Steam beta for Linux opens to 5,000 more users

Valve’s digital platform Steam is continuing its beta testing phase on the Linux operating system, with the company announcing plans to invite an additional 5,000 users before the Thanksgiving weekend kicks off in the US. Newly invited beta testers will receive an email notification.

Valve announced its plans to port Steam to Linux in July this year, revealing that it is starting with Ubuntu and a work-in-progress Left 4 Dead 2 port. The external beta began in October this year, and included Steam, one Valve game, and support for Ubuntu 12.04 and above. The initial round of invitations went out to 1,000 users.

The project, which began in 2011, aims to allow Steam to work with a functioning Ubuntu build of Left 4 Dead 2. Valve's 11-person Linux development team wants to make the game run on Ubuntu as well as it does on Windows, and has plans to accommodate other distributions of Linux.

Steam on Linux would add another notch on the digital distribution service's already large platform base, which spans PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, Android, and iPhone.