Support us on Patreon
PayPalValve have put out another of their monthly Steam Hardware & Software Survey and it puts the Linux market share figure on Steam at 0.52%. In comparison the month before was at 0.57%.
I said before, I won't write about this every month, so I wanted to touch on it again today. To get this out the way first, as a reminder we're tracking the Linux share on Steam on a dedicated page right here. Obviously, it doesn't paint a very positive picture when you simply take the percentages at face value—which you simply shouldn't do.
However, this leads me onto an important point, Valve recently did a presentation where they showed quite a large amount of overall growth:
Nearly 4 million first-time users each month, actually buying something on Steam. Their figures always blow me away, it's just an insane amount of people we're talking about overall here. This seems to be a constant too, every time Valve talk about it, they've grown tremendously.
Considering the constant growth rate of Steam, especially in markets where the primary language is Chinese, it's not surprising the Linux overall share drops. Valve's own survey shows that for Linux users, Simplified Chinese as a language option only makes up 0.95%, so when you think about how Steam is growing and in markets where it seems Linux isn't popular, it will bring down our overall market share. This is shown pretty clearly on our dedicated page, where you can pretty easily see the correlation between the Linux share dropping as the overall share of Simplified Chinese across the whole of Steam rises.
Taking all that into account, while the Linux market share on Steam has dropped, we're always talking about a percentage based on an overall number that's constantly growing. I would imagine the overall number of Linux users has increased, but to know that for sure we would need Valve to be more forthcoming about their total active users more regularly.
There's still a lot of ways Linux gaming needs to improve of course. It seems pulling in users from Asia would probably help quite a lot, but for that we need the heavy-hitting titles they seem to love like PUBG. Virtual Reality is one of the big ones right now, which Valve have been investing in getting it to work well on Linux, so eventually that side of things should improve.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: Whitewolfe80Honestly and I know am going to get slated for it this is just one more nail in the coffin for me the lack of triple a gaming on linux this year aside from Tomb Raider reboot 2 means and i hate to say it i am going back to dual booting after six years on pure linux.That's a bummer for you. For me, I'd go to PS4 before Windows and keep a Linux computer. Windows 10 is like renting a computer. It's not yours.
That said, my two cents in this seasonal conversation is that not everyone who gives Linux a shot sticks with it. I'm an IT professional who works on a team of admins that administer many Windows and Linux servers. We all despise Windows (supposedly), but guess how many of us run a Linux/GNU computer for personal use? Just me. It's too much work to not be mainstream.
Of course, I love Linux/GNU and don't imagine myself leaving any time (never say "never" ). But other people? They probably need to grow up with it, or there is like no hope.
Last edited by 14 on 2 July 2018 at 11:19 pm UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: 14Quoting: Whitewolfe80Honestly and I know am going to get slated for it this is just one more nail in the coffin for me the lack of triple a gaming on linux this year aside from Tomb Raider reboot 2 means and i hate to say it i am going back to dual booting after six years on pure linux.That's a bummer for you. For me, I'd go to PS4 before Windows and keep a Linux computer. Windows 10 is like renting a computer. It's not yours.
That said, my two cents in this seasonal conversation is that not everyone who gives Linux a shot sticks with it. I'm an IT professional who works on a team of admins that administer many Windows and Linux servers. We all despise Windows (supposedly), but guess how many of us run a Linux/GNU computer for personal use? Just me. It's too much work to not be mainstream.
Of course, I love Linux/GNU and don't imagine myself leaving any time (never say "never" ). But other people? They probably need to grow up with it, or there is like no hope.
@14 Hi, I am an IT as well :)
I am using Linux for work and other things as well but I dont think I will ever dualboot
I have a PS4 just to play AAA Titles (if I ever have time) that I cant play on Linux.
(Imagine that I have Resident Evil 7 , God of War,Monster Hunter,Shadow of the Colossus + so many other AAA tittles and I havent played anything so far)
I want to buy a VR but at the moment I am waiting for Linux support otherwise I may buy VR for PS4.
At the moment Linux Gaming is VERY VERY BAD !
1. No AAA titles are available in Linux (Especially the newest titles like PUBG etc)
2. NO VR Support and no cool VR Games in Linux
3. No gamer will want to play a game after 1 or 2 years if it will be ported.
4. Gamers jump from one game to another , I mean that gamers test every new game is getting released and if is trending they just stuck on it and play it until the next trending game tittle.
More than 5 years have passed and still Linux gaming is not a thing.
Yeah we do have many tittles especially indie games but until big companies decide to support Linux , Linux gaming will stay as is.
0 Likes
Quoting: wolfyrionI am using Linux for work and other things as well but I dont think I will ever dualboot
I have a PS4 just to play AAA Titles (if I ever have time) that I cant play on Linux.
(Imagine that I have Resident Evil 7 , God of War,Monster Hunter,Shadow of the Colossus + so many other AAA tittles and I havent played anything so far)
I have "dual-booted" Linux, DOS, and OS/2, but the only version of Windows I have had installed on my computers was Windows 3.1, over 20 years ago. My extensive "backlog of shame" covers stacks of DOS games, PS2, PS3, PS4, and even a handful of Wii games. Whenever someone asks me "why not install Windows so you get more games," I have to mention the huge stacks of games I will probably never get to... :-p
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: 14That's a bummer for you. For me, I'd go to PS4 before Windows and keep a Linux computer. Windows 10 is like renting a computer. It's not yours.
Don't you realise inconsistency here? You prefer PS4, a fully locked-down system, both hardware- and software-wise, where the vendor has full control over what you can do and what they can do with the system you purchased, with a Windows-running PC. While Microsoft moved towards walled garden approach a lot in last few years, Windows 10 is still relatively open compared with consoles. And, if it comes to the worst and Microsoft disables Windows license key, you still have a PC you can use. If Sony decides to brick your PS4, there's nothing you can do about it. And let's not even start talking about cross-system multiplayer...
That said, I will probably follow your route. I won't replace my aging PC. It's fine for indie games on Linux. For AAA I will probably buy PS4 Pro - though issues with cross play between PS4 and other platforms might change my decision.
1 Likes, Who?
Crazy Penguin Jul 3, 2018
Quoting: muell> I would imagine the overall number of Linux users has increased
> I can agree as long as fairy stable means growing slowly but otherwise I just can't believe it.
Can you all just stop that bullshit? All the data suggests that there is no growth. This is nothing where your believes are somehow relevant. Linux gaming doesn't grow whereas other platforms do. That's bad news. Stop trying to spin it any other way.
The only data you have are PERCENTAGES OF A MARKETSHARE which is dropping. But Steam has a rapid grow which means the absolute numbers of Linux Gamers is also growing, just not as fast as others which results in a dropping PERCENTAGE OF THE MARKETSHARE. Got it?
0 Likes
It must be an age thing but I can't see the obsession with having to have all the latest so called "AAA games". How much does this cost to buy all these new releases at full price?!
I've got over 400 Linux games :O and have played a fraction of them to completion. If I never buy another game I will still never play all the GOOD games I haven't yet touched.
I will and do ^_^ I actually prefer this as all the bug fixes and DLC are included and it's cheaper!
I've got over 400 Linux games :O and have played a fraction of them to completion. If I never buy another game I will still never play all the GOOD games I haven't yet touched.
Quoting: wolfyrion3. No gamer will want to play a game after 1 or 2 years if it will be ported.
I will and do ^_^ I actually prefer this as all the bug fixes and DLC are included and it's cheaper!
4 Likes, Who?
Ok, just in case because people at work asked what I'm talking about and maybe people here have the same false understanding of what statistics are.
Yes, "percentage over time" can be a measure of growth of a given value (either positive or negative). But this is only true when 100% constantly represents the same value over the whole measured period, i.e. when there are no other variables to consider. If 100% is a different number at each point in time the measurement is taken, it's no longer a statistical measurement of growth. It does describe the current situation but it says nothing about the future or the past.
It is a bad news to us because it does show whatever Valve is doing isn't as effective for Linux as it is for Windows or even MacOS. But it doesn't mean Linux market share is not growing. It doesn't share of it's shrinking either. It shows exactly nothing about it.
Last edited by cprn on 3 July 2018 at 9:28 am UTC
Yes, "percentage over time" can be a measure of growth of a given value (either positive or negative). But this is only true when 100% constantly represents the same value over the whole measured period, i.e. when there are no other variables to consider. If 100% is a different number at each point in time the measurement is taken, it's no longer a statistical measurement of growth. It does describe the current situation but it says nothing about the future or the past.
It is a bad news to us because it does show whatever Valve is doing isn't as effective for Linux as it is for Windows or even MacOS. But it doesn't mean Linux market share is not growing. It doesn't share of it's shrinking either. It shows exactly nothing about it.
Last edited by cprn on 3 July 2018 at 9:28 am UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: fabertaweIt must be an age thing but I can't see the obsession with having to have all the latest so called "AAA games". How much does this cost to buy all these new releases at full price?!Apparently you and I aren't gamers, nevermind the ludicrous amount of hours Guild Wars 2's /age command shows me or how many times I've beaten Borderlands 1 & 2, or the fact that I'm more familiar with the lore of the Forgotten Realms than the history of my country.
I've got over 400 Linux games :O and have played a fraction of them to completion. If I never buy another game I will still never play all the GOOD games I haven't yet touched.
Quoting: wolfyrion3. No gamer will want to play a game after 1 or 2 years if it will be ported.
I will and do ^_^ I actually prefer this as all the bug fixes and DLC are included and it's cheaper!
2 Likes, Who?
monsieursauce Jul 3, 2018
Quoting: TheSHEEEPI am currently learning Chinese and yes, the Linux support for Chinese typing is simply much worse on it than on Windows.
That just makes it that much harder to gain any ground in China. Not really sure how that could change other than with some serious financial backing. Windows is such a standard in China, I don't think much ground is to be gained there, tbh.
Well, I have to disagree with you: I have been using ibus-pinyin for years and it always worked perfectly, also having a sleek look compared to windows alternatives. I highly recommend you to use it! Also if you are learning Chinese, you can use Syng which is the best Chinese dictionary I found so far on Linux.
I don't think the keyboard issue is the main problem of Linux unpopularity in China.
0 Likes
qptain Nemo Jul 3, 2018
Quoting: GuestWhen Mojang states it will reduce support for 7th Gen. consoles because they don't add up to 5% of those active in its 144,000,000 user base, that tells one a lot about how these elephants move in rooms.I think you're right.
https://minecraft.net/en-us/article/update-aquatic-coming-legacy-console-editions
Linux needs its own network-effect augmented category killer, much like DOOM (1993) was for DOS. Lord GabeN was wise to hinge Windows 95 on gaming compatibility and Gates was wise to listen, as Windows compared to Apple and Commodore back in 1993 makes today's Linux look like a flawless blue diamond.
However, just as the highly-coveted and super-sexy Apple II merely became "the thing" that ran the smash-hit business app VisiCalc, and DOS was just "the thing" for the exploding PC office and gaming market, so Linux must become "the thing" in its own network-advantaged right. What that is, ultimately, is anyone's guess.
Right now, "the thing" is just about any workable Win64 platform that can launch PUBG or Fortnite.
“Computers aren’t the thing. They’re the thing that gets us to the thing.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQLbi4VXYcA
Do you think it's possible to achieve that without exclusivity? Must the network-effect augmented category killer be platform exclusive?
0 Likes
Quoting: skinnyrafYou're not wrong. But a gaming console and my general purpose computer have different requirements even though the computer can overlap in the gaming function. I am not going to check my bank account, read/write emails, apply to jobs, VPN to work, write scripts, manage family photo library, etc. on a gaming console. In short, I don't use gaming consoles to work with my more intimate data, thus complete control over the platform is not as important to me.Quoting: 14That's a bummer for you. For me, I'd go to PS4 before Windows and keep a Linux computer. Windows 10 is like renting a computer. It's not yours.
Don't you realise inconsistency here? You prefer PS4, a fully locked-down system, both hardware- and software-wise, where the vendor has full control over what you can do and what they can do with the system you purchased, with a Windows-running PC. While Microsoft moved towards walled garden approach a lot in last few years, Windows 10 is still relatively open compared with consoles. And, if it comes to the worst and Microsoft disables Windows license key, you still have a PC you can use. If Sony decides to brick your PS4, there's nothing you can do about it. And let's not even start talking about cross-system multiplayer...
That said, I will probably follow your route. I won't replace my aging PC. It's fine for indie games on Linux. For AAA I will probably buy PS4 Pro - though issues with cross play between PS4 and other platforms might change my decision.
By the way, what is the cross-platform multiplayer problem? I know I can play Rocket League and FF between PS4 and PC clients, which makes me think any other blocking would be a publisher decision. What's making the publisher choose that would be the important question.
0 Likes
Quoting: 14By the way, what is the cross-platform multiplayer problem? I know I can play Rocket League and FF between PS4 and PC clients, which makes me think any other blocking would be a publisher decision. What's making the publisher choose that would be the important question.Sony have blocked anyone doing cross-platform play with other consoles, while Microsoft and Nintendo allow it. To the point that Nintendo recently put out an official trailer showing off Switch and Xbox One playing together. Sony are basically abusing their position.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: wolfyrionWe're in the same boat it sounds like. I also have a PS4 mostly for exclusives and Ubisoft games.Quoting: 14Quoting: Whitewolfe80Honestly and I know am going to get slated for it this is just one more nail in the coffin for me the lack of triple a gaming on linux this year aside from Tomb Raider reboot 2 means and i hate to say it i am going back to dual booting after six years on pure linux.That's a bummer for you. For me, I'd go to PS4 before Windows and keep a Linux computer. Windows 10 is like renting a computer. It's not yours.
That said, my two cents in this seasonal conversation is that not everyone who gives Linux a shot sticks with it. I'm an IT professional who works on a team of admins that administer many Windows and Linux servers. We all despise Windows (supposedly), but guess how many of us run a Linux/GNU computer for personal use? Just me. It's too much work to not be mainstream.
Of course, I love Linux/GNU and don't imagine myself leaving any time (never say "never" ). But other people? They probably need to grow up with it, or there is like no hope.
@14 Hi, I am an IT as well :)
I am using Linux for work and other things as well but I dont think I will ever dualboot
I have a PS4 just to play AAA Titles (if I ever have time) that I cant play on Linux.
(Imagine that I have Resident Evil 7 , God of War,Monster Hunter,Shadow of the Colossus + so many other AAA tittles and I havent played anything so far)
I want to buy a VR but at the moment I am waiting for Linux support otherwise I may buy VR for PS4.
At the moment Linux Gaming is VERY VERY BAD !
1. No AAA titles are available in Linux (Especially the newest titles like PUBG etc)
2. NO VR Support and no cool VR Games in Linux
3. No gamer will want to play a game after 1 or 2 years if it will be ported.
4. Gamers jump from one game to another , I mean that gamers test every new game is getting released and if is trending they just stuck on it and play it until the next trending game tittle.
More than 5 years have passed and still Linux gaming is not a thing.
Yeah we do have many tittles especially indie games but until big companies decide to support Linux , Linux gaming will stay as is.
When you say "AAA game," do you mean big hit games or big budget games? I don't consider PUBG or Fortnite AAA, but they're obviously the hottest thing besides LoL and Dota2. But I won't get too tripped up on semantics. I completely agree that it's hard to be a strictly Linux gamer when you have to forgo the games the majority of people are playing. Some of the games I really wish I could play are BF4 and BF5, PUBG, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Skyrim, Elder Scrolls Online, Guild Wars 2, others. Yes, some of those can run in WINE. That's only if you're desperate IMO. What keeps me from booting into Windows and playing those games? I don't have time for all the games I want to play. So, I cut out the ones that don't run on Linux. I still don't have enough time to play all the Linux games I have. That's what I console myself with anyway.
0 Likes
Quoting: liamdaweOh. Did they break Rocket League and FFIV cross-platform play?!Quoting: 14By the way, what is the cross-platform multiplayer problem? I know I can play Rocket League and FF between PS4 and PC clients, which makes me think any other blocking would be a publisher decision. What's making the publisher choose that would be the important question.Sony have blocked anyone doing cross-platform play with other consoles, while Microsoft and Nintendo allow it. To the point that Nintendo recently put out an official trailer showing off Switch and Xbox One playing together. Sony are basically abusing their position.
0 Likes
Quoting: 14No, Sony allow it with PC, but not other consoles.Quoting: liamdaweOh. Did they break Rocket League and FFIV cross-platform play?!Quoting: 14By the way, what is the cross-platform multiplayer problem? I know I can play Rocket League and FF between PS4 and PC clients, which makes me think any other blocking would be a publisher decision. What's making the publisher choose that would be the important question.Sony have blocked anyone doing cross-platform play with other consoles, while Microsoft and Nintendo allow it. To the point that Nintendo recently put out an official trailer showing off Switch and Xbox One playing together. Sony are basically abusing their position.
0 Likes
Quoting: 14I am not going to check my bank account, read/write emails, apply to jobs, VPN to work, write scripts, manage family photo library, etc. on a gaming console. In short, I don't use gaming consoles to work with my more intimate data, thus complete control over the platform is not as important to me.
That's why I separated my dual-boot Linux and Windows installations quite extremely: one is on GPT and the other uses MBR and I'm using BIOS-level selection of a boot device to boot into Windows rather than GRUB :) My Windows install is basically a Windows gaming console - no other software installed apart from games, Steam, Battle.net and Origin (The Sims 4 and Plants vs Zombies 2...).
On the other hand, my Linux installation is pure workstation. My Linux gaming happens on a Steam Machine.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: skinnyrafHa. My dual-boot setup is similar. I have Steam and Origin installed in Windows and nothing else. I only boot to it about once a month or longer. Windows and Linux have their own drives and the only way I can boot to Windows is pressing a key during boot to get to BIOS boot selection menu. :)Quoting: 14I am not going to check my bank account, read/write emails, apply to jobs, VPN to work, write scripts, manage family photo library, etc. on a gaming console. In short, I don't use gaming consoles to work with my more intimate data, thus complete control over the platform is not as important to me.
That's why I separated my dual-boot Linux and Windows installations quite extremely: one is on GPT and the other uses MBR and I'm using BIOS-level selection of a boot device to boot into Windows rather than GRUB :) My Windows install is basically a Windows gaming console - no other software installed apart from games, Steam, Battle.net and Origin (The Sims 4 and Plants vs Zombies 2...).
On the other hand, my Linux installation is pure workstation. My Linux gaming happens on a Steam Machine.
0 Likes
Quoting: Crazy PenguinQuoting: muell> I would imagine the overall number of Linux users has increased
> I can agree as long as fairy stable means growing slowly but otherwise I just can't believe it.
Can you all just stop that bullshit? All the data suggests that there is no growth. This is nothing where your believes are somehow relevant. Linux gaming doesn't grow whereas other platforms do. That's bad news. Stop trying to spin it any other way.
The only data you have are PERCENTAGES OF A MARKETSHARE which is dropping. But Steam has a rapid grow which means the absolute numbers of Linux Gamers is also growing, just not as fast as others which results in a dropping PERCENTAGE OF THE MARKETSHARE. Got it?
Ehhh, he has a point though. Sure, it's obnoxiously expressed, but it's based on a pretty plausible reading of the rate of growth of Steam users vs. the rate of shrinkage of the marketshare . . . if you take the available figures at face value, it kind of looks like Linux gaming is not growing while the total market is.
I don't take the available figures at face value, and it does seem like a lot of the Steam growth is from Steam expanding from a market base with more Linux usage into regions with less Linux usage. But based on general figures of how much web browsing world wide is done on Linux, that points to kind of bad news about Linux gaming in the first place: The "Survey" always showed Linux Steam use as significantly lower than most figures for the world Linux desktop share, but it turns out even that was actually based on a kind of cherry-picked user base. Like, if world desktop Linux use is, say, 2.5%, and Steam Linux use used to be about 1%, then 40% as many people used Linux to game with compared to other platforms. But if actually the Steam user base used to be mostly from parts of the world with more Linux use, as compared to much of Asia where it seems to be a rounding error, that means even fewer of the Linux desktops were used for gaming. Assuming the new Steam user distribution to be much closer to a true worldwide distribution than how it used to be, that would indicate that compared to say Windows, a Linux desktop turns out to be only about 20% as likely to be used for gaming, rather than 40% (Imagining 2.5% Linux desktop share and 0.5% Steam use share and Linux use of Steam vs other approaches to gaming like GOG being comparable to other platforms). Use different figures for desktop share and the specifics shift, but the point remains: The proportion of Linux desktops used for gaming is low, lower than we thought, and doesn't seem to have budged much over the last few years.
After all the Linux progress both as a gaming platform and in terms of number and quality of available games, that's kind of depressing. I had always assumed that games was a significant factor holding the Linux desktop back, and if it achieved something like parity with MacOS for game availability and playability (which it basically has), Linux would be freed to grow significantly more both as a desktop OS in general and as a platform people played games on. This does not seem to have actually happened so far.
Of course, all this assumes the accuracy of the Steam survey, which I do not actually assume.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 3 July 2018 at 4:56 pm UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI had always assumed that games was a significant factor holding the Linux desktop back, and if it achieved something like parity with MacOS for game availability and playability (which it basically has), Linux would be freed to grow significantly more both as a desktop OS in general and as a platform people played games on. This does not seem to have actually happened so far.I feel like the progress that has currently been made in Linux gaming may have helped people who were already on the fence commit to Linux (I would probably be on that boat myself), but for someone who's more committed to gaming than to software freedom in the first place, that progress hasn't been sufficient yet. For someone like me, you might look at the Linux option like "It has all those qualities, and it can run some games" and go for it. For others it may look more like "It can't play all my games, so I don't care what else it can do."
Not to mention that Linux is unfamiliar, not mainstream, not always compatible with what you're used to/forced to use, doesn't ship with the hardware you buy... gaming is only one part of the equation for desktop growth.
0 Likes
QuoteThere's still a lot of ways Linux gaming needs to improve of course. It seems pulling in users from Asia would probably help quite a lot, but for that we need the heavy-hitting titles they seem to love like PUBG.That's impossible to do with todays smartphone craziness in Asia. Significant majority of us are now rarely gaming on PC anymore. Everything smartphone.
FYI: As far as I know, bintsmok is from Philippines. Maybe he/she can tell us or agree/disagree about smartphone craziness in from his/her country.
(I don't know how to mention him/her in GoL)
Back to topics.
Why I'm harping, whining and sometimes annoying about Linux mobile devices/smartphones?
Why Apple wanted to locking down iOS?
Why Android nowadays all non-removable batteries?
Because smartphone is where the money right now.
I can say we already won battle on server platform, struggling but still survive battle on desktop/laptop/x86 platform. Now is time for us to focusing on mobile devices/smartphones.
Lastly, PLEASE ANDROID ≠ LINUX. It's a cocktail.
0 Likes
See more from me