At a time when Linux was dismissed even more than it is today as just being a software toy or something only meant for servers, being able to play Doom 3 was a significant achievement which helped pave the way for the Linux gaming scene as we know it today. Not only were Linux users able to play the game on their systems mere months after the release of the commercial Windows version, they could play it with no loss of graphical fidelity. Not only did it add one more title to the then nascent Linux gaming library, it was also one of the most anticipated games of the year and remained a graphical powerhouse for many years after.
Thanks to a flexible policy regarding unsupported binaries and a corporate culture open to experimentation, something which was lost not long after the ZeniMax acquisition, Linux users were graced with both native closed source binaries for their latest games and a treasure trove of source ports for many of their older titles.Ĭoming as it did only a few years after the fall of Loki Software and the dark age that followed it, Linux gaming received a major boost in 2004 with the release of Doom 3. When I first started using Linux full time in 2007 gaming on the platform was dominated by id Software.
