14 DAY TRIAL // Borderlands 2, the insanely fun and exciting collaborative FPS developed by Gearbox Software and published by 2K Games will be getting a Linux release.
The Gearbox chief, Randy Pitchford, was questioned a while ago about the release of the Borderlands titles on the Linux platform. He didn't say no right away, but after making some internal inquiries, he advised the Linux community not to get their hopes up and that was that.
On the other hand, the 2K publisher seems to be on board with the Linux platform and some of the titles in their catalog already got a release, like the new XCOM series and Civilization V. This is the first action game from this publisher and the first game from this developer, so we can only hope that more will follow soon.
Borderlands 2 is built on DirectX 9 engine, so the porting process shouldn't be too difficult. It's very likely that some of the online features that are at the core of this game are proving to be more of a challenge than anything else.
This interesting information about Borderlands 2 comes soon after 2K also confirmed that the upcoming Borderlands: The Prequel would also get a Linux release. Now, both games follow the same storyline, so it makes a lot of sense to have the titles running on Linux.
"A new era of shoot and loot is about to begin. Play as one of four new vault hunters facing off against a massive new world of creatures, psychos and the evil mastermind, Handsome Jack. Make new friends, arm them with a bazillion weapons and fight alongside them in 4 player co-op on a relentless quest for revenge and redemption across the undiscovered and unpredictable living planet," reads the Steam synopsis.
Borderlands 2 also features a lot of DLCs, some rather big, with storylines of their own and a bunch of smaller ones that bring others features to items. These DLCs will need porting too, so it's not just about the main game.
The game is already available on the Mac OS X platform and the porting was done by Apyr Media. It's a safe bet that they'll be doing the Linux port as well, although there is no information about the launch date.
The information about the Linux version is taken from the Steam database, and by no means is it completely certain. The Steam Database is a record of data that describes every Steam game and subscription provided by Valve for the Steam service.
Usually, the new entries are first visible in the Steam Database before their official launch.