Here is the latest instalment of Steam's Hardware Survey, as usual we do our monthly thing and compare it and talk about it and make sure you know not to use it as a hard figure.
Linux Results For August 2013
Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit 0.40% -0.03%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.15% -0.05%
Ubuntu 13.04 0.12% -0.01%
Linux 64 bit 0.10% 0.00%
Linux Mint 15 Olivia 64 bit 0.08% -0.01%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 0.08% -0.03%
Total: 0.93%
Last Month: 1.06%
Things to note
The Other category may contain a few of the smaller Linux distro's like Fedora, Gentoo and Arch for example.
Other 0.67% -0.06%
Especially when before the main stats did contain quite a few more Linux distro's it's safe to assume some of the % is Linux as well.
There is this long bug report on Valve's github where a fair few users are stating they have never even seen the survey under Linux. I am one of them, yet I am logged in everyday.
Just be aware these results will probably not be that accurate as we don't know how they do their percentage results, they could be rounding up, rounding down or truncating the percentages. So a 0.5% could actually be nearly 0.6% as it could be 0.59% but they could do no rounding and simply truncate it.
Also it won't be every Steam user (it's a survey not a full statistic) so it can be as simple as not actually showing the survey to many Linux people. Let's face it we know they don't survey 100% of their user base, only a small fraction of it, so bear that in mind as well. Personally I am still yet to see it under Linux so it's not counting me that's for sure and I am logged in every day!
Also to note is that Linux is apparently only sitting at around 1.28% of the worldwide desktop share anyway according to Net Applications. Their reporting should also be taken lightly too since it's all using web-based counters.
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.
Linux Results For August 2013
Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit 0.40% -0.03%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.15% -0.05%
Ubuntu 13.04 0.12% -0.01%
Linux 64 bit 0.10% 0.00%
Linux Mint 15 Olivia 64 bit 0.08% -0.01%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 0.08% -0.03%
Total: 0.93%
Last Month: 1.06%
Things to note
The Other category may contain a few of the smaller Linux distro's like Fedora, Gentoo and Arch for example.
Other 0.67% -0.06%
Especially when before the main stats did contain quite a few more Linux distro's it's safe to assume some of the % is Linux as well.
There is this long bug report on Valve's github where a fair few users are stating they have never even seen the survey under Linux. I am one of them, yet I am logged in everyday.
Just be aware these results will probably not be that accurate as we don't know how they do their percentage results, they could be rounding up, rounding down or truncating the percentages. So a 0.5% could actually be nearly 0.6% as it could be 0.59% but they could do no rounding and simply truncate it.
Also it won't be every Steam user (it's a survey not a full statistic) so it can be as simple as not actually showing the survey to many Linux people. Let's face it we know they don't survey 100% of their user base, only a small fraction of it, so bear that in mind as well. Personally I am still yet to see it under Linux so it's not counting me that's for sure and I am logged in every day!
Also to note is that Linux is apparently only sitting at around 1.28% of the worldwide desktop share anyway according to Net Applications. Their reporting should also be taken lightly too since it's all using web-based counters.
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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I got my first survey 2 days ago.
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lol pathetic numbers, we can be really thankfull they keep supporting the plateform with such numbers. And hope their linux-based console will have success, otherwise … doubt the "seconde age of linux gaming" will carry on. Still so low numbers after dota 2, natural selection 2, counter strike, half life, team fortress, and even more. People just don't care about which OS they use, they want things to be done and that's it. Windows already installed when they buy a machine, why would they switch to another OS, plus they are used to it. Nahh those numbers just won't go up unless there is something really huge happening
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I haven't seen this survey for 3 months.. and I am daily Steam user..
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lol pathetic numbers, we can be really thankfull they keep supporting the plateform with such numbers. And hope their linux-based console will have success, otherwise … doubt the "seconde age of linux gaming" will carry on. Still so low numbers after dota 2, natural selection 2, counter strike, half life, team fortress, and even more. People just don't care about which OS they use, they want things to be done and that's it. Windows already installed when they buy a machine, why would they switch to another OS, plus they are used to it. Nahh those numbers just won't go up unless there is something really huge happeningThat numbers are not corrent... you can find everywhere on the internet, that this survey just doesn't show up... More important are numbers of buys. Maybe Liam could ask some developers ( Paradox, Valve etc.) for more details about Linux numbers..
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Still so low numbers after dota 2, natural selection 2, counter strike, half life, team fortress, and even more.
Compared to how many games you get on Windows, that's still not worth mentioning. And if you have let's say 20 games in your list and only one of them runs on Linux, you probably wouldn't switch :)
why would they switch to another OS
First, the games you want to play need to be available for that OS (all of them). If that's the case, you can attract a lot of gamers with better performance - even if that's not too much. Although, that's not yet the case for all games, it seems to be possible for Linux to score on that point.
Nahh those numbers just won't go up unless there is something really huge happening
That might be the SteamBox (hopefully).
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I agree that purchases are more important. 113 of my 389 games are now linux friendly. However, it's fair to say that I've played most of those 113 games to death when Steam wasn't available to linux.
We're close to a tipping point though - Steam has now been available on linux long enough that newer games are coming through that I have only ever played on linux. The excellent "Gateways", recent "Natural Selection", "Teleglitch", "Sir you are being Hunted", "DOTA2" and maybe a dozen others. It's now been around a month since I logged into Windows to play a game (some DLC from the summer sale - Dishonoured and Borderlands). And the only games that have tempted me to consider Windows in the last 3 months (I resisted) are PayDay 2 and possibly the new Saints Row game.
But of course none of this matters, because I wasn't asked to participate in the Steam survey.
We're close to a tipping point though - Steam has now been available on linux long enough that newer games are coming through that I have only ever played on linux. The excellent "Gateways", recent "Natural Selection", "Teleglitch", "Sir you are being Hunted", "DOTA2" and maybe a dozen others. It's now been around a month since I logged into Windows to play a game (some DLC from the summer sale - Dishonoured and Borderlands). And the only games that have tempted me to consider Windows in the last 3 months (I resisted) are PayDay 2 and possibly the new Saints Row game.
But of course none of this matters, because I wasn't asked to participate in the Steam survey.
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If you look at Valve's presentation about porting games to Linux you'll notice they mention what I think is their real goal: Chinese market. Valve states that most of chinese PC's have hardware caped by DirectX (which would not happen with OpenGL).
So, all this number doesn't mean much. This is a long term project.
So, all this number doesn't mean much. This is a long term project.
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Or do you think that Ubuntu being chosen as China's Official Linux (http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/03/ubuntu-to-become-the-official-os-of-china) and Valve picking Ubuntu as their main Linux distro is a coincidence?
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If I had doubts about these numbers before (and I didn´t have) now I am completely sure they can´t be taken too seriously, I am participating on this post Liam said and I am using Steam for Linux since the second Beta wave and never got this survey. Valve knows this, don´t you think that if the Linux users number was really decreasing at this rate Valve would have stopped to support it? We can see more games released, even games I wouldn´t expect to see on Linux right now (Metro: Last Light for example) and more projects going on, Valve has a long time strategy and it´s going pretty well in my opinion.
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It's been stated that this survey doesn't really portray any actual amount of users. Obviously Games are being sold, or we wouldn't be having so many being released by the same companies 
. Look at this, who is to say they numbers aren't erroneous as in past instances?. I take the Steam Hardware Survey with a grain of salt. When the Games stop, then you worry.
All zeros
. Look at this, who is to say they numbers aren't erroneous as in past instances?. I take the Steam Hardware Survey with a grain of salt. When the Games stop, then you worry.All zeros
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I got the survey last week (on Ubuntu 13.04). I'm not logged into Steam every day, my logins are actually few and far between.
The survey doesn't need to hit every Linux user to get an accurate measure. That's not how polls work, generally.
The survey doesn't need to hit every Linux user to get an accurate measure. That's not how polls work, generally.
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For what it's worth, over my 4 years of using Steam in Wine and over the past year running Steam on Linux, I've only ever seen the survey once. And it was the one time that I installed Steam on a work computer running Win7 so that I could try Just Cause 2. :(
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I have been using steam on Linux on and off since it came out of beta, and I have been asked to run the survey twice. I don't think there is anything wrong with the survey and that the numbers really are that low.
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Maybe the numbers would be a little higher if Linux users stopped dual-booting and running Windows games via Steam in Wine.
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I switched to Linux completely only this month. And did the survey yesterday (was hoping my linux mint could raise the bar a bit). Lets hope some more people switch. The games available rock... :) (<-- bought Brütal Legend a few days back)
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One of the reasons Linux gaming is not going forward is that hardcore gamers will never be satisfied with the type of games currently on Linux. People want to see FPS and RPGs but all we have is countless indies with 2D simplified graphics. I have to admit that good graphics don't mean good games but not all people are sentimental, not everyone started playing games on the 80s and not everyone is attracted to simplicity.
Don't want to sound ungrateful, indies are nice to have and the driving force of Linux gaming but they are not enough to attract the hardcore gamer.
PS: I am using steam linux since the beginning and this survey never popped up.
Don't want to sound ungrateful, indies are nice to have and the driving force of Linux gaming but they are not enough to attract the hardcore gamer.
PS: I am using steam linux since the beginning and this survey never popped up.
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One of the reasons Linux gaming is not going forward is that hardcore gamers will never be satisfied with the type of games currently on Linux. People want to see FPS and RPGs but all we have is countless indies with 2D simplified graphics. I have to admit that good graphics don't mean good games but not all people are sentimental, not everyone started playing games on the 80s and not everyone is attracted to simplicity.Serious Sam 3 :BFE, Brutal Legend, Legend of Grimrock, Crusaders Kings 2, Europa Universalis IV, Portal ( Portal 2 coming), Left 4 Dead 2, Killing Floor, The Cave, CS: Source, DOTA 2, Team Fortress 2, Eurotruck Simulator 2 ( beta), Natural Selection 2, Trine 2, Metro: Last Light coming, Cities in motion coming, Wasteland 2 coming, Amnesia: Machine for pigs, Tropico 5 is coming, X3 is on Linux, Wargame is on Linux, Football Manager 2014. Of course, that's not so much compared to Windows..but just remember when Linux client came out :)..... there is already a bunch of really good looking games on Linux.. and i hope in the future there will be more of them
Don't want to sound ungrateful, indies are nice to have and the driving force of Linux gaming but they are not enough to attract the hardcore gamer.
PS: I am using steam linux since the beginning and this survey never popped up.
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Serious Sam 3 :BFE, Brutal Legend, Legend of Grimrock, Crusaders Kings 2, Europa Universalis IV, Portal ( Portal 2 coming), Left 4 Dead 2, Killing Floor, The Cave, CS: Source, DOTA 2, Team Fortress 2, Eurotruck Simulator 2 ( beta), Natural Selection 2, Trine 2, Metro: Last Light coming, Cities in motion coming, Wasteland 2 coming, Amnesia: Machine for pigs, Tropico 5 is coming, X3 is on Linux, Wargame is on Linux, Football Manager 2014. Of course, that's not so much compared to Windows..but just remember when Linux client came out :)..... there is already a bunch of really good looking games on Linux.. and i hope in the future there will be more of them
That's a nice list.
If I'm being petty, then I think we need to see an commitment from Unreal to bring their technology over. That would open the door for titles like Borderlands 1 & 2, Bioshock Infinite and Dishonoured among others (Sanctum, which I love, or even the likes of Mass Effect). I know that ports have been done for Killing Floor and Dungeon Defenders, but they have been hacked ports, not "official" support from the engine designers.
Also, Skyrim. Just saying.
And of course, all we need to bring another 8 million potentials over would be World of Warcraft support. But I can't see that happening. Or Skyrim, if I'm being honest.
But I live in hope that U3 makes an appearance at some point.
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Never got the survey on linux. And I'm still waiting for CS:GO ported to really spend some time gaming.... Complete lack of racing games isn't helping also I think....
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Same here. I am a daily user and have not seen a survey once...
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