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Steam data reveals PC gamers shifting from Windows to Linux (www.tweaktown.com)

submitted 2 days ago by mesamunefire@piefed.social to c/linux@programming.dev

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[–] ClassyHatter@sopuli.xyz 34 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

The change is even more dramatic if you consider only those users who use English as their language in Steam. Also, Linux adoption rate has sped up this year. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/steam-tracker/ collects various data about Steam usage. One of the charts (screenshot below) show Linux market share among Linux/English users and overall Linux market share. I added the red line to demonstrate how I see the growth. There's only few data points this side of the year, so my drawing is most likely wrong, but the growth starts around March. The green line is at 4.8% in January and February and 6.31% in July, so a nice 30% increase within about 6 months among Linux/English users.

EDIT: The post is now more in line with reality. Couple more data points:

Linux market share among all Steam Linux users has gone from 2.06% in January to 2.89% in July. That's a 40% increase within the first seven months only. And as another commenter said, the growth rate might increase towards the end of the year as more people starts abandoning Windows 10.
The same numbers for last year are 1.95% in Jan '24 and 2.08% in Jul '24, which is only a 6% increase.
But because the data is a bit jumpy, if I use approximate values of 1.75% for Jan '24 and 2.05 for Dec '24, the Linux market share increased by 17% in the entire last year.
I'll stop now.

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Considering how people love to delay things until the last minute, I expect it'll sharply rise in October.

I know this because I'm one of those people. Linux on several PCs and servers for years, but I've been too lazy to format & rebuild my gaming PC to get it off win10 and onto Linux.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 day ago

You'll switch and then ask yourself why you waited so long.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I run Linux in English (because translated Unix looks weird) even though I'm not in or from an English speaking country. Sorry for skewing the stats.

[–] ClassyHatter@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

Thou shalt not be forgiveth! /jk

I might have slightly misunderstood what the information is about, but I also worded things in a wrong way. I edited the post to be more in line with reality, and added some more data points.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Could it be that Steam overcounts the users? I mean if you have a Steam Deck, do you now count as a Linux user, thus diluting the Windows share, even though you’re still (also) using Windows?

[–] ClassyHatter@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

It’s based on devices. But, I wouldn’t consider it as diluting the Windows share. A user might have any combination of devices. Maybe they have PS5 as their home gaming device and Deck as their handheld device. They could also have Windows PC and Nintendo Switch. Or maybe they have Mac laptop and Linux desktop. I for one belong to the Linux desktop and Steam Deck camp. Steam Survey only tells how many Windows, Linux and Mac devices Steam users use, but, for example, not how many hours each type of device is used.

[–] Potatar@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It is capitalism man, you vote with your vallet. If you have 2 devices (you spent money twice) you count twice.