For decades after Linux's early '90s debut, even the hardest of
hardcore boosters for the open source operating system had to admit that
it couldn't really compete in one important area of software: gaming.
"Back in around 2010 you only had two choices for gaming on Linux," Che
Dean, editor of Linux gaming news site
Rootgamer recalls. "Play the few open source titles,
Super Tux Kart and so on, or use WINE to play your Windows titles."
Ask anyone who was involved in the relatively tiny Linux gaming scene
before this decade, and you'll get a similar response. "For a long
time, it was just me porting games, and I did my best, but an industry
that has an employee pool of one isn't a big industry," said veteran
Linux programmer Ryan C. Gordon, who has worked on over 75 Linux gaming
ports over the last 15 years. "It was slow for years on end with only a
few decent commercial releases becoming available,"
Gaming on Linux site editor Liam Dawe agreed.
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