Loki Software

Loki Entertainment Software, Inc.

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)
Number of employees	approx. 10
Website	www.lokigames.com (archived)

Loki Entertainment Software, Inc. was a video game developer 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.

Although successful in its goal of bringing games to the Linux platform, the company eventually closed due to financial troubles, with it declaring Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in August 2001, and finally being disbanded in January 2002.

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. This was to become Loki's first actual product, with the game hitting stores in May 1999. From there they gained contracts to port many other titles, such as Myth II: Soulblighter, Railroad Tycoon II, and Eric's Ultimate Solitaire. Throughout the next two years up until its eventual closure the company would continue to bring more games to Linux.

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. The book Programming Linux Games by Loki Software and John R. Hall is recognized as one of the prominent tutorials for the Simple DirectMedia 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.