Valve 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.
qptain Nemo Jul 4, 2018
Quoting: GuestIt seems to me that the bottom line is that for the kind of growth we're talking about ultimately you need an advantage and an advantage can't exist if it's not unique to a specific thing, otherwise how can it be an advantage? If something is shared between operating systems then the network effect is also shared, and self-saturation might be in full effect, making so the network effect benefits things that are more popular proportionally more. Like I'd argue that WSL as damning of an admission of inferiority as it may be, is still a victory for Windows as it provides more reasons to use Windows, not Linux. This makes any methods that don't rely on exclusivity rare and precious and I wish I knew more of them. I suppose being able to direct the momentum of the network effect, that is, putting a particular option in a favorable light, could be effective.Quoting: qptain NemoGood question! It's hard to argue with the logic of Nintendo and Sony welding their exclusives to the hardware. But with the network effect, you need enough glowing hot coals to keep those fires burning. There is nothing intrinsically better there. It's just (feet-to-the-fire) lock-in. PS Vita and Wii U proved how tenuous and fleeting brand loyalties can be.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?
On the other hand, MS breaking Xbox games out of their hardware jail was an interesting move. Clearly, MS is ready to dispense its gaming goods for its gaming services. (PS NOW and GeForce NOW seem to want the same; still exclusive, but less perennial flower pot and more walled-in garden.) Aside from 4K backward-compatible game titles and certain HDR video advantages on the XBone, I can't see how PC Gaming and Xbox don't eventually merge under the same banner within the big box/web stores. Again, it's an interesting gambit, especially considering how far Dell bent over to make the Steam Machine a reality in those venues. MS might be able to claim victory from the jaws of defeat there. :-/
I realized when writing that post, when it comes to pwning the competition, Linux wrote the book! The fact that WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) Ubuntu terminal console even exists is a testament to that. Unfortunately, due again to the network effect, tools and workflow, game production still favors the installed-base platforms. As I've stated elsewhere, I'd like to see how the meta "game within a game" Dreams fares on the PS4. If that takes off, stand-alone hardware platforms seem pretty much over to me.
Obviously, a closed-hardware platform is only good for a limited life-cycle, only to be reborn in DOS Boxes, ROMS and Wine. In the long run, the real question would seem to be loyalty. Take the home arcade-machine enthusiasts for example. Is it more important that the guts are running a Windows or CentOS box or that the Tempest knob and ROM are authentic? [ibid. VisiCalc and software as a driver of hardware sales.] I would say the latter. In that respect, Valve is waaaaaaaaay ahead of the curve. (Just think, the product code from a set of Half-Life 3-1/2" floppies for Windows PC from twenty years ago can still be used today to download and play that licensed copy in front of a television in 4K, with a controller, on Linux. <---Now THAT'S loyalty! Try that with Halo.)
Assuming the "Movies Anywhere"/"TV Everywhere"/Brand-X NOW/Brand-Y NOW/Brand-Z NOW phenomenon continues, if Linux can—somehow—become the de facto standard for games development in the cloud (be it Dota 2 Reborn, Valve's VR Destinations, or Twitch and Lumberyard from Amazon), I would be hard-pressed to envision how it doesn't dominate once the brain-trust and mindshare move to Linux's home-field advantage.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: tonRI don't think that is valid.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.
There is just no serious gaming on mobile phones, just casual nonsense and time-wasters making up 90%+ of the mobile "gaming" market.
And it makes sense, of course. There's just not much else to be done with such a tiny screen, doesn't matter how much their capacity increases.
Good luck playing games like Starcraft 2 or Counter Strike on mobile ;)
There will always be a market for proper PC gaming, as there is simply no alternative.
Consoles are nothing more than subsidized PCs and I estimate both markets will kind of merge at some point.
I also don't think that the mobile market has harmed PC gaming.
In the west, that myth popped up in the 2000s, but is pretty much debunked by now.
Just because one think is growing like crazy (mobile), doesn't mean the other thing (PC/console) is falling - merely growing smaller.
0 Likes
Quoting: tonRHang on a minute--the article we're discussing around relates to the masses of new Asian Steam users, mostly playing PUBG, in such numbers that (since virtually none of 'em use Linux) they're torpedoing the % share of Linux on Steam. So are you saying all those people don't exist? Surely if them not using Linux is sufficient to seriously drop the Linux share, them using Linux at least as much as everyone else would make it not drop, which I think could reasonably be considered "helping quite a lot".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.
I have no doubt that lots of Asians play games on their phones (just like everyone else). Makes me kind of glad Android uses Vulkan. Doesn't mean nobody's playing any games at home or in PC-bangs or whatever they call them.
0 Likes
Quoting: TheSHEEEPThere is just no serious gaming on mobile phones, just casual nonsense and time-wasters making up 90%+ of the mobile "gaming" market.
And it makes sense, of course. There's just not much else to be done with such a tiny screen, doesn't matter how much their capacity increases.
Tell that to my son happily deathmatching in PixelGun on his phone or to thousands of Fortnite players :)
eSport on mobile - not (yet?). Serious gaming - sure.
0 Likes
Quoting: TheSHEEEPIn the west, that myth popped up in the 2000s, but is pretty much debunked by now.Look graph images at Malaysian Communications And Multimedia Commission (MCMC) report, "INTERNET USERS SURVEY 2017":
Just because one think is growing like crazy (mobile), doesn't mean the other thing (PC/console) is falling - merely growing smaller.
**Credit To IAMK Learning Center ( iamk.com.my ) for cropping-out this image from MCMC PDF.**
Here's the quote from MCMC report, page 10 and 11
QuoteSmartphone remained the most popular means for users to access the Internet (89.4%) making the country a mobile-oriented society. Additionally, in 2016, there were 28.5 million mobile broadband subscriptions compared to 2.5 million fixed broadband subscriptions.[[PDF]source: MCMC](https://www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/MCMC-Internet-Users-Survey-2017.pdf)
However, Internet access from other mobile devices saw a declining trend. For instance, the use of portable personal computer such as netbook, notebook and laptop to access Internet has dropped to 36.3% (2015: 46.0%), while tablet declined to 18.0% (2015: 24.8%) and feature phone to 9.4 (2015:15.8%). On the contrary, access through smart TV and TV streaming box inclined, albeit the little take up. A total of 6.7% of Internet users has been online via Smart TV in 2016, compared to only 1.9% in 2014. The percentage of accessing Internet using TV streaming box increased to 5.6% in 2016, from 4.2% in 2015.
IAMK Learning Centre article
Before commenting, it's better you read MCMC reports first . I'm human, probably I missed somewhere important infomations.
**************************
Quoting: Purple Library GuyHang on a minute--the article we're discussing around relates to the masses of new Asian Steam users, mostly playing PUBG, in such numbers that (since virtually none of 'em use Linux) they're torpedoing the % share of Linux on Steam. So are you saying all those people don't exist? Surely if them not using Linux is sufficient to seriously drop the Linux share, them using Linux at least as much as everyone else would make it not drop, which I think could reasonably be considered "helping quite a lot".First, I want to clarify a very simple thing. Asia (the continent) ≠ China, China ≠ Southeast Asia (SEA). I write this because I do not want you to be confused as SEA gaming community are super diverse. To give you perspective, Ragnarok: Online still have players base and that game was launched when I was in primary school AFAIK.
Back to question, first look at concurrence PUBG players (from SteamDB), for last 6++ months. If you look closely, 1/2 of total peak player base already gone. For two reasons:
1. Fortnite
2. PUBG MOBILE
PUBG mobile is free-to-play and on smartphone. Smartphone generally is dominant in Asia. So....
Regarding Linux in general, most school in Malaysia already adopted Chromebook since 2013-2014 (even do the deployment are slow as f**K Malaysian way and also cronyism problems). While generally I (and some of GoL people) do not like Chromebook because of G+++, but for exposure on Linux, it's a good way to promoting Linux.
***********************
Quoting: skinnyrafeSport on mobile - not (yet?). Serious gaming - sure.Already had. Also, if you've Astro (only satellite tv provider in Malaysia) subscription, you'll get eGG Network channel for free. eGG is e-sport channel (only thing I watched on traditional TV since 2017).
Malaysia Esports League website
EDIT: Fixed a link and added some sentences.
Last edited by tonR on 5 July 2018 at 12:07 am UTC
0 Likes
Considering the initial proposition was that "pulling in users from Asia would probably help quite a lot [to improve Linux gaming]", I don't think the proportion of handheld usage in Asia contradicts that. 30% PC users in Asia still represents more people than the entire population (not gamers or even PC users) of North America and Europe combined. To me, that looks like a significant pool of potential users to try and include.
(According to figures from Wikipedia's List of continents by population
(According to figures from Wikipedia's List of continents by population
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: SalvatosConsidering the initial proposition was that "pulling in users from Asia would probably help quite a lot [to improve Linux gaming]", I don't think the proportion of handheld usage in Asia contradicts that. 30% PC users in Asia still represents more people than the entire population (not gamers or even PC users) of North America and Europe combined. To me, that looks like a significant pool of potential users to try and include.Totally agree. But that's the problem. PC/x86 platform is already saturated and starts to decline. And in Asia generally PC = Windows, Windows = PC (until recently everyone already starts to accepted Chromebook considered as PC).
As human, it's hard for us to change our old habit, old perspective, accept new changes or anything that "we used to". That's why promoting Linux is hard. And adding fuel to "Linux is hard", that's lots of stigmatized on Linux for example it cannot rendered Asian characters such as Thai, Chinese, Tamil, Arabic-based and so on.
On bright side, since Windows XP EOL and especially after ransomware attacks, some public and private institution/firms in Malaysia already started experimenting Linux for their office use (according to some friends). IDK what's result but that's a good thing.
Ok guys, off to work...
0 Likes
Quoting: skinnyrafI feel honestly sorry for your son if he considers PixelGun serious gaming. Not because of mobile, but because of the simplistic nature of the game. Then again, he might just be very young. I know I played lots of shit happily when I was.Quoting: TheSHEEEPThere is just no serious gaming on mobile phones, just casual nonsense and time-wasters making up 90%+ of the mobile "gaming" market.
And it makes sense, of course. There's just not much else to be done with such a tiny screen, doesn't matter how much their capacity increases.
Tell that to my son happily deathmatching in PixelGun on his phone or to thousands of Fortnite players :)
eSport on mobile - not (yet?). Serious gaming - sure.
You see, there is a reason cross-play between PC and mobile is limited, if allowed at all.
PC players annihilate mobile (and console) players, simply due to better input and average skill level. I could probably duke it out 1vs10 against mobile players and come out winning. I don't see this ever changing if mobile doesn't evolve to the capacity and input capability of a PC with keyboard (or something similar) and mouse - and if mobile ever does reach that, there is no difference any more between it and PC.
And because of this, PC gaming will always stay relevant to the people interested in more than just casual stuff and esports of simplistic games.
Quoting: tonRFully irrelevant.Quoting: TheSHEEEPIn the west, that myth popped up in the 2000s, but is pretty much debunked by now.Look graph images at Malaysian Communications And Multimedia Commission (MCMC) report, "INTERNET USERS SURVEY 2017":
Just because one think is growing like crazy (mobile), doesn't mean the other thing (PC/console) is falling - merely growing smaller.
**Credit To IAMK Learning Center ( iamk.com.my ) for cropping-out this image from MCMC PDF.**
Here's the quote from MCMC report, page 10 and 11
This is about internet usage. If I was purely interested in internet usage, I also wouldn't bother to buy a PC.
It makes absolute sense that some of those who were primarily using their PC for things easily done on mobile nowadays switch to mobile.
But we're talking about gaming here.
If you can afford a proper big screen and a PC to go with it, you won't buy a tiny-screened mobile device for the purpose of gaming.
Depending on your needs, you'll go for a PC or subsidized PC with questionable input (aka console).
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 5 July 2018 at 9:11 am UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: TheSHEEEPI feel honestly sorry for your son if he considers PixelGun serious gaming. Not because of mobile, but because of the simplistic nature of the game. Then again, he might just be very young. I know I played lots of shit happily when I was.
You see, there is a reason cross-play between PC and mobile is limited, if allowed at all.
PC players annihilate mobile (and console) players, simply due to better input and average skill level. I could probably duke it out 1vs10 against mobile players and come out winning. I don't see this ever changing if mobile doesn't evolve to the capacity and input capability of a PC with keyboard (or something similar) and mouse - and if mobile ever does reach that, there is no difference any more between it and PC.
And because of this, PC gaming will always stay relevant to the people interested in more than just casual stuff and esports of simplistic games.
LOL, so you have just stated that the only serious gaming is on PC, because of precision of control. Consoles are not serious, because a K/M will annihilate a controller, and mobile platforms are an absolute joke because of lack of precision of touch screen control.
That's a pretty narrow definition of "serious gaming" and Sony would probably laugh at it. For me, a guy who traveled the whole world to capture all Pokemon was quite a serious gamer - and Pokemon Go is definitely a mobile game. And anyway, Fortnite is crossplay mobile vs Switch vs Xbox One vs PC.
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: skinnyrafLOL, so you have just stated that the only serious gaming is on PC, because of precision of control. Consoles are not serious, because a K/M will annihilate a controller, and mobile platforms are an absolute joke because of lack of precision of touch screen control.Your reading comprehension seems limited. That is not what I said.
Though mobile platforms certainly are an absolute joke for most games, just look at the latest EA Command & Conquer release and compare that with what that series used to be. If that is not a sad joke, I don't know what it is.
Console vs. PC is really only a difference in input methods. But mobile has a tiny screen, there just isn't much you can do with such a small space that couldn't be done much better if you had a bigger screen.
And obviously, touching a screen can never be as accurate as moving a mouse cursor, restricting the possibilities further.
This is just simple logic.
There are games or even whole genres that can work on all platforms equally well. For example, I really don't get why Hasbro/WoTC do not finally do a real port of MTGO to all platforms. Oh, well...
Quoting: skinnyrafFor me, a guy who traveled the whole world to capture all Pokemon was quite a serious gamer - and Pokemon Go is definitely a mobile game.Pokemon Go is barely a game. More of a toy.
Just because you can play with something, doesn't make it a game.
Quoting: skinnyrafAnd anyway, Fortnite is crossplay mobile vs Switch vs Xbox One vs PC.From the Fortnite FAQ itself:
QuoteI’m on PC, when do I play against cross-platform players?You should maybe inform yourself before trying to appear clever. Otherwise, the attempt will backfire.
Mobile, PS4, or Xbox players who are in a cross-platform party may appear as enemies in your match.
“Fill” parties are same platform as you.
You will only play against PC players if you are playing Solo on PC.
As I said before, cross-platform play is limited for games like Fortnite. And that is for a reason.
It is the same reason why the leading console players for those games often use devices like Xim 4.
This isn't about consoles vs PC, though. With the right input methods, both can be competitive.
After all, what is a console if not a PC in a special outfit?
But the standard for consoles is an input method that is simply inferior when it comes to what is required in a shooter. Hence the cross-platform restrictions.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 5 July 2018 at 3:07 pm UTC
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me