Well the latest Steam hardware survey is out for April and it isn't looking good again for Linux.
Here are the statistics just for Linux
Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit 0.35% -0.12%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.23% -0.05%
Ubuntu 12.10 0.14% -0.05%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 0.14% -0.02%
Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit 0.11% +0.11%
Linux Mint 14 Nadia 64 bit 0.11% -0.02%
Linux 64 bit 0.10% -0.01%
Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (development branch) 64 bit 0.06% +0.02%
"Arch Linux" 64 bit 0.04% 0.00%
Ubuntu 13.04 0.04% +0.04%
Linux Mint 14 Nadia 0.03% -0.01%
"Fedora release 18 (Spherical Cow)" 64 bit 0.03% 0.00%
"openSUSE 12.3 (x86_64)" 64 bit 0.02% 0.00%
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 (wheezy) 64 bit 0.02% -0.01%
Linux Mint 13 Maya 64 bit 0.02% -0.01%
Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (development branch) 0.02% +0.01%
Linux 0.01% 0.00%
Linux Mint 13 Maya 0.01% 0.00%
"Manjaro Linux" 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
"NAME=Gentoo" 64 bit 0.01% +0.01%
"Fedora release 17 (Beefy Miracle)" 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 0.01% 0.00%
elementary OS Luna 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
"Gentoo Base System release 2.1" 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
"openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64)" 64 bit 0.01% -0.01%
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 (wheezy) 0.00% -0.01%
"Gentoo Base System release 2.2" 64 bit 0.00% -0.01%
This Month: 1.56%
Last Month: 1.69%
So we lose another 0.13%, this is after a loss the previous month as well (see our post on last month here).
Well I was hoping we would see a rise this month but nope, another fall.
Could this be the sign of a continued trend across this year or will some high profile Valve launches like Left 4 Dead 2, DOTA2, Counter Strike:GO lift up our share? I seriously hope this doesn't continue as it won't paint a pretty picture for developers looking to Steam for Linux viability for ports.
What I really hope though is that people aren't looking too much into the survey, especially developers, the results are from a random set of users and as with all surveys it will only be a small % of users that will be asked so it could actually be missing out a vast amount of Linux users.
Update: As pointed out, you should allow for a margin of error on the Steam stats since they could be rounding up, rounding down or truncating the total stats to make it smaller.
Lastly Linux users typically shy away from any form of DRM, so you can bet there is a large bunch of Linux users who just simply refuse to use Steam. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Here are the statistics just for Linux
Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit 0.35% -0.12%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.23% -0.05%
Ubuntu 12.10 0.14% -0.05%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 0.14% -0.02%
Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit 0.11% +0.11%
Linux Mint 14 Nadia 64 bit 0.11% -0.02%
Linux 64 bit 0.10% -0.01%
Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (development branch) 64 bit 0.06% +0.02%
"Arch Linux" 64 bit 0.04% 0.00%
Ubuntu 13.04 0.04% +0.04%
Linux Mint 14 Nadia 0.03% -0.01%
"Fedora release 18 (Spherical Cow)" 64 bit 0.03% 0.00%
"openSUSE 12.3 (x86_64)" 64 bit 0.02% 0.00%
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 (wheezy) 64 bit 0.02% -0.01%
Linux Mint 13 Maya 64 bit 0.02% -0.01%
Ubuntu Raring Ringtail (development branch) 0.02% +0.01%
Linux 0.01% 0.00%
Linux Mint 13 Maya 0.01% 0.00%
"Manjaro Linux" 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
"NAME=Gentoo" 64 bit 0.01% +0.01%
"Fedora release 17 (Beefy Miracle)" 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS 0.01% 0.00%
elementary OS Luna 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
"Gentoo Base System release 2.1" 64 bit 0.01% 0.00%
"openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64)" 64 bit 0.01% -0.01%
Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 (wheezy) 0.00% -0.01%
"Gentoo Base System release 2.2" 64 bit 0.00% -0.01%
This Month: 1.56%
Last Month: 1.69%
So we lose another 0.13%, this is after a loss the previous month as well (see our post on last month here).
Well I was hoping we would see a rise this month but nope, another fall.
Could this be the sign of a continued trend across this year or will some high profile Valve launches like Left 4 Dead 2, DOTA2, Counter Strike:GO lift up our share? I seriously hope this doesn't continue as it won't paint a pretty picture for developers looking to Steam for Linux viability for ports.
What I really hope though is that people aren't looking too much into the survey, especially developers, the results are from a random set of users and as with all surveys it will only be a small % of users that will be asked so it could actually be missing out a vast amount of Linux users.
Update: As pointed out, you should allow for a margin of error on the Steam stats since they could be rounding up, rounding down or truncating the total stats to make it smaller.
Lastly Linux users typically shy away from any form of DRM, so you can bet there is a large bunch of Linux users who just simply refuse to use Steam. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
There appear to be two factors at work here. One being the lack of top tier games and the other appears to be some bugs in the Steam Survey:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/2286
I too have noticed this with the survey, I received it once and then never again. So there might be a glitch in it somewhere.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/2286
I too have noticed this with the survey, I received it once and then never again. So there might be a glitch in it somewhere.
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Is there something special you need to do to get the survey? I've been using Steam for years and I don't remember ever getting prompted for it.
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True, we haven't been getting a whole lot of new games in Steam for Linux lately. There will be weeks at a time before even 1 new game shows up.
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xorg is one to blame so buggy for backwards compatibility i hope Mir jump soon
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I would guess the initial numbers was a lot of users trying Steam. They might not have been frequent gamers and probably don't start Steam each and every month.
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Quoting: sunginxorg is one to blame so buggy for backwards compatibility i hope Mir jump soon
I hope not -- if moving from X is a requirement, Wayland would be the way to go.
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I'm not surprised as it just mirrors my reduced steam usage lately.
I bought the games I wanted right at the start of the client. After that, meh.
What am I supposed to do, rebuy some stuff I got from HumbleBundle or Desura a year ago?
Give it time; they get things done pretty quickly, given the market share we had on Steam half a year ago ;)
I bought the games I wanted right at the start of the client. After that, meh.
What am I supposed to do, rebuy some stuff I got from HumbleBundle or Desura a year ago?
Give it time; they get things done pretty quickly, given the market share we had on Steam half a year ago ;)
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Honestly, I haven't been using steam anymore. Those Pixel-Art games were OK at first but I'm tired of them truth be told. But regardless of what happens, I'm not going back to Windows; I don't care if the bottom falls out I'm 100% dedicated.
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I triple boot Ubuntu, Mac, Windows. As much as I love Ubuntu, I was sick of seeing all the best games available on windows, so I just boot into windows when I want to play games. Everything is available for that platform.
Ubuntu is good. I love the OS more than mac/windows... but Steam needs to emphasise a more compelling reason to switch to her for gaming. Some examples: Timed linux exclusives, Heavy linux game discounts, stability, better performance... something.
The marketing currently goes something like this... try linux, there are fewer games at the same price, running at or below the current performance of windows games but not as stable.
I'll pass, but will watch this space.
Ubuntu is good. I love the OS more than mac/windows... but Steam needs to emphasise a more compelling reason to switch to her for gaming. Some examples: Timed linux exclusives, Heavy linux game discounts, stability, better performance... something.
The marketing currently goes something like this... try linux, there are fewer games at the same price, running at or below the current performance of windows games but not as stable.
I'll pass, but will watch this space.
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I'm telling u the problem… most of people don't even know how to install another operating system, and they are not even interested because "I have one already and it works fine". The problem is windows is preinstalled on almost every machine, and people are used to it. I don't think dota 2 will raise the % of linux users a lot… only those who actually have tried linux and are not happy with the curent games proposed on this operating system.
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