Gabe Newell discusses the future of gaming on Linux at LinuxCon

Valve founder Gabe Newell took to the stage at LinuxCon recently and talked about the future of gaming on Linux, according to Ars Technica . More interestingly, however, Newell also hinted at the possiblity that users will learn more about the Linux-based Steam Box earlier talked about in a few days.

“Next week we’re going to be rolling out more information about how we get there and what are the hardware opportunities we see for bringing Linux into the living room,” Newell said.

Newell also talked about how the open source nature of Linux is good for gaming in general. “It feels a little bit funny coming here and telling you guys that Linux and open source is the future of gaming,” Newell said. “It’s sort of like going to Rome and teaching Catholicism to the pope.”

Newell talks about gaming on Linux (image credit: Linux Foundation)

Valve has taken a big step forward in bringing its digital distribution service, Steam, as well as a ton of its games to Linux in recent times. It started around a year ago when a few developers at Valve started porting the Source engine and Left 4 Dead 2 to the open-source operating system.

Gaming on Linux has seen quite some success in recent times, partially thanks to Valve, and partially to a lot of indie developers who made their games multiplatform. Digital distribution outlets like the Humble Bundle, more often than not, also sell Linux games.

Currently, the Steam for Linux library is quite strong, and Linux users can look forward to seeing one of the biggest games of the year coming to the platform—Metro: Last Light.