Linux enthusiast Michael Larabel of Phoronix.com (who some may remember from his recent involvement with Valve's Steam on Linux venture), has served up another big rumour, indicating that PC gaming stalwart Blizzard Entertainment plans to release a Linux port for one of their existing titles (thanks VG247).

With the progress of Linux gaming in recent months, Blizzard now wants to tap Tux. I was out in the Los Angeles area the past few days and for those that didn't understand the hint, there's new Blizzard Linux activities taking place.

From a reliable source at the company, I have been told at least one of their very popular titles will see a release for Ubuntu Linux this calendar year. I was told this in person and was a statement backed up by additional proof. With their first Linux port they will use it to judge the waters of Linux gaming themselves to decide their future course. This port is being done internally by their own developers, which isn't a huge surprise given their past public statements and already existing internal Linux client work.

Larabel speculates of an announcement "by this summer" which is mid 2013 in North America.

In an interview last year with AusGamers, Diablo 3 Lead Designer Jay Wilson, indicated that the developer had no current plans to bring the action RPG to Linux, but that any decision to port one of their games would hinge on perceived commercial-viability. So it looks like they may now be taking a real step to gauging that market.

There has been no indication as to which game it might be, however as Phoronix explains, Blizzard has long been known to have a functional Linux client for World of Warcraft working for internal testing, so given that game's global popularity it seems the likely option. However, it may well also be StarCraft 2 or Diablo 3.