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LiquidSky, the 'PC in the Cloud' gaming service will support Linux

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During GDC at the AMD event, a LiquidSky employee stated that their gaming client that streams games to you will have a Linux client.

You can see the video here, at around 44 minutes the LiquidSky presenter talks about how it works and what platforms it will support and Linux is directly mentioned as being supported.

It's interesting, but to use such a service you will need a very good connection. It's a little like in-home streaming on Steam. You're essentially renting some time from their servers to do all of the rendering of the game, while you still do all the input and actual gaming.

I'm not personally too interested, but the whole idea behind it does have a lot of merit. People on low-spec devices having the ability to run top-end games. It's a nice idea, so hopefully it works well.

I've requested Beta access to one day get a report on it and when doing so, I needed to pick a server close to me. Thankfully, it seems they have servers spread across the world, so it's not like it will be streaming a game half-way across the world.

It seems their service will be powered by AMD's Vega GPUs and they will have a free account with adverts, if you don't want to pay monthly for it. It's currently in Beta, but it seems they are a little overwhelmed with requests (1.4 million they claim testing right now) so it might be some time before I can check it out.

I wouldn't be surprised if a service like this eventually becomes a big hit. We've seen music, film and TV streaming (all of which even I pay for) for a monthly payment on-demand, so why not gaming? You could argue "but then you don't own it", but then we go down the rabbit hole of - if you ever really own the software you buy and so on. That's an argument for another day I think.

Thanks for letting me know Michał. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: AMD, Apps, Beta, Upcoming
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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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neowiz73 Feb 28, 2017
seems quite nice if you only use a low to mid range laptop/desktop and want access to high-end games on a high-end system.
Linas Feb 28, 2017
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You know, that does sound attractive to me. If it performs well and I don't have to spend a €1000 on a new computer to play new games, I might just go for it.

It is basically a remote Windows computer (judging by the description, not a customer yet), so mixed feelings there. If they actually had a Linux machine, it would be a much easier choice for me.
Duckeenie Feb 28, 2017
Things like this are awesome for Linux because it's theoretically platform agnostic and removes the need for WINE and DirectX on the client.
tuubi Feb 28, 2017
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People make noise about the input lag and video quality with in-home streaming. I wonder what kind of miracles they expect when it all happens over the Internet.
Cybolic Feb 28, 2017
Their Linux support is currently limited to claiming that it runs in Wine. Last I tried (a few weeks ago) that meant it didn't actually work in Wine, but worked decently in Wine Staging. So far, I'm not impressed, but I do wish that it becomes a proper, stable option for Linux users eventually.
hardpenguin Feb 28, 2017
The idea is pretty cool, although I preferred the OnLive execution - a user-friendly client with tens of games ready to run on demand with a single click and an affordable subscription model (much like Netflix). I used it quite a lot since it ran seamlessly on Wine. It was an easy way to try games such as Assassin's Creed 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Saints Row 3, Borderlands on Linux. And it was 2011, before Steam for Linux was announced!



Sadly, the infrastructure turned out to be too expensive to maintain and they had huge financial problems, eventually got bought by Sony who used their cloud gaming tech in their own products.

For Liquidsky, you have to already own games on other platforms to run them - they "only" offer a powerful machine accessible from any place on the internet. Even though they are kind enough to offer Linux support, it does not look as much tempting to me :(
feyerbrand Feb 28, 2017
I miss OnLive, I hope that this new option can replace my missing gaming piece.
Linas Feb 28, 2017
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Quoting: CybolicTheir Linux support is currently limited to claiming that it runs in Wine...

That's not good enough at all. By that logic Microsoft Office supports Linux. Unless they actually put some effort into it, I will not be putting money into their pockets.
M_Klekowicki Feb 28, 2017
No problem. Happy to help:)
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