Steam’s Linux Client Now Available

After being in beta for months, the Steam client for Linux operating systems is now available, according to a Valve press release.

In order to celebrate this occasion, Valve has also announced that more than 50 titles are on sale up to 75 percent off, including Amnesia: The Dark Descent, World of Goo, and Bastion.

Recent ports of Half Life and Counter-Strike: Source are also available.

There is also an exclusive item for Team Fortress 2 players. All classes will be able to carry around an in-game version of Tux, the Ubuntu mascot, and can trade it between players.

This is the first step in Valve's "Steambox" plan, which they hope will be able to access every living room. The new Linux client comes with "Big Picture Mode," which allows players to play Steam on their televisions.

“The introduction of Steam to Ubuntu demonstrates growing demand for open systems from gamers and game developers,” said David Pitkin, Director of Consumer Applications at Canonical in the press release. “We expect a growing number of game developers to include Ubuntu among their target platforms."

Hopefully this will encourage more companies to make games for the popular platform.