| Former type | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Industry | Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | November 9, 1998 |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Tustin, California, United States |
| Key people | Scott Draeker (Founder) Sam Lantinga (Lead programmer) |
| Employees | approx. 10 [1] |
| Website | lokigames.com (archived) |
Loki Software, Inc. (sometimes also called Loki Games or Loki Entertainment Software) was a software firm based in Tustin, California, United States, that ported several video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux. It took its name from the Norse deity Loki.[2]
Although successful in its goal of bringing games to the Linux platform, the company was eventually forced to close due to financial troubles,[3] with it declaring Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in August 2001,[4][5] and finally being disbanded in January 2002.[1][6]
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Loki Software was founded on November 9, 1998 by Scott Draeker, a former lawyer who became interested in porting games to Linux after being introduced to the system through his work as a software licensing attorney. By December of that year Loki had gained the rights to produce a port of Activision's then upcoming strategy game Civilization: Call to Power for Linux.[7] This was to become Loki's first actual product, with the game hitting stores in May 1999.[8] From there they gained contracts to port many other titles, such as Myth II: Soulblighter, Railroad Tycoon II, and Eric's Ultimate Solitaire.[9] Throughout the next two years up until its eventual closure the company would continue to bring more games to Linux.[10]
Loki Software, although a commercial failure, is credited with the birth of the modern Linux game industry. Loki developed several free software tools, such as the Loki installer (also known as Loki Setup), and supported the development of the Simple DirectMedia Layer. They also started the OpenAL audio library project (now being run by Creative Technology and Apple Inc.) and with id Software wrote GtkRadiant. These are still often credited as being the cornerstones of Linux game development. They also worked on and extended several already developed tools, such as GCC and GDB.[11]
The book Programming Linux Games (also available online (The Internet Archive)) by Loki Software and John R. Hall is recognized as one of the prominent tutorials for the Simple Direct Media Layer. Many of Loki's free tools are still actively used and being developed, often by former employees of the company, many of them having moved to other computer game or Linux companies.
Loki also offered a start to many figures still in the Linux and gaming industries. Ryan C. Gordon (also known as Icculus), a former employee of Loki, has been responsible for the Linux and Mac OS X ports of many commercial games after the demise of the company. Mike Phillips would help start Linux Game Publishing, which was itself founded in response to Loki's closure.[12] Nicholas Vining would go on to do some porting work and is currently the lead programmer at Gaslamp Games.[13][14] Sam Lantinga would also later join Blizzard Entertainment and found Galaxy Gameworks to commercially support the Simple DirectMedia Layer.
Although many Loki ports are unsupported since Loki's closure, Linux Game Publishing managed to pick up the rights to MindRover and offer a supported and updated version of the games Linux port. id Software picked up the support for the Linux release of Quake III Arena,[15] hiring Timothee Besset to maintain it; he would later also be responsible for porting some of id's later products to Linux.[16] Running with Scissors still sells a Linux port of Postal on its website. Software contractor Frank C. Earl claims to hold the porting rights for the entire Myth series and says he will port it to Linux.[17][18] Kevin Bentley is working on the Descent 3 patch for Linux. [19] In 16 October of 2011, The Tain release a new version of Myth 2 for Linux. [20] Linux installers for linux gamers also offers installers for many Loki titles to help them run better on modern systems.
In addition to the published titles, there is also an unfinished port of Deus Ex. The later update of Deus Ex for Microsoft Windows features the OpenGL driver for the Unreal engine from Loki Software's Linux port.
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