Steam’s Linux beta will include Portal, Team Fortress 2, and Serious Sam 3

A team within Valve is working to bring the Steam digital-distribution client to the Linux operating system, and now we know which games will work on the open source OS during the beta test.

Linux users get fully functional versions Serious Sam 3: BFE, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 in the upcoming beta, according to a Facebook post from developer Croteam. The studio, which developed Serious Sam, is apparently the only other company providing a game for this anticipated trial; Portal and Team Fortress 2 are both Valve products.

Steam for Linux represents a significant effort by Valve to diversify its platform support. The company’s digital-download store is available on Mac OS X as well as Windows PCs.

Valve’s chief executive officer Gabe Newell voiced criticisms of Microsoft’s newly arrived Windows 8 calling it a “kind of a catastrophe.” Linux could act as a lifeboat if Valve needs to abandon Windows, as unlikely as that is.