EA will be attending Ubuntu Developer Summit

[zombifier25]

http://iloveubuntu.net/notorious-game-company-electronic-arts-attend-next-weeks-ubuntu-developer-summit-quantal-quetzal

Comment, speculate, make a witty remark, etc etc right away!

[mips]

Valve announces Steam Clinet for Linux and EA jumps on board to announce Origen client for Linux...?

EA stuff is a DRM nightmare which I prefer to avoid.

[PuddingKnife]

Valve announces Steam Clinet for Linux and EA jumps on board to announce Origen client for Linux...?

EA stuff is a DRM nightmare which I prefer to avoid.

Good for you. EA signing on to release games for Ubuntu would be a HUGE boost for Canonical, Ubuntu, and Linux.

[3rdalbum]

If they release some games on Ubuntu that have widespread appeal, I'll be happy. However I have a feeling they'll just release one of their incorrigable Madden games for Ubuntu, the entire world apart from the US will sign a collective "Meh" and then EA will slink back to their bunker.

[tjeremiah]

If games are coming, no matter what the first wave may be, it will be huge for the ubuntu/linux community.

[rg4w]

One more reason I'm glad that UDS is in California this year. Definitely looking forward to seeing what EA brings to the table.

[cloyd800]

Eh, double-edged sword I suppose. While EA coming on board to support games for Linux may be a huge push in some people moving fully over to a linux environment -- It is EA however, and I don't hold them to high standards to begin with.

[nankura]

its not surprising, with steam announcing there possable release of the client. larger companys wont sit back and go "oh steams going to linux. lets sit back and see what happens"

There going to follow. and there going to compete, not only that, with nvidias latest updates supporting multiple features, even new randr compositing features, nvidia is boosting there developement

Along with that, phoronix unveiled news about a new Graphical gaming engine bringing "Tessellation" to linux. the main feature/backend of DirectX 11, and native DX11

And ontop of even that, wayland and new X Managers are due boasting impressive features. and with DR2 and Proper Piping been founded its a bright future

My Point is. linux isnt just a terminal anymore, its graphical and breakthroughs are been made which companys are noticing. those breakthroughs allow easy game ports. good graphics, and future gaming developement so companys will eventually grab that and use it for profit margins

[BigSilly]

Eh, double-edged sword I suppose. While EA coming on board to support games for Linux may be a huge push in some people moving fully over to a linux environment -- It is EA however, and I don't hold them to high standards to begin with.

My feelings too.

[LillyDragon]

If EA has no plans on releasing Linux-based binaries for hit titles like Deadspace and Mass Effect, anything else they publish might as well stay on Windows for all I care. xD I doubt I'd get anymore excited over Madden on Linux than I did on the GameGear, meh. Here's to hoping they publish software through Steam on Linux either way!



:(

I can actually see that happening. DRM like SecuRom was the only thing stopping me from wanting Mass Effect 2 on the PC, and if they pull the same crap on Linux, I'm not interested in worrying about their flaky, intrusive DRM potentially bricking my favorite OS either. There are much better ways to protect a game without royally screwing over paying customers with software that only half-works and mild to severe hair-loss.

Sorry for the slight rant there, but overprotective DRM has a way of making me want to shoot something, grrr I need a moment in Open Arena!

[georgelappies]

its not surprising, with steam announcing there possable release of the client. larger companys wont sit back and go "oh steams going to linux. lets sit back and see what happens"

There going to follow. and there going to compete, not only that, with nvidias latest updates supporting multiple features, even new randr compositing features, nvidia is boosting there developement

Along with that, phoronix unveiled news about a new Graphical gaming engine bringing "Tessellation" to linux. the main feature/backend of DirectX 11, and native DX11

And ontop of even that, wayland and new X Managers are due boasting impressive features. and with DR2 and Proper Piping been founded its a bright future

My Point is. linux isnt just a terminal anymore, its graphical and breakthroughs are been made which companys are noticing. those breakthroughs allow easy game ports. good graphics, and future gaming developement so companys will eventually grab that and use it for profit margins

Agree, this can only mean more incentive for better drivers and multimedia capabilities available on Linux. Games is the only reason I have a dual boot, and if enjoyable quality games becomes native on Linux there wouldn't be a reason to keep windows partition anymore.

Even for those not wanting anything to do with this, there will be positive spin offs in the long run. Maybe now we could perhaps get a driver (open source or proprietary) that actually supports suspend and waking the screen properly every time from standby mode on a laptop ;)

[crimsontide]

Steam and now EA?! Its going to be an interesting Linux year! http://omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/electronic-arts-attending-ubuntu-developer-summit/

[Zeven]

Was going to post this but then I realized that all the news is just that EA will be at the Ubuntu Developer Summit and nothing else. Meh.

[crimsontide]

I hope to be able to pick me a pile of games for 12.10! :)

[Zeven]

I hope to be able to pick me a pile of games for 12.10! :)

That would be great but that also means that EA must have been working on something for Linux this whole time. What's more, will people who own the game for Windows have to buy it again for Linux?

[LillyDragon]

That would be great but that also means that EA must have been working on something for Linux this whole time. What's more, will people who own the game for Windows have to buy it again for Linux?

This isn't the first time EA has had anything to do with Linux. Owners of the Windows version of Medal of Honor Allied Assault could download an installer for the Linux platform too, although I was too lazy at the time to figure out how to make it work. :P But the option was there freely for Windows customers, nonetheless, and I'm sure it would work just the same if EA's published titles were released on Steam.

[nothingspecial]

Merged

[alexfish]

http://1.2.3.11/bmi/iloveubuntu.net/sites/default/files/logo%2Btext_big_64.png

[Dlambert]

Good to hear!

[elliotn]

fifa13 Plz i would b happy

[sffvba[e0rt]

Interesting times...


404

[cg40k]

I like how they describe EA as "Notorious" XD XD

[*^kyfds(]

i wonder if they would make games specifically for ubuntu instead of making adapted versions for linux...

there's alot of potential for expansion in this, but there's also a lot of potential for catastrophic failure.

[rg4w]

i wonder if they would make games specifically for ubuntu instead of making adapted versions for linux...
What differences would be evident between the two approaches?

[zombifier25]

What differences would be evident between the two approaches?
Linux has a lot of distros, each of which features a different set of libraries, package manager, etc. etc.

Of course, this is if EA plans to make their game a USC package or something similar. If they follow LibreOffice's approach (bundle the software's deb or rpm and all the libraries' debs or rpms into one big tarball) or Firefox's approach (simply unpack the tarball, run the executable and you're good) then their wouldn't be that much of a difference.

[synaptix]

Valve announces Steam Clinet for Linux

Do you know how many times Valve has said this? I've lost count how many times.

[Romeo9]

Not sure if anyone has seen but EA have launched 2 games on the Ubuntu Software Center, it's not much but my guess is they're just testing the waters looking to see if there is any potential. Here's the article: http://omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/ea-games-arrive-in-the-ubuntu-software-center/

As the article states "It’s now up to us, as users, to prove to EA that gaming on Ubuntu is worth pursuing" and as a result I have created a thread on EA's forum letting them know how many games I own on Origin and that I am infact an Ubuntu user.

If you own any EA games or would like to see more EA games on Ubuntu please do swing by the thread and leave comment, here's the link: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/8565116.page

[Sslaxx]

Not sure if anyone has seen but EA have launched 2 games on the Ubuntu Software Center, it's not much but my guess is they're just testing the waters looking to see if there is any potential. Here's the article: http://omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/05/ea-games-arrive-in-the-ubuntu-software-center/

As the article states "It’s now up to us, as users, to prove to EA that gaming on Ubuntu is worth pursuing" and as a result I have created a thread on EA's forum letting them know how many games I own on Origin and that I am infact an Ubuntu user.

If you own any EA games or would like to see more EA games on Ubuntu please do swing by the thread and leave comment, here's the link: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/8565116.page
It's a joke. They're just browser shortcuts for <snip> sake. For games running in Flash. All two of them.

[mips]

Do you know how many times Valve has said this? I've lost count how many times.

Erm, this time it came from the horses mouth in a official interview. http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11872195&postcount=8

[temp2012]

Sorry wrong thread

[Tuna-Fish]

Do you know how many times Valve has said this? I've lost count how many times.

For an explantion, you need to understand how Valve works.

They have no management. They have no-one deciding what the company should do. When you join Valve, no-one will tell you what you should be working on. All devs have desks with wheels, and the procedure for moving to a different group working on a different project inside the company is: "Unplug computer from wall. Disengage wheel brakes. Move your desk to the group you want to work with. Engage wheel brakes. Plug computer to wall. Done!"

The business plan of Valve is "Get a lot of smart people with proven track records for making things under one roof, let them work on whatever they want, only release something if and when all agree it's great."

They are probably the most successful gaming company of all time. So there's a lot of advantages on this approach. The big disadvantage is that they have no focus at all. Valve time (https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time) is legendary. Even if every rumor about Steam for Linux release was true, it wouldn't even make it the most delayed product in Valve history. They really could have the project running for the past decade with little progress and it wouldn't be out-of-place for them. It just never was good enough.

The newest rumor is that Gaben himself is working with the Steam for Linux group -- this is the closest the company has for "this is our number one priority". And it meshes well with the rumors (As an artifact of the company structure, Valve is really, really awful at keeping secrets.) of a Valve branded console software implementation coming. (Valve is not getting into the console business, they are going to ship software packages that any OEM can use to build "consoles").