Linux Game Publishing

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Linux Game Publishing, Ltd.
Type Limited company
Industry Video games
Founded October 15, 2001
Headquarters Nottingham, UK
Key people Michael Simms, (2001 - 2012)
Clive Crous (2012 - Present)
Website www.linuxgamepublishing.com

Linux Game Publishing (sometimes also referred to as LGP) is a software company based in Nottingham in England. It ports, publishes and sells video games running on Linux operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsors the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games. As well as acting as a Linux game porter in of themselves, they also function as a publisher for other Linux game developers and porters.

Contents

[edit] History

Creatures: Internet Edition was the first game published by LGP

The company was founded on October 15, 2001 by Michael Simms when the similarly oriented Loki Software filed for bankruptcy.[1] Simms had previously founded the Tux Games retailer a few years earlier, and the collapse of Loki would have gravely affected his available stock. Linux Game Publishing had initially tried to pick up the support rights to many of Loki's titles, but in the end they were only able to acquire the rights to MindRover: The Europa Project. They were able to, however, independently pick up the publishing rights to Creatures: Internet Edition as well as the rights to the port of Majesty: Gold Edition which was previously being developed by Tribsoft.[2][3] Empowered by the addition of former Loki employee Mike Phillips, LGP released its first title on December 21, 2001.[4]

Shadowgrounds Survivor is the latest game published by LGP

From there the company gained the publishing rights to several other game titles including Candy Cruncher, NingPo MahJong, Hyperspace Delivery Boy!, and Soul Ride, as well as Disciples II: Dark Prophecy. The later has been described by Michael Simms as "LGP’s DNF" and has been said to have been the cause of several resignations from the company, including that of aforementioned employee Mike Phillips.[5] It has still, alongside another long delayed game Bandits: Phoenix Rising, yet to be released.[6][7]

In December 2008, LGP launched PenguinPlay, a new website for Linux gamers, allowing matchmaking for multiplayer games, and social networking.[8]

In June 2009 they began offering downloadable games and game rentals.[9]

In August 2009 they grudgingly dropped support for all PowerPC games.[10]

In September 2009 they released the first commercial game for Linux using the Nvidia PhysX middleware.[11]

In late September 2010 the Linux Game Publishing server suffered a massive hard drive failure which took down all of their online infrastructure, including related websites such as Tux Games and The Linux Game Tome.[12] Various other unforeseen issues caused the recovery not to take place until late November, with partial service being restored on November 23, 2010,[13] with full recovery not being made until December 8, 2010.[14] They have since stated that work is going well on their current project, and that they have a working build of it in internal alpha testing.[15]

On January 31, 2012 after over a decade with the company, Michael Simms announced he was stepping down as CEO and handing over control to Clive Crous.[16]

[edit] Games published

Title Genre Date of Release Developer Porter Publisher
Creatures: Internet Edition Simulation December 21, 2001 Creature Labs Creature Labs Linux Game Publishing
MindRover: The Europa Project Strategy December 13, 2002 CogniToy Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Candy Cruncher Puzzle February 6, 2003 Pyrogon Ryan C. Gordon Linux Game Publishing
Majesty: Gold Edition Real-time strategy April 15, 2003 Cyberlore Studios Tribsoft/Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
NingPo MahJong ? January 21, 2004 Pyrogon Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Hyperspace Delivery Boy! Puzzle/Action May 10, 2004 Monkeystone Games Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Software Tycoon Simulation January 10, 2005 destraX Entertainment Software GbR RuneSoft Linux Game Publishing
Postal²: Share The Pain First-person shooter February 4, 2005 Running with Scissors Ryan C. Gordon Linux Game Publishing
Soul Ride Sports June 24, 2005 Slingshot Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
X2: The Threat Space simulation May 30, 2006 Egosoft Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Gorky 17 Tactical RPG June 15, 2006 Metropolis Software Hyperion Entertainment Linux Game Publishing
Cold War Stealth August 4, 2006 Mindware Studios Mindware Studios Linux Game Publishing
Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom Real-time strategy March 13, 2007 Joymania Entertainment RuneSoft Linux Game Publishing
Ballistics Racing June 7, 2007 Grin Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
X3: Reunion Space simulation December 5, 2008 Egosoft Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Jets'n'Guns Shoot 'em up January 29, 2009 RakeInGrass RakeInGrass Linux Game Publishing
Sacred: Gold Action role-playing April 9, 2009 Ascaron Entertainment Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Shadowgrounds Shooter September 16, 2009 Frozenbyte IGIOS Linux Game Publishing
Shadowgrounds Survivor Shooter September 18, 2009 Frozenbyte IGIOS Linux Game Publishing
Bandits: Phoenix Rising Racing in development since 2003 Grin Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy Turn-based strategy in development since 2002 Strategy First Linux Game Publishing Linux Game Publishing

[edit] Copy protection

Linux Game Publishing employs a simple form of digital rights management similar to that employed by Games for Windows – Live. Upon the first run of the game, the user is prompted for a license key, alongside their LGP user name and password.[17] This system enables users to install the game on multiple systems (as there is not a limited number of activations), while also discouraging sharing by noting that any user who has access to the owner's LGP account credentials could potentially lock the owner out of their own game.[18]

Currently, LGP has published eight games that contain their DRM technology:

  • Ballistics (r2)
  • Jets'n'Guns
  • Majesty Gold (r2)
  • Sacred
  • Shadowgrounds
  • Shadowgrounds Survivor
  • X2: The Threat (r2)
  • X3: Reunion

[edit] Open source projects

LGP sponsors the development of Grapple, a free software network library for games. They work on other open source projects such as SDL or OpenAL.[19] Micheal Simms also claims that LGP avoids publishing games similar to popular open source video games.[20]

[edit] See also

Portal icon Linux portal
Portal icon Video games portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ linuxtoday.com, Aug 17, 2001 Founder, Creditors Differ as to Loki's Future Course
  2. ^ LGP History pt 1: How LGP came to be Linux Game Publishing Blog, May 15, 2009 (Article by Michael Simms)
  3. ^ Majesty, Tribsoft, and LGP LinuxGames, January 3, 2002
  4. ^ LGP History pt 2: The Early Days Linux Game Publishing Blog, June 23, 2009 (Article by Michael Simms)
  5. ^ LGP History pt 3: The long haul Linux Game Publishing Blog, August 25, 2009 (Article by Michael Simms)
  6. ^ Bandits: Phoenix Rising Proceeds On Linux Phoronix, February 15, 2008 (Article by Michael Larabel)
  7. ^ Bandits: Phoenix Rising Finally Gets A New Beta Phoronix, March 07, 2009 (Article by Michael Larabel)
  8. ^ PenguinPlay! LinuxGames, January 2, 2009
  9. ^ LGP Gets Into Game Downloading, Rentals Phoronix, June 2, 2009
  10. ^ PPC support officially being discontinued for all LGP titles Linux Game Publishing Blog, August 5, 2009
  11. ^ Shadowgrounds: Survivor Proceeds On Linux Phoronix, February 18, 2009
  12. ^ LGP Has Been Down For A Month And A Half Phoronix, November 18, 2010 (Article by Michael Larabel)
  13. ^ LGP Is Partially Back Online; More Unforeseen Issues Phoronix, November 23, 2010 (Article by Michael Larabel)
  14. ^ Linux Game Publishing Is Back Online Phoronix, December 08, 2010 (Article by Michael Larabel)
  15. ^ Linux Game Publishing...are alive? Gaming on Linux, May 4, 2011 (Article by Liam Dawe)
  16. ^ Linux Game Publishing...the return? Gaming on Linux, January 31, 2012 (Article by Liam Dawe)
  17. ^ LGP Introduces Linux Game Copy Protection, Rentals Phoronix, June 23, 2008
  18. ^ Linux Game Copy Protection
  19. ^ http://opensource.linuxgamepublishing.com/ Open source projects
  20. ^ Linux Game Publishing: Interview with Michael Simms - Linux Gazette, March 6, 2005

[edit] External links

Video games published by Linux Game Publishing
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