What would help you to switch to Linux for gaming consumption?

Definitely unbuntu is pretty good, and really I don't feel like supporting MS. I use a MacBook for work, so the only reason I own a WinPC is videogames, would love not have to pay for that licence.

I just need BF4 on linux, wouldn't look back ever again.. but yeah, that ain't happening.

When it just so happens to be already installed on the PC that I happen to be buying at the moment? Oh wait, Windows does that.

99% compatibility with my current game library and 100% compatibility with all future releases.

I run Windows exclusively for the video game support. If it was a given that all games going forward were on Linux (with full comparability/performance) I could move over and use Wine etc. for older games.

linux is great. i just need the games and graphics support there. but yeah, i occasionally run ubuntu off a usb stick just because it's such a pleasing OS.

How about some games.

Games.

That's it.

Games would be a great place to start. My family used Linux back in the day (well we went through a Linux phase that lasted a whopping one month) and the one thing I remembered hating hit for was that all my PC games didn't work on it. Don't get me wrong the games on it were kinda fun but Tux Type can only get you so far.

If I could play my Bethesda games with mods that would be just peachy.

define games? Triple A titles, Indie titles. Because there are games on Linux now and on Steam and Desura. Define what you bluntly and vaguely said.

Did the games not work because you didn't know how to use wine? Or you had a idea of what wine did, but didn't want to bother learning how-to use it. But over all more Triple A title support is what you want.

Yeah games would be great.

Agreed. I really like Linux. Granted, the "newbie" distros like Ubuntu or Mint, but I like that almost everything about it is 100% free. Forever. But besides school/work and looking at stuff on the internet, I use my PC mainly for games. And Linux just doesn't have that AAA-title support right now (or any time soon), so I've never switched entirely.

I did run Crunchbang Linux on my old (and only at the time) laptop for about a year until I got a new one with Windows 7. I found it fairly easy to adapt, for the most part.

I'm gaming on Linux. My gaming rig dual boots Ubuntu 12.10 and Windows 7 and I use Linux for all the games that are on it, and Windows for the rest.

As far as gaming choice, there's indie games and that's it. If you check the Linux section on Steam, it's only indie games, like Runner2 and The Cave. That's fine because I play those kinds of games way more now.

The only thing I ever wanted from Linux gaming-wise was Steam (for ease of installation and the cloud saves, and just quality control standards in general), and now I have it so I game on Linux way more than before. The Ubuntu Software Center makes it easy to install games also, and when something is on there but not on Steam, I can resort to that.

Before these two services, games were always such a pain to install and you could never be sure if it would run or crash on you. And finding them was impossible. Everything about Linux gaming is way easier now. I can remember the steps it took to get games like Prey and Quake Wars running on Linux. Everything needed command line-fu back then. Now it's on par with Windows and MacOS.

More than the Steambox, I'm excited about the Valve Linux distro that the Steambox will be running. I hope they release it separately. I think it's just going to be Ubuntu with all the unnecessary stuff taken out.

hmm, what would it take to make me switch? probably when microsoft stops supporting windows 7.

@omegus said:

all of the games

@omegus: Lol I'm talking super old Linux, as in like 10 years ago Linux. I was referring to as a kid it made me mad I couldn't play all my computer games. I don't think Wine existed back then and even if it did I sure as hell wouldn't have known about it.

Even so it wouldn't make my ideal platform if I have to emulate everything I want to play.

Simple. The ability to play all my current and future! Steam games.

it would have to be user friendly. im computer competent but not an expert, i hate dealing with even minor bullshit that pops up. user friendly is key.

I wish they would bring the games over to steam that do have working linux versions. It is pathetic that those versions exist elsewhere but not on steam itself. One prominent example is Shatter, but there are lots more.

Ummm... Title support, I guess. More importantly, they would have to not be available on Windows. I have no desire whatsoever to do this, so all of the games would need to move.

Games that support it obviously, and support it well.

If all the games that work on Windows worked on Linux then I might consider it. I also have no reason that I can think of to move away from Windows 7 to Linux instead.

I have Windows.

Windows is pretty great guys.

Well, getting modern graphics rendering technology to work/get licensed on Linux would be a big step in the right direction.

For example, consider how many games make/made use of UE3:

The first Unreal Engine 3 game shipped for Linux was on the 19th of December, 2012. That game was Dungeon Defenders. Considering that the entire engine was actually ported years ago and simply not allowed to ship indicates that there are other barriers to Linux's entry to the mainstream of PC gaming than 'simply' code.

That last Painkiller game is also coming soon apparently.

The day there is no difference between using windows or using Linux is the day I would switch. I want to be able to do everything 100% reliably the same as I do now and what ever I will do.

Quoting for added effect.

To completely switch over Win7 needs to expire and all future games should support Linux. Before that I'll be fine with dual-boot. Dota 2 on Linux would be a good start though.

More compatible games and applications, and i'm sold.

Every new game would have to come out on Linux. As soon as there is one game I want to play and can't because of my OS, then I'm no longer interested in that OS. Besides, Windows has gotten so much better since the XP days. I switched to OSX for my laptop about four years ago because I was fed up with XP for day to day stuff, but my gaming computer ran Windows 7 (now 8) and it's really solid. I guess what I'm saying is that there isn't anything about Windows right now that would push me away from Windows and toward Linux. Windows already has the 100% game support I want.

More games. That is literally all I need to finally get rid of Windows off my desktop entirely. I already use Linux or Mac OS (on my laptop) for everything other than games now because Windows is so terrible and they are both so much better and more efficient to use.

Most Linux distros are as easy, if not easier than Windows to use now so nothing on that front. Mint deals with updates better than Windows does these days and has tons of really nice functionality built it.

Probably nothing. I have absolutely no reason to switch from windows to Linux Why would I? Windows does everything I need, and after trying out Ubuntu, I didn't see any noticeable improvements.

I would first need a reason to switch away from Microsoft. Currently there is nothing about Windows that bothers me enough to make me switch OS's.

Games. I'd play Dota 2 on Linux or Mac if there were versions.

I would switch to Linux on the day that all Windows-based software past, present and future runs on the OS with as little or less effort than in Windows, provided that Linux was also more stable than Windows, provided a better user experience than Windows, and offered more functionality than Windows.

75% of PC games need to be released on Linux from this point on for me to consider switching over.

Actually to be honest I would never switch over because I'd be having to learn an entire new OS for the ability to run less applications than I can now and lose the ability to play many, many games unless I dual boot.

I've not had any issues with Windows since XP (which I hated, even Vista was better than that pos) so I can't say Linux entices me in any way. Windows 7 and 8 have both been solid as a rock.

I like dicking about with computers and trying new software but with Linux I just can't be bothered, there's nothing to be gained as much as I like the penguin.

The way I see it switching to Linux is like switching to Windows Phone from iOS or Android, hooray, I now have less apps, less games, and less chance of seeing the next big mobile apps or games appear on my device. Hooray?

If we could have Steam (as it is now on Windows) on Ubuntu with game support and extended app support for the most popular programs, I would switch over to Ubuntu in a minute.

Every game I own should be playable. There no real incentive for me as a customer to switch, when everything I get as return is that less games work then before. It's not like windows is unusable and I'm in desperate need to switch to another system.

Its kind of like with different consoles, only that the hardware stays the same. So you only can win me over with platform exclusives and well executed multiplatform titles.

Nothing.

@sooty Ios and android have way more apps and games then windows phone.

So it seems the majority of the responses is that if the herd moves you move. Playonlinux is a front end app for wine allowing people to install windows apps with doing all that configuration. I'm know enough about computers to get by, I learned over the 3 years as situations arose on what to do. Ubuntu has made great strides to make the is dumbed down enough so the masses could have an easy transition. Yeah they don't have billions of dollars to buy their way through every issue they have. I personally stopped playing anything by EA as they have ruined the industry by forcing consumers to pay for content that should have been in the games in the first place. Opengl has proven that it is just as be just as good if not better then directx .plus opengl is updated by game companies and not a single system API.

The thing to get me to use Linux is if every game, piece of software, and just about anything else i could think of wanting to use on a pc could work on it with all the perks linux has.

Won't happen and yeah that's kinda a tough bargain, so basicly nothing will make me use it and i don;t understand why id consider using it.Granted this is from someone who has very little knowledge on Linux so if someone could tell me why you or someone use's it id be happy to listen and understand.

That's exactly what he said.

Well, it would have to support all (or most) of my games. I'd also need a very good reason to move away from Windows, which I'm very pleased with at the moment.

I have absolutely no reason to switch to Linux. Why in the world would I want to?

@M_Shining with Linux you have options because it is free you can decide to change your OS, window manager, GUI. The community has been amazing to me and people who I have helped switch over.

Developing on Linux is awesome any app I make in SDL and opengl will work on every platform.....except xbox360.

Already 18% of all PC's in china ship Ubuntu and the numbers are still growing. Developing on Linux means no licensing fees and creating competitive prices.

So as a developer on windows you buy windows 8 pay for the licensing fee for directX then if you get on the windows store or Xbox live you are now giving M$ 30% for the first until you make 750,000$ then after its lowered to 20% take. Now this if you havent already spent enough on advertising to make sure your game sells. After all is said and done you now have to learn opengl and SDL anyways just to get your game or app on any other platform. Linux is everywhere.

That's why I feel bad for people who pay to get viruses. "Catch a fish for a man and feed him for a day, Teach him to fish and feed him for life." M$ has made people lazy, but I guess its a great tactic to make the masses complacent and they will never question. Rock solid OS alright.

I'd like to see media (video / audio), flash, and drivers developed to the point they are reliable. Maybe not completely throwing out the UI every couple of years for a buggier one would be nice too? I run a Linux box on my TV (and steam is installed). But a lot of PC type or console type tasks just kind of have issues. Like, steam will suggest a video driver updates, and there will be one available.

Great right? No it kills the machine and you have to reinstall or do a text mode recovery with a 3rd party tool. When taken under a controlled environment, it can be fine (or if its on a server). On a day to day basis Linux is kind of junk, and more of a ends to entertainment (if you are into the alt OS side) than it is a advantage.

Netflix and stuff like that would need to be sorted out too. I'm not hooking a powerful gaming PC to a television just to play random indie games and a couple AAAs. On its own Linux introduces such radical incompatibility I'm not even sure how you would build a library of titles. Windows would have to cost 1000/license to not be worthwhile.

I actually really prefer Linux to Windows, but I'm a computer engineer so I'm clearly a little biased. Nonetheless, I just need games. That's all. I want to have the same god damn experience as on Windows, and if that's possible, I'll choose Linux every god damn time. Also, this may have been said, but Linux is REALLY easy to get started with, and you can run it off the disk. Just try it.

Some sort of obvious benefit. I dunno, been using windows for awhile. I don't get viruses, and I don't pay for antivirus. All my games work, the internet runs fine, I have a browser I like which is fully functional, and the things I need to do for class are easy enough. I'm not anti-linux or anything, but it could be the simplest thing in the world and I'd still have exactly zero incentive to switch. Perhaps I don't understand the benefits, but I really doubt it would make a difference. I'm content where I am. Why manufacture need?

I sometime played Starcraft on my mint and I used it for video/photo editing because it seems to tax my PC less.

But overall, tho i have Linux installed, i mainly stick to window and will do so unless I can at least install and play every game using wine, never mind native-support for most games because that will not be coming in the near future.