Online gaming is becoming something of a standard and there quite a few options available for those in the Linux universe. Some are more popular than others but there is nothing wrong with knowing the alternatives as you can check availability from amongst them or compare pricing. So let’s look at some of the popular gaming platforms on Linux.
1. Steam
Steam is currently the most popular gaming platform on Linux and on PC in general. Steam is a digital distribution platform that incorporates multiplayer and social networking services. With Steam, you have access to an extensive catalog of AAA and indie games free to play or available for purchase. Steam allows you to purchase, download and install games easily on computers. It also comes with some impressive features such as friend lists and groups, cloud saving, and in-game chat and voice functionality. To install Steam go to this link to download the latest .deb available. Steam is also available via your browser.
2. GOG.com
GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform service for video games and films. GOG.com makes available a host of DRM-free digital games for multiple platforms including Linux. Linux support was added to GOG.com in 2014 for Ubuntu and Linux Mint particularly. You can purchase and download video games from GOG.com. With GOG.com, you do not need to install a desktop client to download games even though one is available currently.
With GOG connect, gamers with purchases from Steam may also claim most of these games as part of their GOG library. Games on GOG are quite cheap usually around $10 or less. Visit GOG.com to play a host of your games on Linux. A Linux version of our client is planned eventually, but an expected release date right is not available right now, nonetheless, it is available via your favorite browser. Visit GOG.com to play your favorite games.
3. Lutris
Lutris is an open-source gaming platform for GNU/Linux. It allows you to gather and manage (install, configure and launch) all your games acquired from any source, in a single interface.
The developers say “Our goal is to support every game which runs on Linux, from native to Windows games (via Wine) to emulators and browser games.” Lutris comes with the following features
- Manage your Linux games, Windows games, emulated console games, and browser games
- Launch your Steam and Desura games
- Community-written installers to ease up your games installation
- More than 20 emulators installed automatically or in a single click, providing support for most gaming systems from the late ’70s to the present day
- Download and play libre and freeware games
And the developers plan to add more. The following gaming platforms are available on Lutris;
Native Linux, Windows, Steam (Linux and Windows) , MS-DOS, Arcade machines, Amiga computers, Atari 8 and 16-bit computers and consoles, Browsers (Flash or HTML5 games).
Commodore 8 bit computers, SCUMM based games and other point and click adventure games, Magnavox Odyssey, Videopac, Mattel Intellivision, NEC PC-Engine Turbographx 16, Supergraphx, PC-FX, Nintendo NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Gamecube and Wii, Sega Master System, Game Gear, Genesis, Dreamcast, SNK Neo Geo, Neo Geo Pocket, Sony PlayStation, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PSP and Z-Machine games like Zork
How To Install Lutris?
For Debian –
echo "deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/strycore/Debian_8.0/ ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lutris.list
wget -q http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/strycore/Debian_8.0/Release.key -O- | sudo apt-key add -For Ubuntu –
ver=$(lsb_release -sr); if [ $ver != "14.04" -a $ver != "16.10" -a $ver != "15.10" -a $ver != "16.04" ]; then ver=16.04; fiecho "deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/strycore/xUbuntu_$ver/ ./" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/lutris.list
wget -q http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/strycore/xUbuntu_$ver/Release.key -O- | sudo apt-key add -After setting up the repository –
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install lutris4. Gamersgate
Gamersgate is a Sweden-based digital game distribution platform that offers a host of games and strategy guides for a couple of desktop platforms including Linux via download. It offers over 6000 games from Bethesda, SEGA, Ubisoft Electronic Arts, and a host of others. Gamerstage offers DRM-free games and downloadable content. Gamersgate is available via your favorite browser. Visit Gamersgate to play your favorite games.
5. itch.io
itch.io is a simple way to find and share indie games online for free. It’s a marketplace for hosting indie games with a pay what you want pricing model. Anyone can quickly upload their game and then customize the game’s page. The itch.io app, itch, lets you effortlessly download and run games and software from itch.io.
All of your downloads are kept in a single place and are automatically updated. Access your collections and purchases, or browse for new games via the in-app browser. Download the latest itch.io.deb file from here. To enjoy automatic updates, it is recommended that you add the package repository instead. Add the GPG key first with
curl https://dl.itch.ovh/archive.key | sudo apt-key add -Add itch.io to your software sources.
ITCHIO_DEB="deb https://dl.bintray.com/itchio/deb {distribution} main"
echo $ITCHIO_DEB | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/itchio.listNote. Replace {distribution} with one of the appropriate code name: for example xenial for Ubuntu 16.04After having successfully added the package repository, installing should be as simple as running the following command from the terminal.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install itch
Conclusion
So, you want to play games on your Linux machine, these are some of the very best gaming platforms available. Linux may not be the greatest gaming platform but from giants like Steam to specialists like itch.io and a “play it all” Lutrix, I hope most of your gaming needs will be provided by them. Share your thoughts with us in the comments.