I just read a Phoronix article in which Gabe Newell confirmed that Valve Corporation's Steam client is coming to Linux by the end of 2012 or earlier. If he does make good on his word, then this will be simply awesome news. I hope that they target Ubuntu as one of their primary goals for bringing Steam to Linux.

Right now, I purchased CrossOver for Linux 64 bit 11.2.0. I have the Valve Corporation Steam client for Windows installed and I have Sid Meier's Civilization V with a couple of DLCs that I purchased. I have not played this game yet and I am holding off because I have to study for my Graduate Record Examination.

If this does become reality, then it will be most definitely one of the big highlights of this year. I know that there are countless numbers of Ubuntu Forums users that dual-boot into Microsoft Windows and they use Steam to play Windows PC games. This would mean that they could play their Steam games in Ubuntu and perhaps they can get rid of Windows altogether for certain folks.

Valve has hired a lot of impressive Linux talent recently and they are building up their Linux team with additional key hires. If they can manage to pull this off with the fewest bugs and problems, then it will mean that millions of Linux customers will do business with them in the future. There are so many games that I want to purchase and play in Ubuntu using the Steam client.

Things just keep getting better for the Linux community every year.