Linux user share on Steam hits second highest percentage in years

Prediction: Next month is going to be a new record high.
I'm expecting over 1.20%.

I wonder how many Steam Deck they already shipped.

Cool to see this number rising again... my first thought was: it doesn't matter that much anymore. The Steam Deck has changed the mind of publishers and developers already, as they are either supporting the Deck explicitly or at least are looking into it. And this helps us "few" Linux desktop gamers as well.

On the other hand though, we still would benefit from a bigger market share on the desktop, as there is more than only games to use on our PCs. We want official Linux support for more than just games. Drivers, devices, etc... hopefully when people realize they can also play most of their games (if not even all) on the Linux desktop, it helps more people deciding to use Linux on a more regular basis. Small steps, with the Steam Deck being a big one :D


Last edited by Corben on 3 May 2022 at 9:23 am UTC

Thanks though to Proton

for killing native linux games development

According to Linux GPU stats 1.82% (AMD AMD Custom GPU 0405) were surveyed on Steam Deck. So the 14% share increase doesn't come directly from Deck users (Not that anyone claimed it did).


Last edited by Nonjuffo on 3 May 2022 at 9:30 am UTC

Thanks though to Proton

for killing native linux games development

For bringing the huge amount of existing games to Linux and it will probably help in the long term to native gaming as well. If the developers will see that the Linux gaming share is rising they will start doing the native ports instead of relying on Proton.

Thanks though to Proton

for killing native linux games development

Does this really need to be said? Native Gaming was practically going nowhere and it's only a very tiny niche of Linux Gamers that actually care what's under the hood. The vast majority just want to be able to game and that's the most important thing, getting the games to work here and now.

for killing native linux games development

It might, but it haven't happened yet.

Check the stats for native releases by year on Steam. It's pretty constant, even with the arrival of Proton.

[..]it will probably help in the long term to native gaming as well. If the developers will see that the Linux gaming share is rising they will start doing the native ports instead of relying on Proton.

... Or not if they don't have to, as there's a huge benefit from not having to maintain an additional OS branch of the source code.

Either way my stance on the subject is "so what?". As long as the games run as they should what does it really matter. The Windows ports we've seen so far has generally speaking not been that much to cheer for, technically speaking. There was a time when we were happy they worked at all, but those days are behind us.

We can start speaking of a significant move towards native builds if/when Linux gets to a significant market share. If we talk about 15-20% market share, then things might start to happen.

Until then:
Thank the gods for Proton. Without it, we'd be left with a myriad of small indie games and that's about it.


Last edited by Beamboom on 3 May 2022 at 9:46 am UTC

Thanks though to Proton

for killing native linux games development

Does this really need to be said? Native Gaming was practically going nowhere and it's only a very tiny niche of Linux Gamers that actually care what's under the hood. The vast majority just want to be able to game and that's the most important thing, getting the games to work here and now.

Turns out that I'm amongst the minority who wish Linux a wider path and stronger support. Apart from native gaming it's CAD/CAE software that still lacks attention. Linux should (and could) be real versatile alternative to winWorld. Still there's a hope

Thanks though to Proton

for killing native linux games development

I completely understand where you are coming from.

I hope you can also understand where I am coming from when I say that I am grateful to be able to play video games on Linux at all.

According to Linux GPU stats 1.82% (AMD AMD Custom GPU 0405) were surveyed on Steam Deck. So the 14% share increase doesn't come directly from Deck users (Not that anyone claimed it did).

In the previous month, Deck APU was recorded as AMD Van Gogh. Interesting to see this change.

PS. The %1.82 Steam Deck record is among Linux users, not everyone.


Last edited by mr-victory on 3 May 2022 at 11:45 am UTC

for killing native linux games development

It might, but it haven't happened yet.

Check the stats for native releases by year on Steam. It's pretty constant, even with the arrival of Proton.

Yeah, I keep seeing people say that Proton is killing native Linux development (or guaranteed to be the death of native Linux games, or already has been/is), then I see on a fairly regular basis native Linux builds of various new (and old) games released. In addition to those native Linux games, I also see more games I've been told will never ever in a billion years run on Linux running on Linux (thanks to Proton).

I highly doubt that Proton's gonna be the death of native Linux games, but it sure does give us all access to a shit-ton of games we'd not be able to play otherwise, and gives publishers and developers a dead-simple way to support selling their games to a platform that many such publishers simply don't understand well enough to give us a native Linux build even if they wanted to. I'm thankful for all the work Valve's put into the WINE project, even if it is totally self-serving and profit-driven. An "everybody wins" scenario still means I win, even if Valve wins also.

Thanks though to Proton

for killing native linux games development

Others have already shown how that narrative is easily proven false.

Either way, even if it was:
Why care?
Can you play the game at a good performance while using a superior OS? Yes/no. That's what matters.
What bytecode an executable has under the hood is about as relevant as the color of your PC case.

If a dev decides to support Proton vs support a native executable doesn't matter, either, as long as one of those options happen.
For a lot of devs, the first option is vastly more feasible, though (due to their lack of Linux dev knowledge).


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 3 May 2022 at 12:14 pm UTC

For a lot of devs, the first option is vastly more feasible, though (due to their lack of Linux dev knowledge).

And that will never change from relying on Proton. We shouldn't see Proton as an end goal. We'll keep playing catchup to proprietary tech forever, hoping to stay fast enough and to be honest, hope that corporate interest aka Valve stays interested. Instead of Vulkan, SDL, and other cross platform tech getting used and improved by more and more developers, we'll just be supporting more DirectX.

I'll say it again because I always have to as people like to twist my words, I am not saying Proton is evil or absolutely no Tux no Bucks ever, but we need to stop saying 'native doesn't matter' for the future.


Last edited by Raaben on 3 May 2022 at 2:00 pm UTC

Didn't get a survey in desktop mode which is weird because I always get one on new hardware.

I know market share is a meaningful information but has anyone been keeping tab on absolute linux user number estimates ?

Because Steam userbase is constantly growing so a market share growth within a absolute numbers growth is kinda cool actually.
But I do keep in mind "being this or that OS user" does not necessarily mean "there have been sales for this or that OS" or "people equally play that amount of time regardless of their system".
I mean there are tons of statistical biases which prevents us to ultimately declare whether Linux is doing well or not but with some hindsight it's looking good.


Last edited by a0kami on 3 May 2022 at 1:12 pm UTC

only a very tiny niche of Linux Gamers that actually care what's under the hood.

As a game developer, I wish more devs (and players!) understood the value of embracing open and portable libraries / standards like SDL or Vulkan instead of giving in to propietary M$ crap. And that's my main reason to stand behind and support Linux gaming! Am I a minority? Perhaps, but everyone dismissing this minority's point of view might do more harm than you think in the long run.

Proton teaches developers that it's okay to embrace M$ "standards" and let them be the de-facto rulers of what the PC desktop experience should look like for everyone.

For all it has advanced in the past few years, Linux is still playing catch-up to whatever Windows decides it's the norm. That IMO is a very sad state of affairs. We get innovations in software and hardware years later (if at all!) because all the development and prototyping for games and hardware products is done almost exclusively on Windows aside from a few indie studios.

But yeah, I also like playing games without having to dual boot. It's convenient and I do it a lot, nobody is perfect.


Last edited by setzer22 on 3 May 2022 at 1:12 pm UTC

For a lot of devs, the first option is vastly more feasible, though (due to their lack of Linux dev knowledge).

And that will never change from relying on Proton. We shouldn't see Proton as an end goal. We'll keep playing catchup to proprietary tech forever, hoping to stay fast enough and to be honest, hope that corporate interest aka Valve stays interested. Instead of Vulkan, SDL, and other cross platform tech getting used and improved by more and more developers, we'll just be supporting more DirectX.

I'll say it again because I always have to as people like to twist my words, I am not saying Proton is evil or absolutely no Tux nbo Bucks ever, but we need to stop saying 'native doesn't matter' for the future.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Say you are developer of a popular game. Right now, you might not care to support a platform for an extra 1% income, and yes, be happy somebody else is taking care of it.

But if that's 10% of your income, are you really going to let that be at the merci of a third party library? No, you will definitely look into supporting it yourself. That might mean bundling and tweaking dxvk initially, and over time having an inhouse build with more control.

There is no way native is ignored if the shares are significant enough. That's why you don't need to *push* for native, it will happen on its own. What you need is push for Linux adoption.

But if that's 10% of your income, are you really going to let that be at the merci of a third party library?

Very possibly, especially being sold as such a solution, and especially when the very community you're looking at tells you not to bother with native ports anyway.