As announced on the official site earlier today, Steam has finally come to Linux. Those that have been awaiting this release can grab it from the Ubuntu Software Center, and begin enjoying gaming on Steam.
When asked what he thought of the move, David Pitkin, Director of Consumer Applications at Canonical replied,“The introduction of Steam to Ubuntu demonstrates growing demand for open systems from gamers and game developers. We expect a growing number of game developers to include Ubuntu among their target platforms. We’re looking forward to seeing AAA games developed with Ubuntu in mind as part of a multi-platform day and date release on Steam.”
In addition, Alen Ladavac, CTO of Croteam (the creators of the Serious Sam games) had the following to say, “We’re huge fans of Linux. It’s like the indie OS–a perfect home for our indie game. And who better to lead the charge into Linux gaming than Valve? With Steam distribution on Windows, Mac OS, and now Linux, plus the buy-once, play-anywhere promise of Steam Play, our games are available to everyone, regardless what type of computer they’re running. That’s huge.”
As a launch celebration, every single one of the 57 Linux titles currently available will have a deep discount (well, with the exception of Team Fortress 2, which is free-to-play anyway. According to the above announcement, however, for a short time, if you play the game on Linux, you'll get a free item; Tux, the Linux mascot.) until February 21st (10AM PST). The lowest discount (percentage-wise) is half off, and is available on games such as Steel Storm, Titan Attacks, and Aquaria. The highest discount is a whopping 80% off, with three games receiving this one; Penumbra: Overture, Penumbra: Black Plague, and Serious Sam 3. The most popular discount, however, is 75% off, with 25 of the 57 games featuring this deal. Examples include Cubeman, Dynamite Jack, and Hacker Evolution Duality.
With Linux support, Steam has made another move towards their Steam Box console. For a full list of Linux games, as well as the discount placed on each, you can see this page. Happy gaming, everyone!
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