Happy New Year Everyone! To start this year in a good shape, I have decided to take a look at all the major PC titles coming up in 2015 and list up what we expect to get on Linux. We start today with the Simulations / management games… before moving to other genres in the coming days. I am taking for reference the long list established by PC Gamer to look for confirmed ports and benchmark how many games Linux gets versus Windows in each category. Knowing there were 24 Sim Games listed for Windows, let’s see how many we should get on Linux…

Kerbal Space Program / SQUAD

This space simulator is already available for linux but still in Early Access. The final version of the game is due in 2015.

Prison Architect / Introversion Software

The guys from Introversion have always been big supporters of Linux (all their previous games made it to our platform) and Prison Architect is no expection. It is currently in alpha, with a final release due sometimes in 2015.

Clockwork Empires / Gaslamp Games

We know this colony management sim will be coming for Linux at some point but it’s delayed versus the Windows and Mac versions

Castle Story / Sauropod Studio

This game got mixed reviews so far but it’s anyway already available on Linux as an early access game on Steam.

World of Diving / Vertigo Games

It’s been confirmed to come on Linux with optional Occulus Rift Support. Do not expect it before late 2015, while you can already try the game on Early Access on Steam.

Cities: SkyLines / Paradox Interactive

Paradox Interactive has been another great supporter for us and this game is no exception, with a Linux version planned for the release window in Q1-Q2.

Factorio / Wube Software

A factory simulator where you can automate about every task you need to accomplish. It is planned for Linux in 2015. And available as an alpha build on their website for now.

Catlateral damage / Chris Chung

A Cat simulator where your goal is to vandalize the environment! And yes, cats are coming to Linux too. With their claws. The release date not confirmed yet, but expect something probably during the first half of 2015.

European Ship Simulator / Excalibur

Excalibur has decided to fill the gap of good boat simulators, with European Ship Simulator. It will be coming to Linux as well, and is now in early access on Steam.

Maia / Machine Studios

Another game where you have to startup a colony on a foreign planet. The concept seems to be very appealing these days… it will be coming to Linux in 2015.

From The Depths / Brilliant Skies Ltd

If you fancy building huge battleships and taking them to combat, this may be just the right game for you. It should be coming on Linux this year and is currently on Early Access on Steam.

RimWorld / Tynan Sylvester

Another sci-fi colony sim, inspired by Dwarf Fortress, that will be coming to Linux as well. It is currently Greenlight on Steam and in Alpha, and uses Unity.

Tech Executive Tycoon / WEB Gaming Entertainment

A linux version is planned, and the release date is set for June 2015.

Tabletop Simulator / Berserk Games

This simulator can let you play a ton of board games and even invent you own with your own rules. Kind of an Open World concept applied to board games. Currently on early access on Steam, planned for Linux and other platforms in 2015.

Big Pharma

According to the developers themselves (our source on this), there is a fairly good chance Big Pharma (a management simulation of a Big Pharma company) might come to Linux actually:

I cannot confirm 100% but it is very likely there will be Linux version, yes. It will probably be a little bit after the Windows version, once we’ve got the major bugs ironed out.

American Truck Simulator

EDIT from Jan 31st: SCS Software has just announced that they will try to make it available at the same time on all three platforms (Windows, Mac and Linux), so now we have our confirmation that this is coming to Linux after all.

Reaching this point means that we will be able to maintain and update all editions based on shared codebase, making the probability of American Truck Simulator appearing on all three platforms simultaneously very high.

Sim Games Probably NOT Coming for Linux:

They have been announced for PC, but lack any information regarding Linux support (or are already confirmed not to target Linux, for some of them):

• Rollercoaster Tycoon World / Atari Inc. Planned for an early 2015 release, only on Windows for now. I would be very surprised if this even gets a Linux version later on.
• Star Trek Excalibur / Excalibur Team : only planned on Windows for now.
• Autocraft / Alientrap : No information regarding a potential Linux version at this stage.
• Viscera Cleanup Detail / Alientrap : No Linux version at this stage for this Janitor simulator because of the engine used (Unreal Engine Development Kit).
• Space Engineers / Keen Software House : for Windows and XboxOne, and considering other platforms at a later stage.
• Cosmonautica / Chasing Carrots : No Mac version nor Linux version coming due to Engine limitations.
• Take On Mars / Bohemia Interactive : This simulation where you establish a new colony on Mars has just been released, yet there are no plans for Linux at this stage. Not surprising since Bohemia has so far declined to port their previous titles for Linux.
• Baking Simulator / Samoates Games : Unity-based, but only planned for now for Windows and Mac. Who knows, if we make enough noise, we may get a Linux version later on…

Overall, a pretty good count of them ARE coming to Linux in this category of games. More than half of the Windows titles announced! As you can see, most simulations these days are handled by indies (since AAA productions have moved to other, more lucrative genres) and this explains the better than average Linux support. You will see that other genres show a much worse ratio of ports… but I wanted to start on a positive note.