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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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DRM is another factor that you might not counted.
There are lot of Linux users that don't want Steam because don't like DRM.
The proof is the cold reception of the lastests HumbleBundles. I mean, the HumbleBundles that need Steam.
The Linux percentage was the worst in history.
There are lot of Linux users that don't want Steam because don't like DRM.
The proof is the cold reception of the lastests HumbleBundles. I mean, the HumbleBundles that need Steam.
The Linux percentage was the worst in history.
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Another point that should be made is percentages lie. I know people say that numbers don't lie, but that's not true because percentages do lie. For instance, the total number of linux users could be increasing month-to-month, but not as fast as growth in other areas. There could have been greater gains in the Windows or Mac spectrum that offset growth in the Linux market.
We need raw numbers to make good assumptions.
However, it also wouldn't surprise me that there are a glut of dual booting users went to check out the Linux client to see it's viability. When seeing that it's not on par with the Windows client, they went back. There most certainly some amount of users that wanted to see the Linux Client for the novelty.
We need raw numbers to make good assumptions.
However, it also wouldn't surprise me that there are a glut of dual booting users went to check out the Linux client to see it's viability. When seeing that it's not on par with the Windows client, they went back. There most certainly some amount of users that wanted to see the Linux Client for the novelty.
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There most certainly some amount of users that wanted to see the Linux Client for the novelty.
Or the TF2 Tux ;)
You make a good point though -- Windows 8 and OS X both had a large percentage increase and these could have been new accounts which would push the Linux percentage down (while the actual number of users remains the same).
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right now what does steam offer me as a linux user that I don't already have ?
- sure I entered all my humblebundle keys but I played all those games already or still got them installed
- games I want on steam like Legend of Grimrock because of the easy way to get the custom dungeons does not appear, so am playing that via wine.
- only close to new AAA title so far has been serious sam 3, and I loved it but beyond that there is nothing on steam that I can't get/have on desura or from a direct download page.
Once a few high profile kickstarters come out I might start using it more then now but till then I don't have the urge.
<rant>
As for the comment that X is to blame and Mir is the way to go, its a silly remark, 2 game engines (unity and unigine) show that they can run fine on X. Mir is about a unified desktop for ubuntu on different devices, and if developers will make games that only work on Mir then we will have Linux and Ubuntu, which is a bad thing for all none ubuntu users, and don't tell me to switch because I am not telling you to switch to windows.
</rant>
for the rest I agree with cheesness, its holding steady despite the fact that steam only has like 1% linux games vs windows games.
- sure I entered all my humblebundle keys but I played all those games already or still got them installed
- games I want on steam like Legend of Grimrock because of the easy way to get the custom dungeons does not appear, so am playing that via wine.
- only close to new AAA title so far has been serious sam 3, and I loved it but beyond that there is nothing on steam that I can't get/have on desura or from a direct download page.
Once a few high profile kickstarters come out I might start using it more then now but till then I don't have the urge.
<rant>
As for the comment that X is to blame and Mir is the way to go, its a silly remark, 2 game engines (unity and unigine) show that they can run fine on X. Mir is about a unified desktop for ubuntu on different devices, and if developers will make games that only work on Mir then we will have Linux and Ubuntu, which is a bad thing for all none ubuntu users, and don't tell me to switch because I am not telling you to switch to windows.
</rant>
for the rest I agree with cheesness, its holding steady despite the fact that steam only has like 1% linux games vs windows games.
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Just switched on steam and for some spooky reason was asked to do a survey despite not ever having been asked to do one in all the many many years I have used steam.
Anyway on the results page it says this :
Anyway on the results page it says this :
Why do many of the Steam Hardware Survey numbers seem to undergo a significant change in April 2012?
There was a bug introduced into Steam's survey code several months ago that caused a bias toward older systems. Specifically, only systems that had run the survey prior to the introduction of the bug would be asked to run the survey again. This caused brand new systems to never run the survey. In March 2012, we caught the bug, causing the survey to be run on a large number of new computers, thus giving us a more accurate survey and causing some of the numbers to vary more than they normally would month-to-month. Some of the most interesting changes revealed by this correction were the [increased OS share of Windows 7 (as Vista fell below XP)](http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/#cat0),
the [rise of Intel as a graphics provider](http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/#pcvidcard) and the overall diversification of Steam worldwide (as seen in the [increase of non-English language usage, particularly Russian](http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/#cat9)).
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I want to toplay play games in linux but i have problems problems with my hybrid graphics card . Bumblebee doesn't help and the installation of the nvidia beta driver with optimus fails to install
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Cheeseness May 2, 2013
- only close to new AAA title so far has been serious sam 3, and I loved it but beyond that there is nothing on steam that I can't get/have on desura or from a direct download page.
What about Valve's offerings? They currently have more titles available on Steam for Linux than any other developer, and with the Team Fortress and Counter Strike franchises still having very healthy player bases, it seems like that's worth noting as appealing (though I can understand if those titles aren't of interest to you personally).
That said, as I noted in my SteamLUG post, April was definitely pretty quiet month, and I think possibly the first since Steam for Linux's launch that we hadn't seen a single Valve title released. I still run Wine to play a bunch of games, and as I said before, people are getting prompted to participate in the survey whilst not running the native client.
Anyway on the results page it says this :
Why do many of the Steam Hardware Survey numbers seem to undergo a significant change in April 2012?
Yeah, the sampling seems to be random rather than geared towards covering everybody over a 12 month period. It's easy to go missed. I've been prompted three times since that sampling bug was identified (that notice has been up on the survey results page for 12 months now).
I'm that note, I'm currently talking with someone from Valve about whether or not we can get more transparency so far as their methodology goes. I don't hold out much hope, but since the more granular survey results breaking down the Other category appeared after a conversation with the same person, there's always a possibility ^_^
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What about Valve's offerings? They currently have more titles available on Steam for Linux than any other developer, and with the Team Fortress and Counter Strike franchises still having very healthy player bases, it seems like that's worth noting as appealing (though I can understand if those titles aren't of interest to you personally).
Don't see those as new AAA titles, sorry and yes your right I don't care about them personally as I am not into online shooters :)
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Not meant as a dig at you Bumadar, but I do take a weary notice at how people's metric for AAA titles keeps getting pulled back as soon as Linux begins to approach it. There once was a time when people said all Linux needed was Valve's games in of themselves.
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Cheeseness May 4, 2013
What about Valve's offerings? They currently have more titles available on Steam for Linux than any other developer, and with the Team Fortress and Counter Strike franchises still having very healthy player bases, it seems like that's worth noting as appealing (though I can understand if those titles aren't of interest to you personally).
Don't see those as new AAA titles, sorry and yes your right I don't care about them personally as I am not into online shooters :)
Ah, OK. I didn't realise that you were looking for both new *and* AAA.
Out of interest, what non-online (both TF and CS are playable via LAN as well, I believe) new AAA titles would you like to see on Linux?
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It really isn't a mystery. In spite of all the hooplah and trumpeting, linux users are still being offered 3rd tier and ancient games. I installed Steam on three of my computers during beta because I was so excited to be getting a chance to game in linux. After three months of getting the same crap games I was installing before Steam was available on linux, I just went back to using Steam on my Windows partition.
Until someone offers current gen and top shelf games for linux, it's going to remain something for only the zealots and fanbois to get excited over.
Until someone offers current gen and top shelf games for linux, it's going to remain something for only the zealots and fanbois to get excited over.
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I am a gamer and linux does not play the game (GW2) I playing currently very well so I am stuck with windows, but there is no reason for the non-gamer not to switch, but here is my take on why this is not happening, Windows is used by the users company so the average user uses it at home because they are too lazy to learn something new and the average Linux user turns off the average windows user with what I like to call a holier than thou attitude, in other words you should know that or I am smarter then you, the linux user may not say these things but there attitude may imply it, for example the other day I was reading a thread were basically a windows user is saying they have not switched to linux is because it cannot install were the user would like it to, I know linux is more flexible than windows on the install location, but another user (maybe he is a windows user but the other user identified him as a linux user) was arguing my point but the windows user takes it as an attack, it does not matter what windows has done it just matters what linux can do, unless of course the windows user is really p'ed off about something, another example is I asked my step-dad why he has not switched and he replies he uses outlook which I do not use so I cannot reply use this instead or if the users data can be transferred.
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I agree until AAA game title are native or playable on linux you will not see many users switching.
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I guess in a way I am just as bad as the average non-gamer windows user by letting a game stop me from making the change, but I feel I have an excuse, I have money invested but I guess the non-gamer could use that excuse too.
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The big question I have is the way this is calculated. I was playing a lot of New Vegas in April using WINE. Does that count me incorrectly as a windows user since I was having to run the windows version of steam to play it?
These metrics are useless until we know how accurately they're being compiled.
These metrics are useless until we know how accurately they're being compiled.
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Cheeseness May 6, 2013
The big question I have is the way this is calculated. I was playing a lot of New Vegas in April using WINE. Does that count me incorrectly as a windows user since I was having to run the windows version of steam to play it?
These metrics are useless until we know how accurately they're being compiled.
A number of Steam users are prompted to voluntarily participate in the survey each month. If you didn't receive a prompt to participate, then your details are not included in the results. There's a summary window prior to submission which lists all of the information collected. When running in Wine, this shows the Windows version that Wine is configured to emulate as the operating system version (whether this is incorrect is definitely debatable :) ).
If you're looking for more reading, I've compiled all the solid information that I've been able to find here.
Edit: Wine and Gecko are listed as installed software, but it's unclear as to whether or not this has any bearing in the results seen on the Steam website - I'd hazard a guess and say none.
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Does that count me incorrectly as a windows user since I was having to run the windows version of steam to play it?
I am sorry, but I do not buy that assertion If you are using the Windows version, why would it saying you were a Windows user be incorrect? What does WINE usage have to do with Linux client usage? I am not condemning you for anything here, but this notion that WINE statistics should count as Linux bothers me, as you are still being a Windows customer for them regardless.
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You don't buy it? Well that's a little confrontational for someone who misses the point. Since you set the tone, allow me to carry it:Does that count me incorrectly as a windows user since I was having to run the windows version of steam to play it?
I am sorry, but I do not buy that assertion If you are using the Windows version, why would it saying you were a Windows user be incorrect? What does WINE usage have to do with Linux client usage? I am not condemning you for anything here, but this notion that WINE statistics should count as Linux bothers me, as you are still being a Windows customer for them regardless.
What are the stats on number of linux users for Steam going to be used for? Ponder that for a moment.
To save time, let me just tell you that a company questioning whether or not to port a game to linux would want to know how many potential new customers they could get for their efforts. In that respect, someone running a linux OS is what matters. The fact that a gamer is using a workaround to play something is irrelevant in the course of having accurate data to base that decision on. If linux is their os, then linux is what should be reported. Otherwise the real numbers are watered down by people using workarounds like wine, thus ultimately delaying or completely preventing linux ports because it looks like no one is using the OS.
Now, if you'd like to be less confrontational about this very simple concept, I'd be happy to clarify anything that still eludes you.
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Cheeseness May 6, 2013
To save time, let me just tell you that a company questioning whether or not to port a game to linux would want to know how many potential new customers they could get for their efforts. In that respect, someone running a linux OS is what matters. The fact that a gamer is using a workaround to play something is irrelevant in the course of having accurate data to base that decision on. If linux is their os, then linux is what should be reported. Otherwise the real numbers are watered down by people using workarounds like wine, thus ultimately delaying or completely preventing linux ports because it looks like no one is using the OS.
Now, if you'd like to be less confrontational about this very simple concept, I'd be happy to clarify anything that still eludes you.
I can't really speak for Hamish, but he certainly didn't come across as confrontational or lacking insight to me.
Whilst stats of Wine users as a separate metric may be of value in some respects, I think it would undermine the efforts and recognition of people actually running native software if the numbers were to be mixed with people running software that pretended to be Windows, and in the end make for less accurate data rather than more accurate as you claim.
I think the assumption that Wine usage would convince a developer to support Linux is flawed. From a business perspective, if you already have Linux users buying your non-native titles, then that's a market already satisfied without the overheads of porting, extra support or testing. It would take a more insightful publisher/dev studio than most to believe that native support was worth the effort.
IMO, championing Wine usage stats is a trap.
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Whilst stats of Wine users as a separate metric may be of value in some respects, I think it would undermine the efforts and recognition of people actually running native software if the numbers were to be mixed with people running software that pretended to be WindowsYes, that is my point. Thanks. Oh wait...
and in the end make for less accurate data rather than more accurate as you claim.So I say if I'm using wine, that I should count as linux. You say that wine stats should not be mixed with windows stats, which seems to be in agreement with me. Then you say I'm wrong? How does that work?
IMO, championing Wine usage stats is a trap.Which is why there shouldn't be any. It should count as linux, because that's the OS you're running. Who, besides you, ever mentioned such a thing as stats for wine?
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