Steam on Linux Finally Hits 1% User Share for First Time in Years

According to the Steam Hardware Survey, this is the first time that the tracker has shown above an 1% Linux share since at least September 2018.

Linux has always been a popular operating system for a certain kind of user, but it’s always presented complications if you want to play a wide variety of games. It might not be an operating system that is in the mouths of every gamer in the world. Now, however, the number of monthly active Steam users running Linux has risen to 1%, according to the Steam Hardware Survey.

The monthly Steam Hardware Survey is quite possibly one of the best windows we get into not only how consumers are playing games but how their hardware is transitioning to keep up with the graphical advances.

Since Valve reported 120 million users back in January, this means that there are roughly 1.2 million active Linux users on Steam as of the moment.

It is still unknown what drove this increase. Many experts believe this is due to the upcoming release of the Steam Deck handheld console from Valve. As you may be aware, the system is running SteamOS 3.0 operating system based on Arch Linux distribution and will make full use of the ever-expanding support for Linux gaming providing via Proton.

Some users also assumed that the increase in the Linux share is also connected to the Windows 11 announcement. Microsoft’s upcoming OS probably won’t be able to run properly on older machines, so it is no surprise that some people might move away from it.

Now, admittedly, 1% isn’t a particularly huge portion of the overall userbase. Not when you consider that just under 90% of people are running Steam on a Windows 10 devices. But we expect the Linux market share to rise even further once Steam Decks start getting in the hands of the gamers later in December this year.