14 DAY TRIAL // The Steam for Linux platform hasn't been called a success just yet, but it just passed the 800 games milestone and there is no sign that it's slowing down. With a little luck, 2015 will start with 1000 games in the library.
Valve released Steam on the Linux platform just two years ago and numerous developers ported their games on the new operating system. Now that Steam for Linux has been around for a while, studios have started to make games for this OS right from the start, so we should see many more games landing next year.
Even with so many titles, there are still very few big studios that are taking the new platform seriously. The only big publisher that really showed an interest is 2K Games and some of the titles in their portfolio have already landed, like the Borderlands games and Civilization V (Beyond Earth is almost here).
It's hard to predict when this platform will reach critical mass, but if the rate of publishing on Linux remains the same, it can't be too far into the future.
Steam for Linux is here to stay
Some Linux users have expressed their skepticism about the success of the platform and it would be easy to understand why. Two years later, Steam for Linux has 1.2% market share for this particular distribution service, which might seem very low. The Windows domination is indisputable and it will continue in the near future as well.
On the other hand, things have started to change in the Linux ecosystem. The hardware builders are now providing much better drivers, people are working with a lot more passion and interest on OpenGL, companies like NVIDIA have started to port their middleware tools to Linux, and there is great interest in the community to see the open source platform as a multimedia-oriented OS.
A Reddit user posted a selection of the games in Steam and the 800 titles milestone was passed. Another user (/u/maeries) went even further and compiled a comprehensive list of all the games available right now and showed the trends of the platforms. From the looks of it, the milestone was achieved around November 21.
If you are a Linux user and you don't have a Steam account, you should really get one. With so many titles available, you will certainly find a large number of them at discounted prices, all the time.
