Gaming in linux becoming big shot and more fun

Linux games rising

For the first time in a long time, Linux gamers have a reason to smile. Gaming on the open-source operating system has long meant dabbling in Wine and arcane workarounds , but ever since Valve launched Steam for Linux a year-and-a-half ago the number of native Linux games has positively exploded .

Sure, Valve’s embrace of Linux may have a wee bit to do with advancing the Steam Machine ideal —the Steam Controller , and Alienware Steam Machine all kick butt—but any game released for “SteamOS” works just fine on other Linux distros, too.

What better way to bask in how far Linux has come on its 25th birthday than to play some games that call it home? Here are a slew of killer PC games that’ve recently become Linux natives—including several recent PCWorld Game of the Year winners and 5-star games.

#1: XCOM – Enemy Unknown