It's Official: Valve Releasing Steam, Source Engine For Linux!

[V!NCENT]

@TwistedLincoln,

I understand your arguments. But can't you see that this is not realy about a online game store that also offers DRM games, but about Windows users getting their already bought games ported? About the free software markshare? About tiny game studios and indie developpers that can now be offered a platform for which they can now also sell their games for a fraction of the price for Linux?

I still think that you head is stuck in 'Why would I buy a DRM game?'. You do not have to. You can also buy a non-DRM game from id software and in the future a lot more DRM-less Linux games. The marketshare will also result in more users thus more pressure on not buying Intel GMA500's and whatnot.

The bigger picture

[korpenkraxar]

@V!NCENT: well written.
@TwistedLincoln: well written, too.

To me, the two approaches to monetizing content serve different purposes.

I love music CDs and buy a few every now and then, yet listen to Spotify every day because the actual implementation of their subscription model is stellar for me as a consumer of the content, such as instant access to a huge music library that beats file-sharing, complete hassle-free synchronization among my PC and my Android phone and the new social integration in the client. Even though I pay for the premium account, I know I could never afford all that music in the shop down-town. I reserve my cash to those CDs that I find really special or where I know much of the money goes directly to the artist. And yeah, I buy albums that I can already listen to in Spotify.

It seems to me, that Steam holds pretty much the same position in the PC gaming community. That is great, but the key here is choice. I like Spotify much because I know I can get to the content in other ways too. As long as there is diversity in the ways games are distributed I am sure I will find a balance among business models that suits me too.

[TwistedLincoln]

I still think that you head is stuck in 'Why would I buy a DRM game?'. You do not have to. You can also buy a non-DRM game from id software and in the future a lot more DRM-less Linux games. The marketshare will also result in more users thus more pressure on not buying Intel GMA500's and whatnot.

The bigger picture

That's actually a great point. And one could argue that since Valve doesn't require exclusive distribution, some companies might release games in paralell for both Steam and retail Steam-less box sets for Linux. Which would be a great thing.

So I guess in the end we all agree that choice is the important thing. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I see things like Steam snuffing out choice in the long run due to many customers not caring.

But then again I could just as easily be wrong. Perhaps developers could look at a Steam victory on Linux and decide the platform is viable, but decide to release their software without DRM. That would really be something to celebrate.

The one thing that does worry me is the catch-22: if people like me boycott Steam on Linux, we'll help stop DRM from spreading. But at the same time, if Steam fails miserably on Linux, it could cause other developers to start thinking that Linux isn't worth developing for. So in that sense, it's a no-win...

[nukem]

While in class today I asked a number of friends who have Macs if they tried Steam for Mac yet. Everyone of them who said they have Steam said they can't launch Portal(currently the only ported game) due to problems with Steam. My current theory as why Valve has announced or released anything Linux related is because they can't handle the additional Mac users, they need to wait for the server load to die down.

[Vash63]

While in class today I asked a number of friends who have Macs if they tried Steam for Mac yet. Everyone of them who said they have Steam said they can't launch Portal(currently the only ported game) due to problems with Steam. My current theory as why Valve has announced or released anything Linux related is because they can't handle the additional Mac users, they need to wait for the server load to die down.

More likely that Linux is more work than Mac. More drivers and hardware to test for, Xserver versions, etc. With Mac they can just say "Hey, this only works on 10.6.3!" And not test for anything else. Apple users are perfectly used to and content with buying every single update as they're necessary to run the OS fully.

[deanjo]

Apple users are perfectly used to and content with buying every single update as they're necessary to run the OS fully.

Lmao, yet another unfounded stereo type.

[nukem]

More likely that Linux is more work than Mac. More drivers and hardware to test for, Xserver versions, etc. With Mac they can just say "Hey, this only works on 10.6.3!" And not test for anything else. Apple users are perfectly used to and content with buying every single update as they're necessary to run the OS fully.

For testing they really only need to test NVIDIA and ATI cards with a recent distro. I'm not sure how many commercial games do it but I've never heard the test matrix is that hard. Even if that was the case it would be much more helpful to Valve to get a beta out and have users tell them what systems it doesn't work on.

As for Apple users paying more, its been shown time and time again Linux users actually pay more when they feel its of Value. It would even make more sense for Valve to say to Linux users you must have he latest X/distro/whatever since its free.

[RoboJ1M]

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

[M1AU]

That's great. I'm excited. But why does Phoronix feel the need to exaggerate their headlines so badly? It's not actually been announced by Valve at the time of publication... so wouldn't that mean it's not actually official? I mean unless Phoronix has some sort of authority or official capacity within Valve that I'm not aware of, how can Phoronix declare it "Official"? Unless I'm always supposed to think Phoronix's headlines are a bunch of hyperbolic nonsense... I wouldn't want my readers thinking my headlines were a constant April Fool's joke, but that's just me... It was a fine read for a bit of ego stroking though...

I can't agree more. These headlines and the reason that every single news post is overcome with links to other news post rather than external resources is part of the reason why I haven't subscribed to phoronix yet.

[Remco]

I agree that the inline self-referential links have to go. They make it really difficult to find the 'real' links. They should be listed as related news.