November 10, 2015 - the official Steam Machines launch date - may just mark the beginning of a new era in GNU/Linux gaming. An actual franchise of hardware-diverse console-like devices based on the SteamOS platform (powered by the Linux kernel) can become huge in increasing both its userbase and the game library.

Whether or not Steam Machines take off, Valve has already become instrumental in removing a lot of Microsoft-focused blinders from PC Games developers. Almost 500 new (and old) titles have appeared in the SteamOS + Linux catalogue, and we are now in the 1600+ area in just about half-year's time.

UPDATES (Games that went live for SteamOS since this thread was created):

(Semi-random) SHOUTOUTS:

  • A Cities: Skylines modding contest "Shape the Horizon" has been announced by Alienware - 1st and 2nd place winners will be rewarded with Alienware Steam Machines!
  • From the creators of Skullgirls: The Indivisible crowdfunding campaign is still going on (16 days left) targeting a cross-platform release. A playable prototype is available (and is thoroughly enjoyable) - check it out!
  • The Isle developers are looking for Linux users to help with some testing! The game is still in alpha, but looks pretty promising.

All that aside, I'm back with some SteamPlay goodies. ^^
Steadily running out of unrestricted gifts (and unbundled games, as time goes by), but I will try to keep this interesting and varied.
No complaints are accepted without "proper" GA for arguments. Lead by example. :P
There is a handy thematic sale going on right about now.


There are no giveaways above this line.

Round Four Nov ??-?? (Check back later - there will be updates!)

Levels 1+ Levels 2+ Levels 3+
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???
??? ??? ???

Lense wants to share these (L0+):


There are no open giveaways beyond this line.

The rest is now history…

Round One Nov 10-12
L0+/FFA: [CLOSED] Pixel Piracy | [CLOSED] Evil Pumpkin: TLH | [CLOSED] Nimble Quest
L1+: [CLOSED] Munin | [CLOSED] Terraria | [CLOSED] Torchlight II
L2+: [CLOSED] Goat Simulator | [CLOSED] Hexcells Complete Pack | [CLOSED] Gods Will Be Watching

Round Two Nov 13-15
L0+/FFA: [CLOSED] Beyond Gravity | [CLOSED] Gnomoria | [CLOSED] Nihilumbra
L1+: [CLOSED] Paper Sorcerer | [CLOSED] Hotline Miami | [CLOSED] Khet 2.0
L2+: [CLOSED] Unity of Command (Trilogy) | [CLOSED] Verdun | [CLOSED] Shadowrun Returns Deluxe

Round Three Nov 16-18
L1+: [CLOSED] Contraption Maker | [CLOSED] Uplink | [CLOSED] Ironclad Tactics
L2+: [CLOSED] Interplanetary | [CLOSED] SteamWorld Dig | [CLOSED] FarSky
L3+: [CLOSED] Nuclear Throne | [CLOSED] Fire | [CLOSED] Tabletop Simulator

And… thanks to JustDucky, there was also a (L2+) [CLOSED] Besiege giveaway here!

Lense, our MVP, has sneaked in two more (L0+) giveaways. I just couldn't resist (shame on me):
Knock-knock.
– Who's there?
A Virus Named Tom!
– Sorry, we're [CLOSED] now!

An (L1+) [CLOSED] Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood GA was also hidden here, courtesy of iracional88.

BrutoDetestsSB asked to add a (L0+) [CLOSED] Witcher 2 to the list. Very well.

partypooperwastaken joined the party with these [CLOSED] super [CLOSED] gooey (L4+) giveaways,
keeping it up (L4+) with the [CLOSED] LIMBO dance with a nice calypso [CLOSED] beat,
and wasn't sure whether he should have rushed back [CLOSED] home (L4+) to chill out with some music or sought for an [CLOSED] adventure (L4+) going out that day.


As usual:

  • There are no special requirements for GA entrants to use GNU/Linux or OS X, but Windows-only users (still) have the luxury of joining just about any other giveaway on this site, so be considerate.
  • If you would still like to enter, but are not interested in this mumbo-jumbo, check out an open-source project or two.
  • SteamPlay (cross-platform) contributions to this thread are always welcome!

And a quick reminder about the dedicated OS X and/or GNU/Linux Steamgifts groups (fragmentation everywhere!):

9 years ago*

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Are you interested in Steam Machines?

View Results
Yes, definitely! I will get one (or more) or have pre-ordered already. SteamOS all the way!
Yes, most likely. But I am more interested in the hardware options (for a new gaming PC) and will have it run Windows®
Maybe. I have not decided yet and will have to see where it goes.
Steam Machines? What are those!? (The Potato Option)
Nope. Not really excited about Steam Machines, but happy to see more Linux-games.
Nah. I don't care at all.
Of course not! My glorious rig already runs every game there is on the market. SteamOS is ridiculous!
Other - I will share my views in the comments…

Is this reserved?

9 years ago
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This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

9 years ago
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Thanks, definitely appreciated! Added it to the OP for better visibility.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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Done. Thank you very much!

9 years ago
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I'm quite excited about the new controller and I really love the idea of getting rid (eventually) of Windows. I'll have to run windows for most games, but this is a great start. Have you ever used the steamos beta?

9 years ago
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I heard good things about the controller too.
Haven't used the SteamOS beta, but my main OS is Ubuntu now, and Big Picture Mode runs pretty well, so the experience should be quite similar.

9 years ago
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+1, A friend showed me the controller and it's pretty great. I love the idea of moving away from Windows in the future and SteamOS is a great start. I don't care for steam machines though, I can just install SteamOS on any computer I build on my own. I was waiting for the official release of SteamOS before trying it out.

9 years ago
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Well I'm actually planning to get a decent pc to play, but I'll use it only for games. Right now, I only have my laptop. I've just sold my xbox 360 console, as prices and variety and many other things made me see the best choice.

9 years ago
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It appears you may have made a mistake in the Giveaway Levels (or the formatting of the chart). Torchlight II and Nimble Quest for instance are not Level 2 Giveaways.

Thanks for sharing.

9 years ago
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Yep, thank you very much. Fixed that. Kind of forgot to rotate the table. ^^'

9 years ago
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Glad to help. Least I can do given the nice giveaways.

9 years ago
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you're missing a poll option for being interested in the software (potential for vulkan etc) rather than the hardware

9 years ago
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Good catch. I did include the "Other…" option for that reason.
Although, strictly speaking, I would not attribute Vulkan to Steam Machines directly. Should have put that in the "happy to see more Linux-games" option (not just plain games, but technological advancements in the relevant areas).

9 years ago
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well i'm also curious if valve can make a lean OS but from the minimal reading i've done, that seems unlikely, it's like a reskin of debian

9 years ago
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Hence my hesitation to set a direct connection. Valve has to make "Living Room Gaming" experience as streamlined as possible, and that mostly is about removing a lot of hurdles that currently exist. There is no magic involved, rather a lot of proper publicity, funding and support. Straight-up development is but one of the many contribution methods there is. ^^'

9 years ago
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i wasnt talking about the experience, they already have big picture

do you remember a few years ago they were talking about porting source, specifically l4d, & what they found was their opengl build ran faster than direct3d

if they set out to make a 'gaming OS', i was hoping to see something similar to consoles, rather than a desktop OS that simply loads the steam client (although having the desktop available is a good feature, along with i assume the thousands of debian packages already available)

vulkan & dx12 are a huge step of course, so maybe there is no longer need of a specialized OS (the architecture, not the user interface)

9 years ago
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Yeah, I think a lot of people like myself were looking for that option and took the next best thing which is the most popular answer: "Nope. Not really excited about Steam Machines, but happy to see more Linux-games."

9 years ago
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Always happy to see mire games on all platforms. My good friend uses Mac, so it's quite difficult when I want to gift him games on Steam.

I'm a common Windows user, though. Hope you don't mind if I enter one of the GAs? :-)

9 years ago
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I don't mind. Even if you only use Windows now, building a cross-platform library may help should you decide to move in the future. ^^

9 years ago
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I'm not interested in steam machines themselves, but i'm glad that linux based gaming is evolving so if SteamOS will push it far enough i'm up for switching from Windows.

9 years ago
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I use Windows, OS X and Linux. :-D

9 years ago
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Even though I don't use Linux right now, I'm really not happy about where Windows is heading with 10, so having more developers interested in other more open platforms like Linux is a very good thing. I hope the trend continues.
Thank you for the GAs!

9 years ago
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Oh boy, another Lense giveaway in another of these threads! :D
Thanks for your continued support!

9 years ago
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More Linux celebrations! Yay! Diversity is good. I'm in your position right now and even just having possibility, having an option to make a change is a great thing. So woo! \o/
However PC I'm building on my own.

9 years ago
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i'm good with my BackBox Linux, no need for SteamOS

9 years ago
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Good for you!
Not really planning a hop to SteamOS too, but the benefits of having a larger (and a more active) userbase are pretty obvious.
Ah, that reminds me of a question I never asked about compiling JtR with OpenCL/CUDA enabled… So lazy of me. :(

9 years ago
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will need it again probably next year

9 years ago
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I'm so glad the option "Nope. Not really excited about Steam Machines, but happy to see more Linux-games." is winning.
I'll never get one of these Steam machines. I don't like them at all. I prefer to have a standard PC with any other Linux distro.
But I, and the whole Linux community, must thank Valve for putting effort into Linux gaming. Like you said, it has become instrumental on this struggle.

9 years ago
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And also a strategical must step.

9 years ago
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Steambump

9 years ago
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I just hope that nVidia and AMD release good freaking drivers for Linux because of this. I am not excited at all about the Steam machines(Overpriced because prebuilt and trademarks) per se, but for the attention that Linux is going to get. If these machines will be the reason of nVidia and AMD making good drivers, I will praise them.

9 years ago
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haha +1!!!
AMD drivers for Linux are so lame. I deactivated my AMD graphic card because Ubuntu kept not waking from suspend after installing new AMD drivers.
Since I don't play heavy games, Intel i7 integrated graphics is OK for me but I can't use openCL on my code anymore =((((
Anyway, thank you for the giveaway and the great news! = D

9 years ago*
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Drivers, in particular from Nvidia, are not so bad. The problem is that they must find a way to update them easy for the ordinary user. Because now for the inexperienced user the chance to destroy his/her Linux system is great.

9 years ago
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I'm not going to buy a steam machine, maybe a controller in the future, anyway I love the idea of diversity in PC gaming, differenti options, the fact that we can play (almost) anything, everywhere, now much easily than before.

9 years ago
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Things definitely changed for us. I remember just what it was a few years ago.
Unfortunately, the problem remained the same - small user base. If this does not change, respectively Linux sales of games do not increase , things will return as before. Because every developer / publisher still looking for at least return of investment.
Thank you cicyractu for the great giveaways:)

9 years ago
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Hey nonamebg. I was sure I would find you on this topic ; D
oh, how rude of me. I forgot to thank cicyractu for the great giveaways and great news!

9 years ago
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Hi josekiller, of course we'll meet here.:)
Sorry to hear about your problems with AMD. They definitely have to catch up.
You can do it at any moment,

9 years ago
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Steam Machine is a terrible, terrible idea. I hope Valve would realize their mistake and stop investing further on them. I mean honestly, this is by far the worst idea coming from Valve ...

9 years ago
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“When we started with Steam, no-one believed you could deliver a better gaming experience over the internet, and we’re like, well, we actually think it’s probably an opportunity to do something,” he said.

— Gabe Newell talking about Steam Machines

9 years ago
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Thanks a lot for the quote, I read it all twice and my thoughts aren't changed. It was an original, creative and brilliant idea to use convention of the internet on gaming. It was bound to succeed, but this Steam Machine has nothing to offer to gamers. At best, it could be a transition stage for console gamers to adapt PC and then build their own actual gaming PC. But it can't possibly attract current PC gamers, no gamer would give up their PC for something inferior or waste money on a "living room PC". I honestly think Gaben is failing us in the last couple of years, I just hope he'll realize his mistakes in the fail of Steam Machine.

9 years ago
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Why do you think it is primarily targeting "current PC gamers"? A lot of the console users are sold on the exclusives simplicity of the whole setup. If a gaming PC (disguised as a console) with a friendly and hassle-free interface and a store can do things just as good, isn't that a win for the PC games market?

I mean, nobody is forcing a Steam Machine on you (a storefront ad is still just an ad). "Hardcore gamers", however elitist, have lost the prized position of the main income source of the video game industry. For better or for worse.

9 years ago
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You said its a terrible idea but you don't even give the reasons why...
And no, I am not going to buy one, I prefer to build my own. The premise behind the Steam Machines it is what its attractive for me. Leaving freaking Windows behind is marvelous from my point of view.

9 years ago
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SteamOS is amazing for sure, the boundries of Windows holds back gamers in every stage. I'll install it once a stable version is out and library is expanded. But the Steam Machine thingy will fail.hard. See my response to cicyractu to hear my reasons.

I prefer to build my own too, but Valve thinks they can attract gamers with "convention" of a ready setup. Well they're wrong in so many ways -_-

9 years ago
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I'm a bit surprised that so many Steam games are available on Linux and OS X. I play on Windows in most cases, but it's because that for some reason most of the games (I tried so far) doesn't run on my OS X - maybe it's a matter of drivers (if this may be the case)

Thanks for the giveaways!

9 years ago
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It is not a question of drivers.Just most developers simply relying on graphics technology from Microsoft.

9 years ago
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I only tried 2 and both have gamebreaking bugs that make them unplayable on linux (Dungeon Defenders 1 and ibb&obb)

9 years ago
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Odd. I think I've played about an hour and half of Dungeon Defenders back in March 2013 (!)
Don't recall any problems with it (except for not getting the hang of the actual game). Might need to try again.

9 years ago
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9 years ago
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That very well might be a driver issue. It's a bit sad to read something like this.
Steam Machines hardware variety could become a pitfall over time (if older versions of the OS on the underpowered machines do not get the necessary updates), but the open nature of SteamOS also means extended community support…

9 years ago
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i love the idea that some day maybe we wont have to log to a windows o.s. just to play >.<

9 years ago
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My Steam link and controller should be here tomorrow. Yay. Thank you for the giveaway

9 years ago
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haha! i saw that joke "who's there?" xD

9 years ago
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I prefer to build my own rig (cheaper, easy to maintain/repair, don't care about form factors btw), install whichever OS(es) I want to, and use the control options I want to.

Linux is getting more compatible games, that makes me happy, but still, lots of AAA (old and new) are still missing, I wonder how steam machines buyers will deal with that.

9 years ago
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I just got my Steam Controller this weekend. Playing with it feels a bit weird, but it's fun to experiment. Although I'm currently using it on my Windows box, I already checked to see that several users have uploaded their controller profiles for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. That's simply awesome.

I plan on building my own Steam Machine in the coming months.

9 years ago
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It's fantastic that more game devs are now embracing Linux.

I can't wait until Linux becomes a viable prime time O/S for a larger percentage of users, only then will we see true innovation from Microsoft rather than piecemeal incremental upgrades. So many people are scared away from Linux currently and Microsoft is absolutely ingrained in many businesses, but things are moving in the right direction. Competition is always a good thing!

Unfortunately I fail to see what Steam Machines really add to the mix, like some other posters here I would always rather build my own PC and have the choice of distro.

9 years ago
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Glad to see Linux is advancing with games too :-)

9 years ago
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