Recently, Valve ported their popular Steam service (which you may have seen I finally fell in love with) to the Linux platform, and many developers who use Steam as their distribution platform of choice have already responded by porting their games to include Linux in the list of supported operating systems, joining Windows and Mac OSX. To celebrate Valentines (‘Valventines’) Day and show a bit of love for opensource’s poster child, Valve has opened a sale on titles supporting Linux. Trust me, if you’re any kind of PC gamer, you won’t want to miss this!
Join the Party!
If you just came for the food, then hop on over to Steam’s sale page and peruse the list of available goodies. You’ll notice that everything is marked at a minimum 50% off, with several titles reaching 75%. Pretty sweet! Moreover, if you play Team Fortress 2* on Linux during this sale period, you’ll get a free Tux item in-game.
The sale lasts for one week, running until February 21st, 2013.
Mingle a bit…
It’s important to note that while the sale is a push for Linux games, you do not have to be running Linux to participate in the sale. As mentioned earlier, this is just about games that support Linux as well as other operating systems. Every title except Intrusion 2 (Win/Linux) is fully compatible with Windows and Mac in addition to Linux, so you can get your game on regardless of what platform you’re using!
If Valve is trying to prove Linux as a viable gaming platform, though, they’re certainly choosing good titles to do it with. Linux support is already available for classic titles like Half-Life and Counter-Strike: Source, as well as current-gen games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Trine 2.
It should also be noted that several (not all) bundles including games from the sale are receiving discounts as well!
What better way to enjoy Valentine’s Day than isolating yourself in front of your computer and delving into some gaming goodness on your Linux desktop (or Windows or Mac)?
Enjoy!
(*free-to-play, therefore not on sale)
