DICE creative director Lars Gustavsson told Polygon on Saturday that one single "killer" game is all the Linux platform needs to explode its way into mainstream gaming. He pointed to Halo and how it helped make the original Xbox highly competitive despite Microsoft's "rookie" status in the console market. Thus, even though Linux is easily accessible, the platform still needs its own flagship game to really motivate player interest.
"I think, even then, customers are getting more and more convenient, so you really need to convince them how can they marry it into their daily lives and make [it] an integral part of their lives," he explained. He also added that the studio has used Linux servers because it was a "superior operating system to do so."
He said that the studio "strongly" wants to get into Linux, and that Valve's SteamOS and the Steam Machines initiative will be good for the console market because these products will explore new, possibly better ways of consuming games than the current Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo method. However, he believes that eventually there will be less need for hardware and more on-demand gaming experiences.
"I think, hopefully, competition usually means a better experience for the customer. Sometimes. You know, was the VHS tape better than BetaMax? VHS won," he continued. "So it does not always go in the right direction but overall I think it is healthy with competition. It is truly welcomed, so that we can have better games in the future."
He also believes that indie game developers will help populate the Linux scene despite the platform's limited audience.
"With indie, for a long time, it seemed that it was only AAA title that will survive and then the explosion came with mobile and indie games," he said. "So I'm really happy to see that has swung back to where people say 'Well, will AAA titles survive? Are they mammoths that don't know that they are dead yet?' So, to me, I think that the possibilities are many and I think indies can build for Linux even though we don't have enormous audience," he said.
The full interview, which moves on to talk about Battlefield 4, can be read here. Honestly, it wouldn't be surprising if Valve was actually working on a "Halo" exclusive flagship shooter for SteamOS. Half-Life 3 perhaps?
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