It’s been a while I did not post any article, since February was relatively quiet so far. But that’s not to say there were no news at all… so let’s wrap ’em little news into a single post, for good measure.

First as mentioned before, Dying Light was released a couple of weeks back, and while it was great to see a first class citizen port for Linux, at the same time at the Windows version, its performance is so bad that it can’t even run correctly with a GTX 980 at this stage. That’s indeed very disappointing, so you’d be advised to stay away from that game until the devs from Techland fix it (which they are apparently doing).

The same guys from Techland (or whoever is working for/with them) have fixed the major loot bugs in the Linux Dead Island port, and it should now be a more fun experience to try to survive in Dying Light’s prequel.

You know there’s a ton of stuff regarding the Steam Machines coming in the upcoming GDC in early March (hopefully Valve will alleviate some of the concerns I have about them), as well as several keynotes related to GLnext (the actual content being mostly secret at this stage) during the GDC. To that point Eurogamer had a decent article comparing SteamOS to Windows 10. While it may seem like an unfair comparison, they will effectively be two systems considered by gamers, competing for attention.

We have also heard that Crytek will show off its engine on different platforms, including Linux. There’s still a lack of games out on Linux using that engine, but it’s somewhat reassuring to know they are still working on it. After all, Star Citizen needs it, and Linux support is planned.

Feral is apparently working on several ports for Linux and one of the latest clues seem to indicate with good confidence that it will be Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. That’s an old game I remember playing on the original Xbox - from Headfirst studios if my memory is correct (Hi Andrew if you read this!). This was one of the few successful adaptations of the world of Lovecraft’s novels, with numerous spine-chilling moments. I wonder if the port will be a “remastered” version or a simple conversion. We will see. Feral has been pretty solid so far in their ports, with XCom and Empire Total War. Feral is hiring more Linux devs in London, by the way…

Speaking about porting companies, it seems that Aspyr is enjoying some relatively good sales figures, with sales on Linux being between 25 to 50% of Mac’s numbers. Not bad indeed - that should continue to encourage them in their efforts.

Don’t forget to come back on the recent articles covering the upcoming FPS and Simulation games for Linux in 2015, as some of them are nearing completion and should be released soon. I have a few more articles in the pipes for other genres as well, so stay tuned !