It’s been a rough few days for Linux gaming, but the battle is over. In response to Canonical’s change of plans around 32-bit compatibility libraries, Valve has announced it will “likely” support Ubuntu 19.10 and 20.04 LTS.
Following Canonical’s statement after “the huge amount of feedback this weekend,” Valve’s statement was posted by developer Pierre-Loup on the Steam forums on June 26. He explains the entire situation:
However, things aren’t all rosy for Ubuntu. Valve currently recommends Ubuntu to Linux gamers as the preferred officially supported Linux distribution. That may change going forward:
While Valve isn’t thrilled about Ubuntu’s likely plan to drop compatibility with legacy 32-bit software after Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, there are no immediate changes to announce. Linux gamers can keep using the next few releases of Ubuntu to run Steam’s library of games. The community has been heard.
That all being said, we don’t have anything specific to announce at this time regarding what distribution(s) will be supported in the future; expect more news on that front in the coming months.
Both Canonical and Valve’s entire statements are worth a read if you’re interested in this topic. Thanks to OMG! Ubuntu for spotting this.
