As it turns out, the Linux market share reported in the hardware survey for September was higher than initially reported.
Writing on Twitter, Valve's Pierre-Loup Griffais said this:
Just fixed a small rounding error in the HW survey that was affecting reported Linux usage. Distributions with less than a handful of users weren't getting factored into the total percentage. Numbers for September have just been updated: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/
With those fresh numbers, this means the Linux share for September was actually 0.78% not 0.71%. The recent figures now also show Windows dropping down to 96.29%. While that's a relatively small addition, it's still good to have it be more accurate.
I've updated our dedicated page tracking it, which shows that Linux is now hitting a 16 month high in terms of Steam market share. I don't think the relevance of that can be overstated, considering another 0.15% would put us back to a level we were at in September of 2016. Although, we would have a lot more users considering the ever-increasing growth of Steam.
One thing to be clear on though, is that we have no idea how long this error has been around. Meaning it could have affected months or years worth of data.
This isn't the first time there's been a flaw in the survey, like the time Valve was essentially over-counting cyber cafe customers.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: Guest78/59... 32.2% increase. Cool. I hope it sets a durable trend. :)With these rates we will have total world domination in no time. ;)
Nevertheless, it's nice to see tweets like this:
Quote@puppygamesIt feels so good to know that Valve is really behind their commitment, to make Linux the gaming platform of the future and seeing that it is slowly but steadily becoming true.
Linux is now twice as big a platform for us as MacOS is (on Steam, anyway)
Quoting: CorbenThere is definitely an impact on the Linux market share since Proton. I just hope this is not a statistical anomaly, as new Steam client installations have a pretty high probability to see the survey. So this could mean, lots of people are trying Steam on Linux now, and test if their games work with Proton... and maybe don't stick with Linux the month after. But from how I understand how the survey works, those people won't be counted the month after it again, as the survey should occur only once a year. Time will tell.I think one of the big reasons is also the major decline in people playing PUBG. Look at the "Players every day" graph on SteamDB and see how far it has fallen, which is big considering it was a game previously pushing the "simplified chinese" use up high. 3.2 million in January to around 1 million now.
Last edited by silmeth on 4 October 2018 at 9:42 am UTC
but if they had those numbers in september of 2016, didnt that mean that the marketshare was even bigger than 0,78% back then ?
Quoting: elmapul" would put us back to a level we were at in September of 2016. "We don't know how long this has been an issue, Valve haven't said. It might have only been an issue for one/two/three months.
but if they had those numbers in september of 2016, didnt that mean that the marketshare was even bigger than 0,78% back then ?
Quoting: LinasWith these rates we will have total world domination in no time. ;)Imagine, in a year we'll be at 16.8%, and in two years we'll have a market share of over 470%!
Or maybe my math is a little off, that's a possibility too.
Quoting: CorbenBut from how I understand how the survey works, those people won't be counted the month after it again, as the survey should occur only once a year. Time will tell.Well, some people never ever get a survey in their life. I think I am going to be that one.
But then again, I have lots of history with different sites having problems with my account.
I am that special snowflake, the exception, to stress the validity of the general rule.
Last edited by Brisse on 4 October 2018 at 10:58 am UTC
Quoting: ArdjeWell, some people never ever get a survey in their life. I think I am going to be that one.So, I am the other special snowflake, which got the survey... 6 times or so two months ago, on each device, and each "OS" (Linux, dualbooted Windows and wine).
But then again, I have lots of history with different sites having problems with my account.
I am that special snowflake, the exception, to stress the validity of the general rule.
Well, it's still a hardware survey (ofc no hardware works without any kind of software), so I'm okay to get it on each device. Will be interesting, if I'll get it now in a year again, or sooner.
Last edited by Corben on 4 October 2018 at 11:07 am UTC
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