We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

After the rather exciting development in the last Steam Hardware & Software Survey where Linux users overtook macOS for the first time, the latest survey shows Linux continues to be above macOS but with the numbers dipping down.

The latest results for August 2023:

  • Windows 96.61% + 0.40%
  • Linux 1.82% - 0.14%
  • OSX 1.57% - 0.27%

When switching over to the Linux-only data here’s the most popular distributions for gaming on Steam:

  • SteamOS Holo 64 bit 44.18% +2.11%
  • "Arch Linux" 64 bit 7.68% -0.26%
  • Freedesktop.org SDK 22.08 (Flatpak runtime) 64 bit 6.03% +0.04%
  • Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS 64 bit 4.10% -3.28%
  • Manjaro Linux 64 bit 3.99% -0.30%
  • Linux Mint 21.2 64 bit 3.41% +3.41%
  • Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS 64 bit 2.93% -0.04%
  • Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS 64 bit 2.91% +2.91%
  • Other 24.78% -0.74%

So we continue to see that the Steam Deck with SteamOS is what's really pushing Linux gaming right now with it growing again this month compared to other distributions.

As usual the trends can be seen on our Steam Tracker.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
26 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
57 comments
Page: «4/6»
  Go to:

poiuz Sep 4, 2023
Quoting: ShmerlYour timeline is misleading. Both MS and Apple can be blamed for not supporting Vulkan. They did it very deliberately knowing it's being developed, since they did it out of obvious lock-in intent.
Are you serious? My timeline? We are talking about facts (The way it's a fact, that Apple wants to get games on macOS, because they said so). But to spell it out: Apple released Metal two years before Vulkan was released. Or in other words: To support Vulkan Apple would had to wait two whole years.

To signify how much time two years are: How successful would the Steam Deck be if players had to wait two years for any game to be playable? Steam machine ring a bell?
Shmerl Sep 4, 2023
Quoting: poiuzAre you serious? My timeline?

Timeline starts with Mantle which presented such ideas before Apple and MS rushed to make NIH knock offs of them. And AMD from the beginning expressed the interest to make it a common API. That's why Mantle later was turned into Vulkan. Basically, collaboration on it could have started from the beginning, if Apple and MS weren't arrogant lock-in proponents who benefit from work of others either way.

See also: https://twitter.com/renderpipeline/status/581086347450007553


Last edited by Shmerl on 4 September 2023 at 6:29 am UTC
damarrin Sep 4, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Apple runs an app store on their phones and one on their computers. The store on the phone removes old software regularly. They break APIs all the time and software (including games) needs to be maintained and updated constantly to remain usable on new os versions. As far as I can tell they run their computer store the same way.

Gaming is huge on their phones, possibly on their computers as well, but it's not the kind of gaming we think of. Their approach perhaps makes sense for general software and throwaway phone endless runners or farm sims, but "traditional" games (that get updated for a limited time) do not fit this model at all.

I, personally, treat my games very seriously and want to be able to keep playing them after years and years. The Apple ecosystem does not allow for this.

They obviously don't care about Steam and games Mac users buy there. It makes them no money and they made a lot of them useless when they dropped 32-bit support and surely will again as they obsolete APIs.

The only thing they're interested in is keeping the money coming in, which in turn forces developers into constant revenue stream models like subscriptions, micro transactions or ads. And Apple clearly supports gaming in this scope.


Last edited by damarrin on 4 September 2023 at 10:25 am UTC
ShabbyX Sep 4, 2023
Apple does care about gaming. I don't own a mac or iWhatever, so I don't have firsthand data, but I know that:

- iOS gaming is *much* bugger than Android gaming
- Some developers prefer to write Vulkan apps on Mac, over MoltenVk, just because the metal debug tools are better than Vulkan's

So, no, metal was not a gimmick for their own internal use. They forced it on iOS, it has great tools apparently, and it *is* successful.

I know, it's unfortunate, and I wish Vulkan was in a better situation, but it is what it is.

So Apple may or may not care about gaming on *mac* (I would argue we don't know, because we don't have numbers from their store). But it very clearly does care about *gaming*, and they are being very successful about it.
Purple Library Guy Sep 4, 2023
Quoting: poiuz(The way it's a fact, that Apple wants to get games on macOS, because they said so)
It's a fact. Because a corporation said so.

I mean, technically, it's no doubt vaguely true, in the sense that I want a pineapple fresh from the tree to drop into my lap. I'm not willing right now to do what it would take to get that to happen (e.g. travel to Hawaii), so it' s a pretty abstract desire. So, sure, Apple want games on MacOS, in the sense that they would be happy if it sort of spontaneously happened, but their main corporate goals dictate doing various things that will make it unlikely; they don't care enough to take platform actions that would help it happen.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 4 September 2023 at 2:05 pm UTC
Eike Sep 4, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: EikeAnother question, does somebody have survey results of the last months or years stored? Would be interesting to draw the Mac line as well. :D

Wayback Machine.

Well, that did work!



If it's a trend, it's a new one it seems.
Or I need to dig further down the timeline.

*edit* Fetched some more data, and I don't see a Mac decline between August 2021 (oldest number fetched) and May 2023. Wayback Machine is slow. It must be reading the data from tape. X)


Last edited by Eike on 4 September 2023 at 4:24 pm UTC
F.Ultra Sep 4, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter
Quoting: poiuz
Quoting: ShmerlYour timeline is misleading. Both MS and Apple can be blamed for not supporting Vulkan. They did it very deliberately knowing it's being developed, since they did it out of obvious lock-in intent.
Are you serious? My timeline? We are talking about facts (The way it's a fact, that Apple wants to get games on macOS, because they said so). But to spell it out: Apple released Metal two years before Vulkan was released. Or in other words: To support Vulkan Apple would had to wait two whole years.

To signify how much time two years are: How successful would the Steam Deck be if players had to wait two years for any game to be playable? Steam machine ring a bell?

Your timeline is faulty, Vulkan was first announced in July 2014 at the SIGGRAPH conference. And ofc development had been quicker if say Apple and Microsoft had decided to join the development, one cannot just ignore the massive amount of money and resources that those two have compared with Khronos.

Also I don't see why waiting would have been such a problem, the first wave of games released with Metal came in 2017 anyway since everyone waited to see it stabilize first.


Last edited by F.Ultra on 4 September 2023 at 4:13 pm UTC
CatKiller Sep 4, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: Eike
Quoting: CatKiller
Quoting: EikeAnother question, does somebody have survey results of the last months or years stored? Would be interesting to draw the Mac line as well. :D

Wayback Machine.

Well, that did work!



If it's a trend, it's a new one it seems.
Or I need to dig further down the timeline.

*edit* Fetched some more data, and I don't see a Mac decline between August 2021 (oldest number fetched) and May 2023. Wayback Machine is slow. It must be reading the data from tape. X)

I went back as far as Liam's Steam Tracker does (since some subset of data before then is hinky):



(Edit: added trend lines)


Last edited by CatKiller on 4 September 2023 at 6:15 pm UTC
Eike Sep 4, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: CatKillerI went back as far as Liam's Steam Tracker does (since some subset of data before then is hinky):

Thanks!
August 2021 was a bad date for my cutoff. :D
Did you fetch all of that manually from the website? It sometimes took like half a minute for it to display the link(s) for a certain day for me...


Last edited by Eike on 4 September 2023 at 6:18 pm UTC
CatKiller Sep 4, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: EikeDid you fetch all of that manually from the website? It sometimes took like half a minute for it to display the link(s) for a certain day for me...

I did. I've done data hunting for Liam's tracker before. The trick is to load the results into new tabs so that they can be getting on with loading while you wait for the next link to appear. And to make a cup of tea if it's getting too tedious, of course.


Last edited by CatKiller on 4 September 2023 at 6:32 pm UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.
Buy Games
Buy games with our affiliate / partner links: