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UPDATE: Actually, it didn't go up.

The Linux market share on Steam has bounced backed a little in the latest Steam Hardware Survey for December 2017.

Note: Valve do sometimes adjust these numbers a few days later, so keep an eye on it.

As I noted in a recent article, one of the biggest causes of the Linux market share dropping on Steam was an influx of users from Asia. It seems the latest data has gone the opposite way. Here's a look at where Linux is at currently: 0.43%. That's quite an increase, considering the month before it was at 0.27%.

Why has this happened? Well, going by the same way I looked at it before, the use of "Simplified Chinese" as a language on Steam dropped by 15.31%. Also worth noting Windows 7 use dropped by 15.10%, with Windows 10 going up by 13.15%. The overall Windows share dropped by a total of 0.51%.

Here's some updated charts from the previous article (do read it for more info), first here's the Linux market share just by itself as a reference:

Here's what happens again when we look at languages and what happened with them over that same period:

And finally, here's what happens when we look at the market share when we take out Simplified Chinese and we look at just English as languages on Steam:

I did say it would bounce back. However, I expect it to be all over the place this year, up and down constantly due to games like PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS not being on Linux, which is currently the most popular game on Steam. It's also still growing, since it hit 3.1 million players online only three days ago, which is why I still expect the numbers to change both ways over the year. Also somewhat interesting, is that BattlEye tweeted out about 1.5 million bans being handed out for PUBG.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Steam
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Linas Jan 2, 2018
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Quoting: ZlopezThis time I got a popup about the survey. Only one I got this year.
Once a year seems about right judging from my experience.
dorron Jan 2, 2018
I can't remember ever having had a survey pop up in Linux...


Last edited by dorron on 2 January 2018 at 8:09 am UTC
dvd Jan 2, 2018
I was fortunate having received at least 3 surveys this year.
Eike Jan 2, 2018
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Isn't a single one of the over one billion Chineese here to enlighten us a bit about what happens behind the Great Firewall?
razing32 Jan 2, 2018
Quoting: GuestWhat is PUBG ? :)

Player Unknown's Battlegrounds.
Battle Royale style shooter . Very popular at the moment .
doomwarriorx Jan 2, 2018
Quoting: ZlopezThis time I got a popup about the survey. Only one I got this year.

yeah for me too. Can't remember the last time, but very likely 1year+
Narvarth Jan 2, 2018
It's more of an "undecrease" than an increase :)


Last edited by Narvarth on 2 January 2018 at 10:52 am UTC
STiAT Jan 2, 2018
Most interesting is the w/o chinese market share. China is a huge market, and it was to be expected that overall numbers decline. But the number w/o chinese shows we actually are pretty stable, and at a mark I'd say is realistic (1.5-2%).

So it seems it's due to the heavy steam grow that our percent numbers decline, but the number of users should have grown accordingly. Maybe not as fast as we would wish it, but growth is growth.


Last edited by STiAT on 2 January 2018 at 11:32 am UTC
Leopard Jan 2, 2018
I didn't get a single survey in 2017 , got one on 2016.
g000h Jan 2, 2018
Not a fan of Steam's "Hardware Survey". Examining the last couple of years of NetMarketShare operating system statistics indicates Linux Desktop OS share has been hovering around 2.2% of the market. Of course not all Linux users are gamers, but then not all Linux gamers are keen on Steam (and stick to itch, gog or other). I am very dubious about the statistical accuracy of Steam's survey.

Personally, I'd like to see multiple Software Publishers publishing their Operating System market share per game (assuming the game is across Win/Mac/Linux). Also, Humble's Bundles do demonstrate quite decent stats for Linux Bundle purchasers (I did a calc some time ago, and seem to remember greater than 4% of Humble Bundle purchases were made by Linux users.)

StatCounter shows about 1.6% Linux share of Desktop Market (and about 0.7% ChromeOS) for the past year.

Statista shows about 1.7% Linux share of Desktop Market over past 9 months.

w3counter website now needs a sign-up to view their stats (well s***w that!)

clicky.com shows about 2.1% Linux share of Desktop Market over the past year.
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