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Epic Games will soon be champions of Linux gaming for sure. They have done a big blog post on Linux support in Unreal Engine 4.

They re-confirm in the blog post that Linux is to be a true first-class citizen to them with native tools to create games on Linux, and to have the Windows & Mac tools enhanced to make targeting Linux easier too.

QuoteHowever, if we want Linux to take off in the game development industry at large, we need a seamless integration with existing workflows of game companies, so that costs of shipping a Linux version of the game are minimized.


Epic seem to understand the situation very well and it's really great to see them put all this into an official blog post on it. I completely agree and I am sure you will too, for Linux gaming to be a success we don't just need native tools we need tools on other platforms to have fantastic support to build for Linux too.

QuoteHaving SteamOS in mind, we consciously limited ourselves to the x86-64 architecture with the officially supported way of developing being cross-compilation from Windows (Mac OS toolchain will be added in the future).

That's not explicity clear, but it sounds like at least the tools will be 64bit only. Something to bear in mind.

They even give a shout out by name to the developers who mostly helped bring the Unreal Editor to Linux before they themselves were even able to which was kind.

They also mention some points which they don't have time for themselves like creating a benchmark for Phoronix Test Suit.

Final bit:
QuoteAnd of course, we encourage the UE4 community to use the opportunity to beat us again and be the first to ship an Unreal Engine 4 Linux game!

The challenge has been set, so who will be first?

A blog post like this is rather nice to wake up to, more like this please Epic. It sounds like they may soon be the best commercial AAA grade game engine for Linux. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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9 comments

Sabun May 20, 2014
They seem like a class act! I hope it continues to get better, and I really can't wait to see what games others will bring us.

It would be really sad though, if we had developers do only Mac and Win publishing and give the old excuse of "We need time to test/insufficient resources, and will only port at the end" like so many do with Unity (even though it's simply a click away).
Hank Wiseman May 20, 2014
I can't seem to find a link to the original blog post in this article, could you add it please?
Liam Dawe May 20, 2014
Woops added the actual link in now.
Bomyne May 20, 2014
I can see it now. In ten years, kids won't even know what Windows is because all PC gaming will be done on Linux.

At least i hope so.
Mike May 20, 2014
It's so great to see news like this all the time. If someone told be 2 years ago that a company like Epic would be giving so much support to Linux, I probably would have laughed in their face, it's incredible how far things have come since the release of the Steam client.

My main concern now is that if SteamOS and Linux gaming as a whole don't take off, then all this will remain as a fad or forgotten part of history where everyone got all excited for Linux for a while. As each day goes by though and another big company is backing Linux gaming, that seems less and less likely and the prospect of Linux becoming the OS of choice for gamers is growing.
Eike May 20, 2014
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That's... erm... epic! :D
Lordpkappa May 21, 2014
Quoting: MikeIt's so great to see news like this all the time. If someone told be 2 years ago that a company like Epic would be giving so much support to Linux, I probably would have laughed in their face, it's incredible how far things have come since the release of the Steam client.

My main concern now is that if SteamOS and Linux gaming as a whole don't take off, then all this will remain as a fad or forgotten part of history where everyone got all excited for Linux for a while. As each day goes by though and another big company is backing Linux gaming, that seems less and less likely and the prospect of Linux becoming the OS of choice for gamers is growing.

I don't think so, now we have a solid base to grow up, all major 3d engine now support Linux and this is a sign of the huge job thath Valve has done.
Niks Jun 4, 2014
<a title="just try" href="http://cdn3.designbyhumans.com/design/216/4ndl_u0j-640x480.jpg">Cool post</a>
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