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Six years ago today, Steam was released for Linux - Happy Birthday

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Happy official birthday to the Steam client for Linux, today marks six years since it released for everyone.

Who would have thought we would have everything we do now back in 2013? We've come a seriously long way! In that time we've seen the rise and fall of the Steam Machine and Steam Link (now available as an app), the Steam Controller, the HTC Vive headset and plenty more.

We now have well over five thousand games available on the Steam store that support Linux. That's a ridiculous amount, considering we're still a very small platform even in comparison to Mac when going by the current Steam Hardware Survey showing the market share.

Obviously the number doesn't mean much, quality games are more important and we do have some seriously good games available on Linux. The biggest gap is of course AAA games, which has become quite a bit easier thanks to Steam Play.

Here's to you Valve, thanks for all the fun. You're certainly not perfect and you make plenty of mistakes but you've given us a lot and I for one am especially thankful for the effort.

What are you hoping to see out of Valve in the next few years?

Personally, I hope they continue to push through and get SteamOS 3.0 out the door, a fresh Steam Machine push would be sweet when Steam Play has matured and some good new games would go down well.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Steam, Valve
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Tuxgamer Feb 15, 2019
I was never crazy about steam, but and I mean a big But, since they have made huge strides on bringing more games to Linux and poring hired efforts into Linux gaming and things like steam play that also end up in wine it's hard not to like them.
So thank you very much for your hard work, now please bring back steamos and make it the next big thing that everyone wants in there living room. o ya happy b day :)


Last edited by Tuxgamer on 15 February 2019 at 12:33 am UTC
Phlebiac Feb 15, 2019
Quoting: stretch611Odd... This must be some type of coincidence because it can't possibly be related to the story. :P

But according to the badge on my profile page, my years of service on Steam will hit 6 years within the next two months. How odd is that being so close to 6 years of Steam on linux?

Definitely not a coincidence for me that I hit 6 years on December 19th... Steam beta!

I bought a lot of the games Loki published, every iD title that had Linux binaries, and even a stack of LGP titles when they had a big sale. But I've always had the same problem... more games than time to play. :(
Gamewitch Feb 15, 2019
Well it's been a fun ride for me I had to watch Loki go down when I first started getting into Linux driving me to dual boot for year but have long since left the world of Windows permanently about a year or two before Valve announced Steam was coming to Linux. I had dual booted for years before that spending as much time as I could in Linux but my games ended up making me keep windows around. Since Steam launched it's been really nice for my personal machines to be Windows free even if I still keep up with Windows enough to be able to fix it for other people. It's been a long strange trip watching the dream both start to dies and then be resurrected by Valve in a way not even Loki could match at the time. Now all we need to do is start getting more machines that offer Linux preinstalled for desktop users and we will be there finally.
oldrocker99 Feb 16, 2019
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I started using the beta around October 2012; 6 years ago, many of the then tiny selection had already been available from various Humble Bundles. The first big game, summer 2013, was Crusader Kings II, inaugurating Paradox' complete support of Linux, and Paradox' endless DLCs

Then, several games I had backed on KS,Wasteland II and Pillars of Eternity, War for the Underworld, Planetary Annihilation (now TITANS), and a couple others that slip my mind came out and appeared in my library, and I was happy with all but 2 games: Akaniero:Demon Hunters, which is Free To Play on Steam. Not too bad, but the removal of the map, which was in beta, make it a game I wish I hadn't backed. Also Torment:Tides of Numenera, which is a huge novel with half of a great game which has a great ending, but it comes WAY too soon. And, the project, which gathered more money than any other KS-backed games, and took FOUR $^#%# YEARS to deliver. Buy it only on sale.

Otherwise, I'm delighted with the selection and Steam Play. Happy 70 year old camper.:)
Koopacabras Feb 18, 2019
Quoting: Ehvis
Quoting: PatolaI started working with Linux around 1996/1997, and although I was a PC gamer at the time, the dedication to a "serious" OS made me lose contact with the gaming world, since I also removed windows from my own PC. I even bought some original Linux titles in 2001 or 2002 (who remembers Loki? I still have my Descent 3 Linux CD!), but that was more of a curiosity than real hope I'd have gaming on Linux. That's why at the time of Steam for Linux launch I was very skeptic and I took some time to be convinced by it, but oh boy, convinced I am, and nowadays I consider gaming to be the most important aspect of Linux to rise to mass public success. Since I have a gap of little less than 20 years of gaming, I routinely buy older games to enjoy and I marvel at some 2004 graphics like a little child. Thanks, Valve! You deeply transformed my life for the better.

This pretty much mirrors my experience. Although I was too busy with university around 2001 and my purchases were a little later from LGP instead of Loki.

I started with suse 9.2 (2004), about LGP, anyone remember this game??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1BX-vCEVIg
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