Total War is one of the PC series which seemed destined to stay on PC with mice and keyboards, too big and complex to make work well on controllers. Not any longer. Developer The Creative Assembly has been won over by Valve's Steam Controller, enough to bring Total War: Rome II to SteamOS and, by extension, all of Linux.

"We've always wanted the Total War franchise to be enjoyed by living room gamers, but the limitations of traditional hardware made our style of game play impossible," brand director Rob Bartholomew said in the announcement. "Last month, when Valve invited us to test out the new Steam Controller and unveiled their plans for SteamOS - we were impressed. We believe it will provide us with the control fidelity and platform we need to make a living room experience for Rome II that could be a more compelling experience than playing with keyboard and mouse."

The Creative Assembly plans to launch Rome II on Linux "early next year," and to add Big Picture and Steam Controller support once it gets a dev kit. Happily coinciding with this news, the game's on sale on Steam this weekend, with 25% off making it $44.96.