Valve to raise Steam for Ubuntu
Zombies let loose on Linux
Valve has confirmed that Steam will launch on Linux, with an Ubuntu port of the 'iTunes for PC games' download service set to roll out alongside zombie thriller Left 4 Dead 2.
The company used the first post on its new Valve Linux blog to reveal that it is currently refining the software, optimising L4D2 to a suitably high frame rate and porting other Valve titles to the Linux version of the Steam client.
Unfortunately, it didn't say when we can expect to get our hands on it.
When Steam for Linux does go live, it'll be available on Ubuntu 12.04, chosen due to its popularity among gamers and developers. If successful, Valve will consider extending Steam to additional distros.
Looking for another slice?
In April this year, one Linux hardware site claimed Steam would come to Linux after it saw the software in action at the Valve HQ.
The news is great for Linux lovers, as success for Valve could could encourage other games developers to support the platform too. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Platform meaningless without games
Won't proper Linux fans complain the Steam platform uses DRM, demands a web connection and is closed-source?
No
This can only be a good thing. Having Steam officially supporting Linux (along with MacOS) and having games run natively in Linux (without the hassle that is Wine) will mean we can choose whichever OS we want. The only problem I see are the grumbling Linux "free software ONLY" ideologists. The Ideologists being a separate problem with Linux anyway.
Re: Other distros
"You don't pay much attention to the PC game market, do you? Developers expect gamers to be upgrading their hardware every six months to keep up."
This FUD again? Really? For the love of...
Look, I built my desktop 6 and a half years ago. Sure, it's a monster, but I haven't upgraded it since. It started out on XP64 and Half Life 2, and now it runs Win7 and Crysis. In Eyefinity.
I upgrade about as often as new console generations come out. What's the big deal?
Re: Other distros
"it is insane to expect users to constantly be upgrading their distribution every 6-ish months to keep up with the latest bleeding edge distributions."
Expect Valve to pretty quickly also start thinking that it's insane.
