“Linux only needs one killer game to explode and disrupt the market,” reckons DICE creative director, Lars Gustavsson.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Polygon in a recent interview, Gustavsson revealed that DICE was not only paying attention to the Linux market and how games were progressing on the platform, but that they also wanted to get in on the action.<\/p>\n
“We strongly want to get into Linux for a reason,” Gustavsson said. “It took Halo for the first Xbox to kick off and go crazy \u2014 usually, it takes one killer app or game and then people are more than willing \u2014 it is not hard to get your hands on Linux, for example, it only takes one game that motivates you to go there.”<\/p>\n
Gustavsson also believes that Valve is on the right track with SteamOS.<\/p>\n
SteamOS is a customised Ubuntu-based Linux distribution built and maintained by Valve that will serve as the company’s entry point not only into Linux gaming but also into the living room along with a hardware initiative.<\/p>\n
“I think, even then [with Halo] , 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 an integral part of their lives,” he explained.<\/p>\n
Gustavsson later reiterated that the indie studios were now a necessary part of the success of any platform and that Linux’s rise depends partly on those studios as well. He adds, “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?”<\/p>\n
DICE is currently preparing and beta-testing their latest addition to the Battlefield family with Battlefield 4, launching for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on 29 October, on the Xbox One on 22 November, and PS4 on 29 November.<\/p>\n
Battlefield 4 will also lead the charge in December for Mantle, a new API designed and maintained by AMD<\/a> that benefits any graphics cards running on the Graphics Core next architecture. Mantle will bring performance boosts for AMD’s GPUs and will be available for all Frostbite 3.0-powered games developed by Electronic Arts.<\/p>\n\n\t\t