Source Engine 2 in the works with OpenGL support

During day 1 of its 2014 Steam Dev Days conference, Valve revealed a load of interesting info about its business and plans to work with game developers.

Among the sessions hosted was an OpenGL workshop in which Source Engine 2 was discussed.

OpenGL is an open-standard cross-platform graphics API used to interface with a GPU, currently on version 4.4.

In recent years OpenGL has taken a backseat to the likes of Microsoft’s DirectX graphics API, which can only be used natively on Microsoft platforms.

However, OpenGL is poised to play an increasingly important role in the PC gaming space as Valve is pushing hard to make Linux a viable gaming platform (and by extension, OpenGL will be the API of choice on Linux-based systems).

This ties into Valve’s inevitable Source Engine 2 which will support OpenGL, making it a very attractive 3D engine for developers who want to reach as many platforms as possible, and a shrewd move by Valve who wants as many Linux-ready games available on Steam to support its Linux-based Steam OS and Steam Box initiatives.

Stay tuned for more news as it emerges from the Steam Dev Days 2014 conference.