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As promised (although with some delay relative to the earlier target dates), the company Valve has officially announced the launch of a limited beta test of its new Steam client for Linux. As part of the testing, some of the popular video games will be available for only a small number of enthusiasts who, obviously, have to test the functionality of this product in the real world and tell the developers of any possible problems and vulnerabilities.
The client beta is now available for installation on Ubuntu 12.04 and latest. Valve has started talking about opening the testing phase of the new client for users who are not engaged in a professional development. On that occasion, Valve claimed to be “primarily interested in Linux user experience.” The software house based in Bellevue said it had received more than 60,000 requests, but only 1,000 slots are available for testing.
The Linux Steam Client will be made available to a greater number of users during the testing phase. The ultimate goal of Valve is to have a client that provides all the functionality of the Windows counterpart characterized by the same level of stability and performance. The testing includes Big Picture, the beta mode of Steam, designed for use with a TV and controller.
The Steam for Linux Beta client would also support such free games as Team Fortress 2 and more than two dozen other Steam games, including World of Goo, Space Pirates and Zombies, Dungeons of Dredmor, as well as Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
“This is a huge milestone in the development of PC gaming,” said Gabe Newell, Valve president and co-founder in a statement. “Steam users have been asking us to support gaming on Linux. We’re happy to bring rich forms of entertainment and our community of users to this open, customer-friendly platform.”
Since several weeks ago, Valve has been receiving requests by Linux users worldwide to access the private beta of Steam. To access the Beta testing, users must meet two requirements: First, they should have some knowledge of intermediate or advanced level of Linux, and, second, they have to fill in the form from the Web version of Steam. The lucky selected user will be contacted individually by Steam team.
Valve efforts to support Ubuntu 12.04 have been made partly because of Microsoft, as the company believes to be moving in the direction of the closed platform within Windows 8. Valve studio head Gabe Newell was one of the fiercest critics of Windows 8.
“An overwhelming majority of beta applicants have reported they’re running the Ubuntu distro of Linux,” said Frank Crockett, a member of the Steam for Linux team. “We intend to support additional popular distros in the future; we’ll prioritize development for these based on user feedback.”
Meanwhile, Canonical has published a page of official support for where you can download Steam for Linux.
