The Linux version of Valve’s Steam games download shop goes live today, chip maker Nvidia has revealed.

Nvidia said “Steam gaming platform that officially opened to gamers today” while announcing new Linux-optimised version of the R310 drivers for its GeForce graphics chips, including the new GTX 600 series.

According to the chip maker, the drivers “double the performance and dramatically reduce game loading times” of Linux games - at least if a test comparing the new code with version 304.51 while running Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 beta is anything to go by.

Indeed, Valve contributed to Nvidia’s driver optimisation efforts, as did other, unnamed studios.

Valve announced Steam for Linux back in July, and opened it for a 1000-triallist beta testing programme late last month. Steam runs on Ubuntu 12. ®