Any discussion about the benefits of Ubuntu usually involves the question, "How does it look with games?" For the past decade, the answer has been, "Rather limited." Purists point to Frozen Bubble, TuxRacer, or some other shooter, but hardcore gamers only shrug their shoulders and stick with Windows, because it runs all the big titles.

However, thanks to recent events within the game sector, Ubuntu is finally becoming a serious alternative. The Software Center has been selling games for some time (Figure 1), and by now it is well stocked, even boasting a bestseller list [1]. The new purchase options are attracting new developers that use the Software Center as their marketplace.

Start your Engines

Modern games usually aren't developed from scratch. Free and commercial game engines help developers turn their visions into working code.

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