Valve Says No Steam for Linux
PrintWell, this is a bit of a bummer. In the wake of Valve's release of Steam for OSX, there were rumors that a Linux version was in the works. In a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Valve's VP of Marketing Doug Lombardi let it slip that Steam for Linux isn't in development. "There's no Linux version that we're working on right now," said Lombardi.
We'd like to point out he did qualify that statement with "right now." That could theoretically mean that a Linux version of Steam could happen in the future. He could have been more categorical in his denial, but it's still sad for fans of Tux. We're still holding out hope Valve is just building suspense for a big reveal at some later date. Hey, it could happen, right?
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PCLinuxguy
September 21, 2010 at 4:28pm
Since Steam is an app, then it should be fine on linux. Heck Mac OSX is similar enough to Linux that I don't see how they couldn't make it work on the platform since that's close. For now I'll dual boot into windows or use somehting like wine or play on.
vanseters1991
September 03, 2010 at 7:18pm
What kind of monster denies a cute little penguin? Cmon Steam, bring it on!
jordinyc
August 24, 2010 at 2:46am
Yeah, yeah, like how they're not working on Episode 3, Black Mesa Source, The Sith Lords Restoration Project, Duke Nukem Forever, or the Samurai Jack movie "right now"
I Jedi
August 23, 2010 at 4:24pm
First they with-hold HL: E3 for many years to this date, L4D2 came out a YEAR later after L4D, then they announce Portal to the PS3, after Gabe Newell basically said "Fuck you" to consoles, next they announced Steam to Macs, and now they tell the Linux community to go fuck themselves for the time being. Honestly, what the fuck is going on up there? Not even a year ago did I look at Valve as that badass PC-gaming company, who had their act together. There is much more demand from the Linux community for gaming than there is for the Mac community. Whatever, I guess I'll have to start praying Bioware doesn't go south of the border, too.
Maybe I'm over-doing it in my statement above, but does anyone agree with me that Valve seems to have made a recent string of "wrong" turns?
Walnut
August 23, 2010 at 5:35pm
I really don't think there's any truth at all behind claims like "there is much more demand from the Linux community for gaming than there is for the Mac community." Fact is, Linux holds less than 1% of the OS market share, and I'd be willing to bet that the majority of those users also regularly use a Windows/Mac machine if it's not a dual boot to begin with. I'm all for open source, and have used Linux in a limited fashion and have no qualms with it. That said, I don't see where this sense of entitlement comes from. Valve has no financial incentive to drop tons and tons of money into Steam for Linux. There's just about no way they'd come out positive. Valve has been know to do cool stuff in the past, but not when there's such a high cost of entry for essentially no reward. They've spoiled you.
I Jedi
August 23, 2010 at 6:36pm
Well, no offense there, Walnut, but when was the last time you saw a big outcry from the Mac community for game support? The Linux community has actively sought to get games to run on their systems, and has developed some nice means to do just that. While it may be true that Linux is not as popular a choice as Mac or Windows, it still, in my opinion, commands a greater share of outcry for gaming on a PC than the Mac community does.
Market share does not necessarily reflect how well a product will sell on a platform. That's like saying Windows shouldn't get Photoshop because Macs are generally thought to be more for the "artistic" type of person, and therefore assuming more people will want it on a Mac than a PC.
Also, when you said,"I really don't think there's any truth at all behind (your) claims" what exactly did you mean "all", as you only attacked one of my claims, rather than all of them. I'm curious to know why Gabe Newell didn't support the PS3 before, and now he turned around, and opened his arms wide open to them.
Walnut
August 23, 2010 at 8:40pm
First off: clarification. By "all," I meant "no truth at all in that one specific claim." "No truth at all" is idiomatic and not meant as a means of saying everything in your post is wrong.
Now, I agree that a greater percentage of Linux users would like to play games as compared to Mac users. That said, there are at least 5 times as many Mac users, with some estimates closer to 6 or 7 times. It's a numbers game. If, lets say, 50% of Linux users wanted to play mainstream games, you'd only need, say, 7% of Mac users with similar desires to get the same numbers. I've found all this information in two or three minutes of searching. I have absolutely no doubt that Valve has done extensive market research. If there was money to be made, Valve would be looking to make it. The Linux gaming market is entirely untapped. If there were something worth having there, Valve wouldn't be the only one interested. It seems that at this point, games on Linux is just not a profitable business foray, and that's what really matters in the eyes of Valve.
I Jedi
August 23, 2010 at 9:33pm
To sum your post up, you basically agree with me.
Now, here's what I don't personally get. If your proclaimed "50%" of Linux users want gaming, why wouldn't Valve go for Linux first as compared to the "7%" population that want gaming on a Mac? Even if those two numbers are the same in the amount of people, it would make more sense to tap into a market where half a community is already interested in gaming.
One of Linux's big problems is that game support is very hard. I'd more than certainly like to say that if Valve, and other game publishers, started actively supporting Linux, it would probably notice a tangible gain in the amount of people flooding over to it. Let's not even forget how much it cost to buy an Apple computer these days, as compared to the cost to build a $300 system running a free Linux-distro of the end-users choice. Who's numbers do you think are going to grow more exponentially as a result of gaming support? Valve needs to look at the long-term aspects of its consolidation, and not just which community has the larger numbers currently. In my opinion, it would be in Valve's very, very best interest to not shun the Linux community, for the time being, from getting Steam.
Neufeldt2002
August 23, 2010 at 4:11pm
Well, I am disappointed, but not suprised. Hopefully soon though, games is the only reason I have windows.
Silencer
August 23, 2010 at 3:48pm
...so a couple years ago, I downloaded and 'studied' about 40 distros.
Ubuntu 10.04 is 'there'. It's 'kinda' finally ready to 'try' to compete for the desktop space.
Problem: Game cracks. You can get most Windows Games to run in Ubuntu 10.04, 'so-so', with PlayOnLinux, lots of work, (updates, fonts,) and proper 'cracks'. But, this isn't an 'acceptable' practice. Whatever.
Linux for mainstream use, depends on running Windows Games. And, we (I) ain't paying for any 'subscriptions'.
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