After all, it was only twelve months ago that Draeker, then an Orange County software licensing attorney, was still trying to win over business partners on the somewhat dicey concept of Linux computer games. By licensing popular Windows titles and porting them over to the developing Linux platform, he told friends and family, a company could secure first-mover status in a fledgling market while at the same time building that market by making Linux more attractive to mainstream users.

As the media hype surrounding Linux increased and investors' appetites for Linux-based startups came around, however, Draeker says his business plan found itself up against a last-minute hurdle:

"I wasn't even sure you could port a game to Linux," he says, laughing.

Twelve months and one software-industry sea change later, Draeker's laugh is the laugh of a man who doesn't know whether to credit sheer naivete or cojones of steel for his eventual decision to ride the surging Linux wave. Either way, neither Draeker nor his colleagues at Loki have had much time to look back. In the span of a few short months--weeks, if you ask Draeker--computer games have emerged as one of the hottest, most highly watched sectors of the Linux market.

"It's almost impossible to describe," Draeker says, looking back. "When we first did the business plan last summer, we thought we'd have two games out by the fall of '99. We've since moved that up to eight games. We had no idea it would get this big."

Draeker credits the maturation of the Linux desktop market for propelling this trend. Windows users lured by the improving user-friendliness of the Gnome and KDE desktops--not mention application suites such as StarOffice--have come expecting the same as-good-as-or-better performance in the gaming arena as well.

In order to meet this demand, Loki engineers have taken their turns riding the sharp end of Linux development. Draeker says the company spent its first six months building software tools and writing the device drivers necessary for full game operation. By May, Loki had managed to ship its first port: Activision's Civilization: Call to Power. The company's second release, a version of Bungie Software's Myth II: Soulblighter, is scheduled for release later this week. Another two releases, Railroad Tycoon: The Gold Edition and Eric's Ultimate Solitaire, are slated for August.

Among the new titles, Draeker says he holds out high hopes for Solitaire, a version of the same mainstream title that, in Windows form, has become the bane of office managers everywhere.