Games have become the topic of late. Osmos developers wonder
whether there is enough market share for GNU/Linux game ports to
be worth the cost, but they aren't the only ones. It's been
discussed time and time again, is a GNU/Linux -- or really any
Unix or Unix-like -- port worth it? The
"
Humble Indie Bundle"
where you could "name your own price" for a
collection of games -- games available on multiple platforms -- shows
that not only is there a market for GNU/Linux ports, but apparently
a whole quarter of the market.
The chart to the left shows that "Linux" users gave a quarter of the
revenue, Windows users gave -- of course -- a little over two quarters
of the revenue, and Mac users gave a little under a quarter of the revenue.
And two of the included games aren't even available for GNU/Linux.
This not only shows that there is a market for GNU/Linux game ports,
but that people may also be willing to pay more to get one.
Also, four of the games are pseudo-Free Software, Free Software games are
another appeal for GNU/Linux users, but -- while the two that are not
available for GNU/Linux are only just starting to liberate their games and
with one being proprietary -- this also shows that GNU/Linux users are
willing to play proprietary games as well.
So, are GNU/Linux ports possible? Most definitely,
id Software
has ported every
Doom
and
Quake
game as well as
Enemy Territory : Quake Wars
to GNU/Linux, they have plans to port id Tech
5 to GNU/Linux as well.
The Penumbra Series
of games all have GNU/Linux ports,
World of Goo,
Lugaru,
Savage 1 and 2,
and
Osmos,
all have GNU/Linux ports.
And are GNU/Linux ports worth it? Do we have just as much market as Mac?
We think so. And it's time developers gather the facts, and make an
intelligent decision to port or not to port only based on facts.
Please tell us what you think.
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