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.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":565149,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']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.