So yeah, people have gotten hrtf surround sound stuff going with pulse audio, some searching around that should get you where you want.
Butt your last statement about games being “unplayable” in stereo is pretty silly, too, so I want to call that out. Don’t be silly. They aren’t “unplayable”, you aren’t “locked out,” thats silly. 99% of people that have ever played that game played in stereo.