After nearly two months in beta mode, Valve has released Steam for LinuxYou can get the Steam client from the Ubuntu Software Center

Currently there are more than 50 Linux games on Steam and to celebrate the release, Valve is putting on a big week-long sale with games discounted by up to 75 percent. 

Valve opened up the beta back in December after allowing 1,000 users to initially test the service. 

Speaking at the DICE gaming industry conference last week, Valve CEO Gabe Newell said that Steam for Linux gives people freedom to innovate on an alternate operating system.

“It’s a get-out-of-jail free pass for our industry if we need it,” he said.

We can assume that he’s referring to Windows there. It’s no secret that Newell is not a big fan of Windows 8.

Meanwhile back at Valve HQ, there are some major employee changes going on. Reports were out this week that as many as 25 people were let go.

Previously on GeekWire: Valve co-founder Gabe Newell: Linux is a “get-out-of-jail free pass for our industry”

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