The REAL reason Valve is developing Steam for Linux?

[Edvard]

Total conjecture, but it's been whispered around for a while now...

Connect the dots: Valve’s Big Picture could be a Linux game console

When a game developer can offer their games directly through the Windows Store or Mac App Store that’s built into every new computer, why go with Steam?
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that Valve co-founder Gabe Newell is calling Windows 8 a "catastrophe." Perhaps that’s why Valve is building Steam for Linux.

Valve Prepping Custom PC Hardware To Compete With Next-Gen Game Consoles

It’s likely that Valve will assume the role of a boutique PC manufacturer, taking standardized hardware and customizing it (as well as software) for a living room experience. This would entail pre-installing Steam, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, with Valve’s recent love affair with Linux, the company wasn’t neck-deep in developing a custom Linux distribution.

from my friend who hates Linux, but likes to game, and may be changing his mind...

[Carol Haynes]

It will be interesting to see how well MS's app store does with games given the very restrictive nature of what can be sold (in terms of PEGI rating).

[40hz]

Be interesting (if true) to see how they can take something as intrinsically proprietary as a game console and run it on something as committed to openess as Linux and not violate the GPL.

Especially when you consider how often the GPL has been cited by game developers as the primary reason why they don't produce native Linux versions of their games.

[wraith808]

They've already stated that they're making hardware.  Just saw an article on that a couple of days ago.

http://www.gizmag.com/steam-box-confirmed/25378/

[40hz]

They've already stated that they're making hardware.  Just saw an article on that a couple of days ago.

http://www.gizmag.com/steam-box-confirmed/25378/

I'd really love it if they could team up with Roku. My GF bought one of their boxes last year and we've had phenomenal luck with it. If you could take what they've done and beef up the hardware for serious gaming I think it would be a real home entertainment box winner. Roku has the web infrastructure in place already. Steam would just have to add storage (and their DRM crap) and it should be set to go.

[Edvard]

It's official, from a Valve engineer, with picture:
http://www.gamechup.com/steam-box-confirmed-by-valve-engineer-for-2013-will-be-linux-based-report/



They've been working on it since 2011... wow.