Loki files for bankruptcy
Linux gaming specialist goes under
Loki Software, which specialised in porting existing PC games to Linux, has filed for bankruptcy. According to a report on LinuxPorts the company owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to Activision and other publishers it has worked with. The company's problems are perhaps unsurprising as Linux gaming is something of a niche market. Most Linux gamers have a Windows or dual boot system to play on because of the tiny number of games which actually make it to Linux, and as the Linux port usually comes out months after the original Windows version, most people have already bought the game by the time Loki releases it and are loath to pay out another $30-50 for a seperate Linux version. While developing Linux ports for publishers to include bundled with their own Windows products might have worked, paying those publishers hefty licensing fees to sell stand-alone Linux versions clearly hasn't.