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The talking heads at Valve continue to downplay the importance Windows plays in the future of PC gaming, pointing instead to Linux as an alternative in progress that's gaining steam (and Steam, for that matter). Serving as the latest indication that Valve has a growing affinity for Linux, software engineer Drew Bliss talked up the open source platform during a presentation at the Ubuntu Developer Summit.
It's not clear if Bliss used these exact words or not, but according to Ubuntu Vibes, he made it known that Valve believes Linux is a "more viable" gaming platform than Windows 8, the latter of which ships with its own app store. It's a message that's starting to come through loud and clear from Valve.
Previous to this, Valve's Gabe Newell famously called Windows 8 a "catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," referring to the walled garden approach Microsoft seems to be taking with its newest OS. Not leaving anything to chance, Valve has increased its efforts on porting Steam over to Linux and has even begun accepting applications for a limited beta run.
According to Bliss, Ubuntu is the preferred platform on the open source side of the fence, both because it has a large user base with good community support, and because it has a strong company like Canonical behind it, Ubuntu Vibes says.
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spacemonkiee
October 31, 2012 at 11:19pm
Full disclosure, I'm an avid steam user, I own well over 200 titles on the platform. I also own an Xbox, and I find I use them for different types of games, PC for my RPG's and FPS's, Consoles for sports, and fighters.
I guess what really bothers me here is that valve has done a lot of good for pc gaming, setting up a great client and given developers a much less obnoxious way to have effective DRM, But, and this is, a big But,(hehe)It seems to me that Gabe is lashing out, PC gaming hasn't really had a lot of better choices, you've had in store physical purchases, origin which frankly most people hate, GOG which is great but doesn't help you connect with online friends and stardock which was a disaster. The games for windows program was a mess as well with a clunky client and with a overly aggressive inlay. Now you have a built in client Xbox games, which actually has some advantages. Valve has some real competition, O Snap.
So what does Gabe do, He calls windows 8 a disaster, and moves to embrace Linux development. Now I don't have a problem with developing games for Linux I think more choices is always a plus, but the fact that this was the reaction, not to come up with killer features and more innovation, but to blast the platform that enabled his company to succeed, It reeks of kinda a dick move. I think frankly, he's intimidated. He's going to have to compete now, he cant just let all the EA haters do his work for him, people love their Xbox's and that brand affinity is going to give the Xbox games integration a real boost. If Linux was something important to him I don't see why he didn't do this years ago, nah I say.
I would argue that he see's that things are going to get tougher, and now he's using the controversy around W8 to promote a migration, to where? Some place where there isn't ANY real competition. For shame. Seems like Gabe isn't much one for a fight, and if that's his attitude he can shove it. I for one will continue to use my steam account but will actively be buying my games from sites like GOG. I'm disappointed in Valve for this.
On a side note didn't john John Carmack say that porting his games to Linux was a disaster, and as it turns out Linux users don't really like to pay for software... But I suppose that another point and another post.
MarioJP
November 01, 2012 at 1:16am
Ding ding ding you sir get a 10+ from me. A post that is the real truth of scheme of things and very informative. See this is the sort of thing that Valve rubs me the wrong way. You made a good point about
"If Linux was something important to him I don't see why he didn't do this years ago, nah I say"
My biggest worry is that if the industry starts "embracing Linux" you can kiss high end gaming Goodbye and that saddens me. I love it when companies like crytek pushes the envelope. DirectX is very well entrenched and vastly improved to the point that consoles sweats around it But if the industry goes into a new api because for the sake of "openness". Then that be the day that PC gaming is truly dead and console gamers can truly say "if you want real gaming get a console" The fact that Valve has not released any games with a 3 is what did it for me. Valve has lost its edge and is now giving in to a more casual gaming.
The main reason people upgrade their PC's is for games to keep pushing the next big thing to wow us, such games like BF3 is a prime example and Metro 2033. These 2 games alone smokes any games that Valve puts out. Even if they were to release Source 2 engine. It still pales to anything what crytek and ID puts out because of their mentality. Even stating this
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/john-Carmack-DirectX-OpenGL-API-Doom,12372.html
Gaming companies like these deserve mad respect because they know what they are doing. With that said. I am glad that the Xbox section is on windows 8 store. This will only increase the chances of more games to the PC as their next Xbox is based of Win8 powered by DX, The way games are meant to be played.
I have lost respect for Valve. But its not big of a deal though we still have the big players that will pave way for the next generation gaming. If anything that will get gaming going and right It is Microsoft. People can hate MS all they want but reality speaks that MS has experience in this realm.
Neo_Bahamut_19
October 31, 2012 at 4:08pm
All I can say is that this will be good for Linux. Valve, regardless of whether you hate them or not, will bring light to Linux for new users. Having a huge platform such as Steam will only push its popularity and, as a result, drive more developers to start looking towards it. So I don't understand where all this hatred is coming from that's aimed at Valve. Valve isn't forcing people to move over, they're merely offering up an option for those interested. To be honest, I refuse to switch to Windows 8, so I'll gladly dual boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu once I have access to the Linux version of Steam. As for the hatred towards Microsoft that I'm seeing... More than justified for obvious and already stated reasons.
MarioJP
October 31, 2012 at 4:46pm
That's a contradicting comment. First you say
"All I can say is that this will be good for Linux. Valve, regardless of whether you hate them or not, will bring light to Linux for new users. Having a huge platform such as Steam will only push its popularity and, as a result, drive more developers to start looking towards it. So "
But then you say
As for the hatred towards Microsoft that I'm seeing... More than justified for obvious and already stated reasons.
You make it sound if Windows 8 is a bad OS. I am sorry but gaming has already been established by the industry. Steam is just one small piece of PC gaming realm. Simply put..Valve is simply Pissed at MS well its time that Valve have some competition. Linux is just bad for gaming. Its either going to turn out just like on the Mac Or consoles would be the only alternative for true gaming if the industry was to switch.
Warrior247
October 31, 2012 at 9:50am
Who the f*k cares? I definitely don't. What's Valve gonna do, make everybody convert to Linux? Prevent you from playing the games that "you" legally own and paid for? Nope, this move benefits Valve and Valve only, which I personally could give a rats @$$ about. M$ doesn't give a rats @$ either. The Xbox 360/720 are much more important as a source of revenue than PC gaming ever could be. This is actually a good thing as there will still be developers who'll make games for windows 8 and will not be on Steam! They will not "force" you to download Steam and use it just or you can't play the game as is the case now. All I can say is good, go and don't come back.
MarioJP
October 31, 2012 at 2:10pm
My thoughts exactly. "revenue stream" is something that the Linux folks don't seem to understand. Most importantly the support is already there with Windows 8 from day one. I just recently installed Win8 And let me tell you I just love it. Kudos to MS on this one. Oh and the Windows App store blows the crap out of Ubuntu center any day.
From first hand experience. W8 is going to succeed, already sold 4M copies since Friday, and now i can see why. I so regret installing ubuntu. Now i just want to wipe that partition and get rid of it.
Steam is not the only thing to PC gaming. I use other sources to buy my games. Especially EA when they have Kick-Ass titles. If anything that is going to get Gaming right it is Microsoft. Not Apple nor Steam. Steam is just a stupid client. What steam did in the past was to create a store to buy your PC games in one central location. But at the same time. We were living in a time where people prefer boxed version of their games. Steam has had the digital market all to itself for a very long time and it is about time this is changing.
Now that steam is facing competition, What does Gabe Newell does?? Bickers about Windows 8 App store and add to the fact how people complained about a missing start menu.. this is the same crap about how the Eu was complaining about not having to choose a web browser..yea Ok. No wonder i don't take these articles and "naysayers". One last thing.
When i was downloading Ubuntu 12.10. Their site was asking for a donation, Furthermore there are "apps" in Ubuntu center that were not free and cost more than 24 Bucks. If i am going to pay for something. Best be on a platform that has a future and that is FULLY-SUPPORTED.
So there you have it. My 2 cents lol.
I now call the windows store "Wapps" by the way. It even has a Xbox section. Cool.
Andrew.Hodge
October 31, 2012 at 12:54pm
Not sure where your anger is coming from, but I would check myself if I were you. There are a huge number of people out there who are on tight budgets right now and the few extra dollars that it takes to buy windows is significant enough to merit going linux. These are the same people who buy older games such as L4D instead of 60 dollar titles like BF3. As for the others who, like myself, run Linux as a choice, the vast majority of us have been dual booting for the sake of running games. We have been waiting for a long time for someone to do this and that day has finally come.so, who effing cares? A whole helluva lot of us, that's who.
Warrior247
October 31, 2012 at 1:57pm
Anger? Nope, just apathy... I don't care, M$ doesn't care, those in the industry that matter don't care, and the gaming world at large don't care either. It's not even a blip on the radar. So what Valve is porting it's games to Linux because they're mad at M$. So what. They've been "mad" at M$ ever since they launched the 360, and Xbox Live which is bigger and better than Steam, they've been "mad" at Sony and called the PS3 a... wait for it ... "disaster" and said it should be open. Of course it should, Valve wants to use other people's technology for free, so they can charge developers to use Steam and force the gamer to download it against they're will. That is Steam. Nobody "needs" Steam and thats their problem, and they know it! So this is a survival move more than anything else. So, if you want to download the same game twice just because it's on Linux, go ahead. Do you think that everybody is going to all of a sudden switch to Linux? Not a chance in hell. Games will still be made for Windows 8 and other versions as well. So don't go blaming this on the economy, because that's a cop out. People are still buying Windows PCs, phones and tablets. The fact is that nobody is buying "PC games". If they were, then the market for them wouldn't have died out on the PC. Since Valve wants to cut off it's nose to spite it's face, this move makes sense because it's the ONLY place they have left to go. Btw, how is the "new" Assassin's Creed III on Linux? :)Bwaaahahahahah!!
Andrew.Hodge
November 01, 2012 at 8:00am
If I had the desire to play it, I would install it on my windows partition until a proper playonlinux profile came out. Otherwise, I would put in a couple minutes of effort to set up my own wine profile and get it working. Too bad I don't give a rats ass about Assassins Creed at the moment.
MarioJP
October 31, 2012 at 3:15pm
Well said man. Well said :) And don't get me started on the issue of the piss poor ports that PC gamers sometimes get, and if its not the bad ports. Then you have the "piracy issue". For every anticipated title that is about to hit the market, the PC version gets delayed just like the prime example of GTA5. This only going to add "well the PC version will be pimped out rather than being a console port.. I could wait a little longer even if this wait is 6 months to a year after being released on the Console". PC gaming is at war with consoles as it is now with Windows. The least thing this platform needs its a jerry-rigged OS that requires tweaking isn't going to help this battle.
At least Windows is putting up a good fight, sending a message that the PC is alternative to consoles. Linux will destroy high end gaming experience on the PC that will make console gamers say "ha ha my PS4 plays the best looking games than your Linux crap PC could ever dream of" This is why this had to be said for the goodness sake of PC gaming lol.
Though one thing i slightly disagree is "PC gaming is dying" it is quite the opposite. we are still getting new games. In fact i am planning on my next PC upgrade very soon. There are tone of good games on the PC. Just clearing that out.
Warrior247
October 31, 2012 at 6:00pm
PC gaming recently received a spike that the PC mags were all giddy over. Something ridiculous like 200+% or something, all based off of the sale of one game, that game being Diablo III! But as Thomas McDonald correctly pointed out in "Game Theory", that could only happen if the sales chart had flatlined. Basically ONE game will not move sales charts THAT high by itself. He writes for Maximum PC!!!
____________"/\"_____________
eeeeeeeeeee bloop eeeeeeeeeee
MarioJP
October 31, 2012 at 10:28pm
Well i don't know about MaximumPC theory at all. But PC gamer shows that PC gaming is different in a way where its not following where the mass are. In a way its kind of a good thing that its in a "niche" but very noticed these days all thanks to steam and many more like it. Even EA jumped on the bandwagon with Origin to compete with steam. That to me is good enough and let the battle begin lol.
Warrior247
November 01, 2012 at 12:46am
He also said that in a sense. That while PC gaming will never dominate anything again, PC gaming is changing, going back to it's roots, indie gaming, ect. THAT is the point "CHANGE". Apple, EA, M$, and others who've embraced it seem to doing well, those who are slow to adapt or fail to do so will struggle and fail, like AMD, the PC, ect. Everybody is talking crap about Origins, but I believe given time it will surpass Steam. EA has good games and has games on EVERYTHING! Does Valve? Maybe this will work for them, only time will tell. But in the grand scheme of things it does nothing for me as a gamer.
marasm
October 30, 2012 at 6:27pm
Am I mistaken, or is everyone overlooking something important?
I know I read that Valve is porting their own games to Linux for use in Steam, but I have not seen anywhere that they are porting ALL games in the Steam catalog. They can't even do that, can they? Wouldn't it be up to the individual developers of each game to port it over to Linux?
I can't see Valve having the authority (or even the ability) to port every single game ever on Steam over to Linux. First off it would take years, and second it would be insanely expensive.
It's a great idea, and it would even make me switch back over to Linux, but out of the fifty or so games I have in Steam, only three or four are actually Valve software. The rest of my games would not work at all.
Unless I am totally and thoroughly misinformed. And if that is the case, then YAY!
mhouston100
October 30, 2012 at 7:34pm
I don't think it's really the point that Valve themselves will be porting existing games over to Linux, or even the original developers bothering with it. I think the real push is to move developers over to open technologies like OpenGL (as opposed to DirectX) which can be relatively easily ported between operating systems.
If you look at Valve's information, games like LFD2 actually run better on OpenGL than DirectX under Windows.
The fact that Valve is a big name player and could probably offer direction, even tools maybe, to smaller game developers in cross-platform development is a big boon for Linux.
MarioJP
October 30, 2012 at 8:28pm
"If you look at Valve's information, games like LFD2 actually run better on OpenGL than DirectX under Windows."
LFD2 is not what i call a game that pushes to newer height. yet alone hardly sweats on a 4800 GPU series under Directx even with everything maxed out. Secondly Directx 9 is very outdated and has not been updated since the dawn of XP. Better tests would be OpenGL vs DX 10 11 and 11.1" Till then.. This test is flawed.
DoctorX
October 30, 2012 at 8:26pm
rumor is that all the publishers that use the source engine, are being coaxed by Valve to port to Linux since Valve has done the hard part.
_certifiedgreen...
October 30, 2012 at 1:29pm
Fact is Linux has little limits. Better for everything unless the windows team wakes up to the open beat of the vast majority and diversity of cultures. Linux does only what it's told, a lesson from the government and the law. To maintain control of the computer world one must embrace the diverse future, for better or worse. There are many viable answers for the simple tasks we all do the most, but those who don't want to grow themselves in this arena should be, will be, the customers, and windows should definitely run on top of or beside such a good idea- games or raw data sorting.
green out.
MarioJP
October 30, 2012 at 6:59pm
Limits in terms of what??. Quite frankly i don't see any limits that prevents you from doing what you want on your computer on Windows. "Better for everything" my ass. Ubuntu is just fugly. That's like comparing Microsoft Office with Libre Office. No thanks I pass.
MarioJP
October 30, 2012 at 7:49pm
If you think i am judging by looks you're sadly mistaken. Ubuntu does not feel optimized. I did a comparison on my laptop. You would think that a 3GB (Windows 8) ISO size would be sluggish than 750MB IOS(Ubuntu 12.10) yet reality shows that windows 8 runs snappy and metro looks better than ubuntu Granted i can somewhat could careless about the GUI but speed wise win8 is more efficient.
DoctorX
October 30, 2012 at 8:28pm
try kubuntu, or xubuntu, or lubuntu... All of these are better by far than Unity.... with the added benefit that anything written for Ubuntu will work on all of these. Unlike windows, you are not limited to one desktop. Unity is fugly. I personally use Xubuntu and love it.
MarioJP
October 30, 2012 at 8:54pm
To me its all about the core of the OS. Quite frankly I am happy for buying windows 8 pro.
Corfy
October 30, 2012 at 11:22am
I'm not much of a gamer anymore (never was a big gamer to begin with), but for the last six years or so, any computer game I've played has been within Linux. Mainly I've played SuperTux and Secret Maryo Chronicles (both similar to Super Mario Bros.) and Warmux and Hedgewars (both similar to the Worms series), with occasional forays into LinCity-NG (similar to SimCity). I know, I'm stuck in the 80s and 90s.
CarryingColoradan
October 30, 2012 at 10:47am
I just found out about the Steam for Linux beta yesterday; made my day!
I've been doing all my gaming on Linux for about ten years now, mostly via Wine (and Cedega for a few years), but also the occasional native Linux port. (Thank you to the producers of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Prey, and Neverwinter Nights, inter alia.)
I like Steam okay as a platform, although I tend to favor buying a box and having physical media. But if Steam on Linux is what it takes to break the logjam and get the ball rolling on more native Linux ports, I say, game on!
froggz
October 30, 2012 at 10:01am
I'm not sure if Gabe Newell thought this all the way through. Right now I have over 100 games on STEAM that I purchased for Windows. So what exactly am I suppose to do again? Abandon Windows Platform, to jump on Linux in the hopes that game developers start making games for Linux which could take 3-5 years if not more. In the meantime Windows would be in WIN9, directx12 and my entire game library would continue to be grow further because game developers will continue making games for Windows even if Microsoft decides to screw them all and start charging them 30%.
DoctorX
October 30, 2012 at 8:30pm
also, if you bought a program on windows and there is a windows port, you would not have to buy it again... just like they did with mac port.
Dartht33bagger
October 30, 2012 at 5:16pm
I read on another article that Valve is going to try and get all of their Steam titles ported over to Linux. So in 3-5 years, you may be able to play your entire library on both Windows and Linux platforms.
BernardBlack
October 30, 2012 at 9:54am
Hey, let's face it, I've used Windows for years, but mostly from within Linux, and in some instances, where I was sharing an OS with the wife on a laptop, ran Linux through Windows...
Linux is by far and away the more efficient OS. Faster, faster and better file system, faster and more efficient memory management and processor management...heck, Linux supports processing cores into the thousands, Windows does not. Linux is light, more secure, and faster. It's the better gaming platform through and through. I'm glad they are finally doing this!
Warrior247
October 30, 2012 at 9:31am
Desperate men do desperate things. This is not going to hurt M$ at all, as PC gaming has flat lined and they could care less anyway. All Newell is trying to do is get people to sign up for "his" walled garden, vice somebody else's. Valve's Gabe Newell famously called Windows 8 a "catastrophe for everyone in the PC space, referring to the walled garden approach Microsoft seems to be taking with its newest OS." He also famously called the PS3 a disaster, then famously begged his way onto the platform and apologized.
Dartht33bagger
October 30, 2012 at 5:18pm
So? Windows 8 looks and feels horrible. I think he has the right idea here.
zepontiff
October 30, 2012 at 10:49am
Flatlined? Really?
Nobody told me. I sold my craptacular xbox and used the money to build another pc- an amd fusion mini itx box when the big picture mode for steam was announced.
kissmyass
October 30, 2012 at 8:26am
Praising Linux over Windows my ass! All they are doing is expanding their membership database. More members means more money. Who the fuck are you kidding? Are you as fucking stupid and inane as all your articles or do you have to work at it?
ApathyCurve
October 30, 2012 at 3:51pm
I've actually found Paul to be one of the better writers of PC news, not just here but across all sites. I don't always agree with him, but "stupid and inane"? Not hardly. Back under the bridge with you, foul little troll.
Paul_Lilly
October 30, 2012 at 6:32pm
My name's Paul Lilly, and I approve ApathyCurve's message. (Appreciate it too!)
kissmyass
October 30, 2012 at 11:55am
isnt that sooooo special, all the little queers are circling their little waggons.
BernardBlack
October 30, 2012 at 10:55am
You don't know very much about anything...just that you are evidently bitter at the world? At least, you weren't thinking about Windows and it's closed environment, nor about Linux and it's open environment...and most definitely not about the development process and what developers would prefer.
When you develop a game, would you prefer to do it under Windows constricted environment, where basically you are told what you can and can't do? Or would you rather develop for an OS that says, "Hey, use our OS the way you see fit, free reign, no confinement, no WHQL certification process etc. etc. etc.? All of this equates to happier developers and better titles." It's only made sense since the beginning of gaming, unfortunately, however, Microsoft has dominated the gaming space, since they have the finance to do so. Most of all Windows and Apple and Android features are based off of Linux and of Linux origin. Linux is based on Unix kernel and Apple is based on the Unix kernel too. Android is Linux.
If Linux isn't any good, then why have OS manufacturers stolen the open source tech for over decades now? It's like having free employees. So no, it's not just down to the dollar sign. They are basically advertising that they are more than willing to leave Windows gaming and focus entirely on Linux, probably, mostly due to conflicting markets and interests between Valve and Microsoft. We've seen this coming for a long time now, Steam is essentially a competitor to Microsoft, hence, why Games for Windows Live was never really a success...leaving the Windows scene would essentially be a huge audience loss for Steam, but if the gaming community migrates over to the free operating system Linux, it won't be long until they migrate over.
Strhopper
October 30, 2012 at 8:48am
do you feel better about yourself now?
Have a bad day at work? couldn't beat on the wife today?
All kidding aside, take it easy! They are just reporting a story, there are plenty of other tech sites for you to choose. just move on
Shadow Death
October 30, 2012 at 7:09am
I was originally under the impression that only Ubuntu would be allowed at first but when I took the survey for the limited beta one of the questions asked which distro I would use the client on, the answers gave me the option of distros other than Debian based versions such as Fedora. I may just make the switch back to Fedora though. They seem to be making better decisions than Ubuntu recently.
Dartht33bagger
October 30, 2012 at 5:20pm
Ubuntu is just at the start so they can focus on testing the client on one distro. Then they plan to expand out from there.
