It’s no secret that Valve sees Linux as the future of PC gaming. After all, the company is building SteamOS on top of Linux. Now the game developer has cemented its commitment to the platform by joining The Linux Foundation.

So, what does Valve joining The Linux Foundation mean for both? For Valve, it allows the company to have a say behind the development of Linux. In other words, Valve will now be able to influence the direction that Linux heads in, including better support for games.

“Joining the Linux Foundation is one of many ways Valve is investing in the advancement of Linux gaming,” said Valve’s Mike Sartain. “Through these efforts, we hope to contribute tools for developers building new experiences on Linux, compel hardware manufacturers to prioritize support for Linux, and ultimately deliver an elegant and open platform for Linux users.”

As for Linux, it will now gain a lot more credibility among gamers. Linux has never been all that popular among PC gamers, but that has been slowly changing as of late as more developers start to build native Linux ports of their titles. As more gamers adopt Linux through SteamOS or other distributions, Linux adoption will undoubtedly rise as a result. Gamers are already the driving force behind Windows 8 adoption, and a similar situation could work out if gamers flock to Valve’s SteamOS platform.

“Our membership continues to grow as both new and mature entities embrace community development and open technologies,” said Mike Woster, chief operating officer, The Linux Foundation. “Our new members believe Linux is a strategic investment that allows their markets to evolve as quickly as possible to achieve long-term viability and competitiveness.”

Aside from Valve, The Linux Foundation welcomed Cloudius Systems and the HSA Foundation into its ranks today as well. Cloudius Systems is developing an open source operating system to handle virtualized cloud workloads while the HSA Foundation develops open-standard architecture for heterogenous parallel computing.

[Image: Steam]