Porting To Linux: Not Worth the Fight
I was surfing the Ubuntu Forums because I couldn't sleep and ran across a thread trying to build support to port Gears of War to Linux PC. The original poster got this reply:
John,Sorry but Microsoft is the publisher of Gears of War. They decide what
platforms it goes on.There will be Linux support for Unreal Tournament 3 however.
Mark Rein,
Epic Games, Inc.Visit us at http://www.epicgames.com
Well not what I was hoping for but at least it clarifies that there will indeed be a native port of Unreal Tournament 3 for Linux.
This is the reply I typed up but decided would be better spent as a blog post.
I didn't expect any other response. MS owns the Gears of War IP -- there's a growing market share of Apple users willing to pay for games on their system. A lot of linux users either dual-boot for gaming already or aren't really gamers. It's not cost-effective to even think of porting the gaming to Linux having already dropped cash to port it to Windows and OSX.
You need to send letters to Crytek and Valve. Valve who refuses to port Steam or HL2 (which does not have DX dependency -- unfortunately I hear CS:S does). And Crytek who just released a ridiculously pretty DX9/10 engine that bound to get licensed and also not multi-platform.
With high development costs you have to start at the bottom. Developers have little incentive to port engines that don't already support Linux. Unreal 3 and the Doom 3 engine are the only ones I know that have native linux builds. Doom 3 is dated by current gen standards and Unreal 3 has essentially missed the boat for a lot of the big titles (Mass Effect, Rainbow Six: Vegas, etc.).
Once you have an engine to pick you have to prove that the customer base is actually out there. With sales of Unreal Tournament 3 as dismal as they are, developers aren't receiving that message right now.
It could be fleshed out a bit but the general idea is there. The gaming industry is in a pinch. The fall of the console age can't come soon enough.