install this disk set just so you can try out DOOM.
DOOM - This exciting, though controversially gory, game is now ported to Linux as well. Complete with sound support and exquisite graphics, this Linux port does its DOS counterpart justice.
A classic, and very easy-to-follow SUID attack is the on the file /usr/lib/games/abuse/ abuse.console—part of a game that was distributed with Open Linux 1.1 and Red Hat 2.1. Yes, you read that right: Even a game can be a security risk to the system.
While still being the most elaborate, 100 Great Linux Games was far from the only shovelware set of games released for Linux, with several UNIX CD-ROM vendors such as Walnut Creek CDROM and Omeron Systems also seeking a piece of the action for themselves.
Linux Games (Linux) – Large collection of games, graphics, sound, and video applications, plus related development tools.
Formerly known as 'Linux Games++', this is a collection of the best entertainment and multimedia programs for the Linux operating system. It also contains multimedia development tools to assist you in creating your own games and multimedia applications for Linux. This is the latest issue, volume 4, and features a new and improved user interface. The CD contains packages for i386, DEC Alpha, and PPC platforms. This product is only available through Walnut Creek CD-ROM.
I did discover that Phobia III was later packaged as part of the Russian made LinuxCenter Games Collection Vol.2 compilation, a selection of Linux gaming files that was sold on either four CD-ROMs or a single DVD, but this too appeared to have been scrubbed from the internet.
According to White in a 2006 NewsForge interview, this forking caused Wine's development to slow down for years. "Historically, the main interest for volunteer Wine developers was games; that was the primary focus for most of Wine's early years (~1993–2000). When Transgaming started in 2001, they promised that they would release their DirectX improvements back to Wine. That cast a chill over games in Wine — why work on DirectX if all these improvements would 'soon' be coming back? Of course, no meaningful improvements have ever come back, which had the effect of creating a huge hole in what had been Wine's very best facility." By 2007, White says, "The Wine community had recovered from the hole created by Transgaming."
An excellent way to start using the Zaurus is by playing games. The best way to play games on the Zaurus is to install an emulator.
In short: indie games are thriving on Linux. The Humble Bundles have not only helped publicize the games, but have also helped prove that there is an untapped market for games on Linux, and that Linux users have no problem paying to support the developers who support them.
Linux users tended to be the most generous of these, leading Graham to suggest indie developers go after underserved markets. "If you support Mac and Linux as an independent developer you have a good chance of doubling your revenue," Graham said.
It uses a Linux-based emulator running on a 1GHz Jz4770 system-on-chip
Fortunately, the SNES Classic, like its predecessor, is basically a Nintendo emulator built on a Linux foundation, so it's not impossible to hack.
Let this look at the taken-apart Sega Genesis Mini remind you that, like other recent retro consoles, the SGM relies on a Linux-driven SoC.
But our OS is a hybrid, a Linux/Android hybrid that we've created in house. It's very solid, but it's very flexible, with Linux being the flexible part and Android being the solid part.
The Polymega is a software emulation-based console with a custom, Intel-backed motherboard running on Linux with a custom user interface.
Inside, the Evercade features a 1.2GHz Cortex A7 SoC running a customized Linux setup.
The custom Linux operating system that the EXP runs borrows from the VS home console.
You can also play through the terminal; Of course, it depends on your expectations and definition of the game! But if the goal is entertainment, the Linux terminal offers you funny and nostalgic choices.
The ever increasing popularity of social gaming is a definite threat to traditional forms of gaming. Social gaming comes in many forms, but an obvious example would be games that can be played on Facebook and other social networking websites where games and statistics can be viewed and shared online with a player's friends. This form of gaming is very limited as the games that can be played via social networks are usually targeted towards casual gamers and not the hardcore PC type. I don't see social gaming becoming an immediate threat to native gaming in the near future and will probably remain a casual space.
While Hedgewars is not a Linux-only game, I wanted to include it to show that even games can run under WSLg. While WSLg is likely not designed for gaming, the fact that you can play games using it shows the full depth of this new feature.
Blockout worked flawlessly, which surprised me as it is an extremely graphics-intensive application.
Can you run games? I have absolutely no idea, but I would guess the answer is no, because of the lack of hardware access. I did have a quick look for games like Neverball and Extreme Tux Racer, but they were nowhere to be found. When I follow this up, I'll look a bit harder, and maybe try compiling them. Really, it's kind of pointless, because you could just run the games in Windows.
If you have Windows 10, the easiest way is to use WSL 2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to run libTAS. Otherwise, you can install a Linux distribution (e.g. Ubuntu) on a virtual machine (e.g. using VirtualBox).
Mesa3D support should help developers using WSL 2 to port games to Linux, as well as allowing complex Unix CAD applications and other design tooling to use WSLg to work on Windows, without needing a full port. If you're worried about application support, we've yet to find anything that didn't work over WSLg. We've been able to run Ubuntu desktop tools, classic Unix games like Nethack's X11 port, Linux games from Steam, a host of different editors and IDEs, the LibreOffice productivity suite, as well as Microsoft's own Edge browser (using it to stream video and audio). The experience of using Linux applications on Windows is much like running Windows applications on macOS via Parallels.
If you're running KDE or Gnome, you already have a few simple games installed. I'm not a fan of either desktop – both strike me as bloated and obtuse – but their games packages are a nice way to pick up a dozen simple favorites such as Solitaire, Asteroids, and Tetris.
But the real strength of Linux over Solaris is the availability of games. Kay reveals, "If you've got a developer who's been doing heads-down coding for hours, they might want to take a break to use the latest greatest games," she chuckles. "If games are available on Linux now you can get them and use them on your new Solaris workstation. Managers like making sure that kind of thing is available to their creative end users."
For a small package, it was remarkably complete. Not only was it a standalone operating system, but came with a big box of goodies, such as a Bourne Shell, C compiler, assembler, debugger, DOS disk support, uucp, at least three editors, some games, mail, and around 200 of the most used and useful UNIX commands.
Among the ports already available we can find those of several popular video games such as Quake (I and II), Half-Life (since last January), Doom or VVVVVV, which complement own developments of the project's collaborators
While not yet having accelerated graphics and their Wayland support is still some ways out, they have ported some games/emulators to Redox OS already like DOSBox, Neverball, OpenTTD, ScummVM, 2048, and others.
I ported Helicopters, one of my games, just to show you how easy you can port games to it.
However, some teams put more energy into doing fun such as running games or playing music by connecting a speaker with their CPU. Group 6, to which I belonged, was a group of such people who loved entertainment, and we decided to run an OS as our team goal.
lxdoom-1.4.4
SDL officially supports Linux, Windows, BeOS, Mac OS, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, BSD/OS, Solaris and IRIX. SDL also works with Windows CE, AmigaOS, Atari, QNX, NetBSD, AIX, Tru64 UNIX and SymbianOS. However, those OSes are not yet officially supported. This means if you write your application using SDL, you can port it with minimal rework to all those OSes. SDL provides a portable way to write games and multimedia applications on every major OS currently in use.
The rest of the adventure went fairly well. He managed to build SDL and port over some games.
Remake of Battle Zone (1986) by Justin S. Revenaugh for Apollo Domain/OS, using the GPR graphics library. The game was later ported as XBZONE to X11.
Thankfully XENIX users weren't all business, and there are at least a few games available for the system. Although the IMG file from Archive.org wouldn't work, we found a working disk image from YouTube user MentionedBefore, who provides a link below his XENIX 2.3.1 VirtualBox tutorial. The disk comes with Worms (not the famous DOS game!), Rogue, Hack, and Trek, plus fortune and mathrec. (And there is a terminal-based version of Tetris somewhere out there!) Once installed, the executables for the games/amusements are found under /usr/games
Once a user is logged in, a window displays a number of icons that group some standard applications: Accessories, Applications, Preferences, Disks, Games, Shutdown, System Setup, Utilities, and Folder Maps. User can open any file or folder by double clicking on the appropriate icon.
The beast is not designed for Windows – its OS preference a version of real time Tru64 using current OpenGL for the platform. Real time versions of Tru64 might be used in a high end arcade game console, with workstations using a more "normal" Tru64 Unix with OpenGL. Quake and Quake 2 are native on Alpha Linux platforms.
Section 6: Games – The reference pages in this section describe the games that are available in the unsupported software subset.
This screenshot shows Facebook, looking rather broken, and DOOM in the front. id Software used NeXT systems to create the famous first person shooter. Relying on the Objective-C based development environment to create most of the tools, like the level editor.
Anyway, so it felt almost natural to do weird things. Here was a company where hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands depending on moods and stories, Nextstep was the development environment, and showing up to work and seeing something truly miraculous in John Carmack's office or the art room about once a week was the norm. So when I started calling various workstation vendors like IBM, Sun, SGI, and asking they send workstations in exchange for typing "make", no one was terribly surprised. It was just one more of the weekly miracles, and a lesser one at that. "Oh look. There's our game running in a window on 5 architectures and as many OS's. Huh."
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