According to these new numbers from Valve, the Linux customer base is up to 1.96%, or a 0.52% jump over June! That’s a huge jump with normally just moving 0.1% or so in either direction most months… It’s also near an all-time high on a percentage basis going back to the early days of Steam on Linux when it had around a 2% marketshare but at that time the Steam customer size in absolute numbers was much smaller a decade ago than it is now. So if the percentage numbers are accurate, this is likely the largest in absolute terms that the Linux gaming marketshare has ever been.
Data from Valve: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam?platform=combined
Thank god for Valve and how awesome they’ve been to Linux users
I really hope they release Steam OS for everyone soon. I’d love to install it on my laptop, currently running ChimeraOS which is functionally very similar, but would love to have the stuff like tdp control working in the overlays too without needing third party tools or workarounds.
It would be especially cool for the other handhelds out there like the ROG Ally
I know that there is that unofficial HoloISO that people use for desktop, it seems to work just fine but i would prefer an official distro release myself
Main downside for that is there’s 0 support for Nvidia GPU’s
Now we just need an open source steam client and they will be the literal proof that companies can contribute to GNU/Linux and still stay on top.
lutris?
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Too young for what? I’m older than the company is and I don’t recall any devilish controversies.
Are you getting them confused with another company? Valve’s done bad things in the past of course, but they’re still a lot better than most other gaming companies that I know of. I typically put Valve alongside companies like Capcom and Sega as “one of the not bad ones” in terms of malicious practices.
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I understand and that was one of the things I was thinking of when I said “Valve’s done bad things in the past of course”. But when you compare them to many other AAA publishers, I don’t see how Valve is particularly bad. Especially when you start bringing up lootboxes. Unlike many other publishes that go these same bad practices, and at a larger scale at that, value has done some good too, and is generally much more permissive about things like fanworks, and that does a lot to build good will. I don’t see what’s “short memory” about this.
And I’m not even saying that I love valve or anything either, but the devil? Compared to other publishers?
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Realise this: Before steam most games were pirated. Steam made it really easy to pay for games. And ~20 years later we can still play these games.
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So awesome they run a monopoly on videogames through their useless closed source spyware.
Well, their position is what allowed them to do so much for Linux. And their desire to distance themselves from Microsoft, which I’m absolutely on board with.
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Of course they did it because it benefits themselves. But it doesn’t only benefit themselves, which is more than you can say about many others.
When giants are fighting, we the little ones can benefit, if we’re smart.
The only desire they have for is money, this is the same company that doesn’t mind promoting gambling to kids. Their stupid ass closed source launcher that shouldn’t exist needed to run software is a million light years away from what Linux stand for
There are other colours than black and white, you know?
I fully agree that Valve has their share of issues. There’s things I too don’t like about them, but that doesn’t mean the good they do is worthless.
Bringing their spyware to linux isn’t anything good
“This program is spyware because it collects huge amounts of user information, including but not limited to your Home Address, Telephone Number, Credit Card Number, and Internet Search History. Steam also profiles your hardware, communications through Steam’s social networking features, and contains a mandatory self-updater. Steam will not work without an internet connection.”
Seems like they need to collect your address, telephone, and credit card number to process payments? Steam is it’s own internet browser, so the browser data it collects is from itself, not your personal browser.
You seem paranoid and this website seems to be incorrect or purposely stating things in a misleading way, oh and steam does work without and Internet connection
Steam shares your informations with third parties. Zetta you don’t seem to mind much so why don’t you tell us your real name, give us your home address, your telephone number and post a log or your search history? Don’t tell me you are paranoid
Did I ever say that I like how much data they collect? No.
That is absolutely one of the things I greatly dislike.
Count me as one of those new Linux users. I’ve been trying to switch since the 90’s and Linux gaming is finally viable. I know this is in large part thanks to Valve, so thanks, Valve!
The day win10 stops being supported is the day I switch to Linux
If the games you are playing don’t run on linux than you are mostly playing crap designed by people who’s main goal is to empty your pockets and who think that you are stupid
Or you are playing games made on a tight budget focusing on the largest userbase: windows (>90% according to Steam hardware survey)
That clearly does not apply for most of the games holding people back from switching to Linux. It’s mostly going to be games like Destiny 2, PUBG, Rainbox Six, Call of Duty, Battlefield, heck probably even Roblox now.
And funnily enough a lot of indie games do support linux, mostly because are build using engines that make it easy. So I personally reject the claim that it’s games made on a tight budget. Those are going to be few and far between.
why are you guys downvoting him, he’s right
I know countless amazing indie developers who can only afford to target and support Windows as Linux doesn’t generate them any or enough income. They certainly aren’t trying to empty anyone’s pockets, instead supporting their games for years and constantly adding new content for free.
Linux gamers don’t buy every game that developers have put the time and effort into shipping native binaries. Proton is the ideal stop gap until Linux has a bigger user base that can result in a return on investment for native binaries.
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“Don’t run on linux” does include via Wine/Proton.
I wouldn’t call them amazing if they would rather focus on free/pay content rather than releasing binaries for linux. I wouldn’t call them amazing either if they consider releasing binaries as an investment.
There’s plenty of devs who work on their games without the ambition to bank the stock market.
Did you just wake up today and decide to be an asshole, or is this your usual temperament?
Ugh right? People like that make others not want to use Linux out of spite.
-311 comment points in 8 days. Clearly their usual temperament.
It’s festering toxicity like that user displays that turns developers away from Linux. Would you want support tickets from someone like them?
I also found it hilarious they linked a wiki I’ve been contributing to for years hahaha.
I bet the Deck has a lot to do with this.
It does, but as a result we can now set up Linux on other machines and play a huge range of games. This removes one of the main obstacles for many people with Linux.
Love the Deck. I actually finish games with retro or pixel art aesthics with the deck compared to my PC or consoles. The pick up and go aspect and the smaller screen helps me keep coming back to it instead of abandoning it.
The deck has a lot to do with it whether people are playing on it or not. It’s the thing that’s made them make the big push into supporting games on Linux, which applies to other distros than just the Steam one.
It also pushes developers to ensure their games run on Linux, even if it’s through Proton
You have to glad when they don’t implement their own crappy launcher nowadays. Looking at you Bioshock Remastered! (btw, you can skip it via the launch options)
I have not found a way to bypass Larian Studios launcher in launch options but you can make a shortcut to the exe directly.
You can skip it with the
--skip-launcherlaunch option
Yeah that’s what I’m thinking. Great that Linux is getting more representation overall though. Wonder how anti-cheat implementations work nowadays, I remember them not being supported on Linux before, so games didn’t run.
Actually the common anti cheat solutions provided Linux support for a while, but the developers/publishers have been choosing not to enable it.
It was the reason I moved to Linux. Though with another arch based distro and not the deck
Linux FTW. Number 1 on servers, now number 2 on Steam! Watch out, Microsoft /s
Not surprised. Steam on Linux just works. Click a checkbox in settings to use Proton. Then only way it would be easier is if it would automatically detect Proton and use it. I don’t think it does yet?
It automatically uses Proton for titles that Valve has whitelisted as compatible. To play anything else you need to check a box in the settings. Honestly, it should probably just be checked by default.
Probaby just to deter non tech savy people to blame all the problems on steam without realising it wasn’t made for linux in first place. There may not be a lot but with how popular steam deck is, I won’t be surprised if a lot of people are trying out linux for the first time.
I think enabling steam compatibility for all titles do exactly that?
I’m sure 99% of it is Steam Decks
The post says ~42 % is Steam OS
Actually its only 44% steam decks!
@cipherlab @pnutzh4x0r Nonetheless, it’s quite the achievement. That’s exactly what Linux needs: visible, tangible and reputable hardware that’s ostensibly better than the competition. It’s great to be flexible, but you still need to have a face.
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Less than that though they are a large slice.
Most Windows and practically all Mac instances are preinstalled by the hardware vendor. There are very few companies selling preinstalled Linux gaming machines other than the Steam Deck. I expect they might be a majority of new Linux steam users for some time as they are by far the lowest entry cost in terms of hardware, prerequisite technical knowledge and time.
Many gamers who dabble with Linux are still taking the path of least resistance and dual booting for gaming. Linux first people like myself will continue to grow in number but as long as it is a DIY thing realistically we will always be a few percent at best as most people want a simpler out of box gaming experience.
Due to the steam summer sale perhaps?
I found way to many Linux gamers in the wild. So no, they are not Steam Decks.
Good, now we need devs to officially support Linux.
I noticed that wine/dxvk/proton works better than many native Linux versions. This is usually because the game studio does not think Linux is a priority and ships a half-assed implementation. Better to use the optimized version through wine/proton/dxvk.
I just want games officially supported for proton. Linux ABI is still way too inconsistent compared to Wines, and a bitch to work with. Not to mention, performance tends to be better on proton games lol.
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Well, “officially support” can just mean check if their game runs via proton on the Steam Deck at launch. Fine by me, that is the bare minimum I expect, but to be fair launch day support on linux is still a fairly new thing. Not something I would have expected just a few short years ago.
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Yes! Not only do I have a Deck, but I’ve switched my main PC to Linux. Sick of Micro$oft’s shit!
I’ve never looked back to Windows since switching my gaming rig to Linux about a year ago.
One of my favorite things is when a game launches with a DX12 option that says “Windows 10/11 only”. Au contraire, game option. You’re about to run on a penguin.
I have a steam deck but I also recently changed from Windows to Pop!_OS on my gaming rig. I’m very much enjoying it so far
Is Pop OS the new “I use Arch” meme? I see people mentioning it almost everywhere linux is talked about.
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Pop OS is based off of Ubuntu so I mean makes sense.
Pop OS is the new Ubuntu if anything.
Kinda sad people dismiss Linux Mint, but I can definitely see how PopOS can appeal more to users.
I have used Pop!_OS and nothing but it, for almost three years on my computer; I am sure there are sexier distros out there, but it gets the job done. Nothing wrong with Mint either.
Nah, people aren’t smug about using POP OS it’s more like Ubuntu for gamers.
I think it’s basically the recommendation if you use Nvidia cards, since I think they have the most up to date Nvidia drivers? Could be wrong but that was the spiel last time I tried it.
Their installer automatically just has the proprietary drivers, which is really helpful for newer users.
I am using it specifically because of the hybrid Nvidia graphics on my laptop. Because they sell laptops with this setup, their OS supports it flawlessly. I’ll be honest, I’d rather be using something like Nobara, but there were games that weren’t working and I don’t have the patience to figure out how to get them working. Pop just works. That’s what I need.
Why is Pop OS required? Can’t you simply use their nVidia drivers in other Linux distributions?
The process is less streamlined. There isn’t some universal installer that works on all distributions. Especially not for drivers.
Basically when you install Pop OS it’s just available. It’s usually…not on a lot of Linux distributions.
I will bet money it’s not a proprietary driver and simply copied from another project. Where can I see the source code?
Edit: yep, it’s actually the stock Nvidia drivers that you can build and install on literally any Linux OS (and easier on Arch if you use paru by typing “paru nvidia”). So Pop OS implementation is nothing special.
Well yeah, the point is that they provide the driver from the beginning by including it in the ISO, meaning you dont need to set up the driver after installation and it just works
I don’t think so. Maybe I’m misunderstood, but the “I use Arch” meme was meming on the fact that using Arch was a flex, like it’s harder to get into, and you’re a true blooded Linux user if you’re using Arch.
Whereas, Pop_OS is kind of the opposite. I’m fairly new to Linux (been using a Linux system as my daily driver for about a year), and Pop_OS was recommended as a beginner-friendly distro. Plus, it worked well with Nvidia cards with minimal effort. So maybe it seems like a lot of people are using Pop_OS and are bringing it up, because there are a lot of newer Linux users.
Because it’s just amazing for new users, much better than Ubuntu.
POP!_OS is also amazing because of System76s computer manufacturing efforts and the fact that they are building a wayland compositor desktop environment apart from GNOME and KDE which will probably have its first stable release on Ubuntu 24.04.
It’s the most excited I’ve been for a while.
It’s just a neat little distro. Probably the only one I’ve used that haven’t imploded itself with daily use so far.
I also noticed that. It takes all the pressure off me though because I’m an arch user and have been for 10 years 😂
Pop is no meme, it’s awesome and easy.
maybe if valve recompiled tf2 for fucking 64 bit macOS users would use steam more it’s 2023 for fucks sake
Steam still runs on Rosetta2. They just gave up and aren’t even trying anymore, probably thanks to apples hostility to them and no Vulkan
that’s their prerogative but then no one should be surprised when Mac usage slumps
Previous 12 months:
June 2023: -0.03%
May 2023: +0.15%
April 2023: +0.48%
March 2023: -0.43%
February 2023: -0.11%
January 2023: no difference
December 2023: -0.06%
November 2022: +0.16%
October 2022: +0.05%
September 2022: -0.04%
August 2022: +0.04%
July 2022: +0.05%It would seem Linux among Steam users shows a growth tendency.
Hopefully this tendency keeps going strong!These wild swings don’t make me very inclined to trust steam numbers
What happened in April and March?
Looks like it was around the end of March when Valve announced the date they’d end support for Win7 and Win8. So perhaps a part of the Windows userbase went to Linux. If for fear, as a final push to drop Windows, etc., I don’t know, but perhaps they may have influenced.
Nice. Steam with Proton works really great for me so far. If only wine would be as good for other software. Trying to get my Affinity products to work on wine or DAZ Studio is a nightmare and I probably will just use a VM 😩.
I used to check winehq or protondb before buying games. I don’t do that anymore because everything just works in Linux these days.
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I did my first Linux Steam hardware survey yesterday so I’m doing my part!
man, I missed it! Is it still going on?
Valve claims it’s monthly but my previous survey was October last year so I doubt that. I don’t believe it was related to the article in the OP. They seem to just randomly pop up after an update. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one.