We have another fresh Steam Hardware & Software Survey for October 2023 and the results show that Simplified Chinese as a language on Steam has another sharp jump resulting in some odd results. Be sure to check out our Steam Tracker.
This is the second month in a row we've seen Simplified Chinese jump up. This time it shows it at 45.93% (+13.71%), which for a single month is pretty huge swing. This has resulted in Windows 10 64 bit hitting 65.58% (+7.61%), sitting well above Windows 11. Every time this uptick in Simplified Chinese use on Steam happens, it brings down the results of everything else. Previously we saw that Valve reported it as an error but this time it may not be, it could just be a case of people using VPNs to access Steam normally - we just don't know.
So right now here's the main results:
- Windows 97.43% +0.49%
- Linux 1.39% -0.24%
- macOS 1.19% -0.24%
On the Linux side these are the most used distributions on Steam:
- SteamOS Holo 64 bit (Steam Deck) 42.31% -0.73%
- Arch Linux 64 bit 7.54% -0.55%
- Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS 64 bit 6.73% +0.24%
- Freedesktop.org SDK 23.08 (Flatpak runtime) 64 bit 5.73% +5.73%
- Manjaro Linux 64 bit 3.95% +0.04%
- Linux Mint 21.2 64 bit 3.93% +0.26%
- Other 29.81% -4.98%
All the details can be seen on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
Looking on the brightside, the English-only tracker hit an all time high with Linux at 4.15%.
14 Likes, Who?
dziadulewicz 2 Nov 2023
Looking on the brightside, the English-only tracker hit an all time high with Linux at 4.15%.
Where (and HOW) can this info and percentage be displayed on the Steam Survey information site?
1 Likes, Who?
dziadulewicz 2 Nov 2023
This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers. Also the "other" section includes probably Linuxes and then also Chrome OS is definitely Linux but is often left out from Linux share.
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
2 Likes, Who?
Arehandoro 2 Nov 2023
Be sure to check out our Steam Tracker.
In the Steam Languages graph, shouldn't Spanish include all the variants and not just the one from Spain? I think it would show a more relevant information regarding the overall usage.
3 Likes, Who?
Steam splits it and I only pick the currently most popular overall languages to add in.Be sure to check out our Steam Tracker.
In the Steam Languages graph, shouldn't Spanish include all the variants and not just the one from Spain? I think it would show a more relevant information regarding the overall usage.
2 Likes, Who?
This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers.
It's a survey, the absolute numbers would mean what exactly?
1 Likes, Who?
pleasereadthemanual 2 Nov 2023
This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers. Also the "other" section includes probably Linuxes and then also Chrome OS is definitely Linux but is often left out from Linux share.Well, even Google refers to "Linux" as something separate from ChromeOS: https://chromeos.dev/en/linux/setup
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
I don't know what the difference is exactly, but Google seems to think there is one.
1 Likes, Who?
As usual, my takeaway from this kind of thing is, we need to get the Chinese using Linux.
11 Likes, Who?
Looking on the brightside, the English-only tracker hit an all time high with Linux at 4.15%.
This should be a part of the article, not a separate
3 Likes, Who?
Looking on the brightside, the English-only tracker hit an all time high with Linux at 4.15%.
This should be a part of the article, not a separateDLCcomment.
I cantsee this number anywhere either
what do you guys do to dig these up!?
0 Likes
As usual, my takeaway from this kind of thing is, we need to get the Chinese using Linux.
I think we need to take a page from our Indian brothers and sisters.
India Desktop OS Market Share
3 Likes, Who?
This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers. Also the "other" section includes probably Linuxes and then also Chrome OS is definitely Linux but is often left out from Linux share.Well, even Google refers to "Linux" as something separate from ChromeOS: https://chromeos.dev/en/linux/setup
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
I don't know what the difference is exactly, but Google seems to think there is one.
Look like google just abuse linux for their own but not even a credit
2 Likes, Who?
Looking on the brightside, the English-only tracker hit an all time high with Linux at 4.15%.
This should be a part of the article, not a separateDLCcomment.
I cantsee this number anywhere either
The link is the first in the article - GOL's "Steam Tracker". The bottom graph on that page collates all the data as usual, but focuses only on the English language, which gives a (perhaps) more indicative figure of Linux's overall share compared to Win/OSX.
These Simplified Chinese spikes are just noise (to me). Steam isn't explicitly blocked in China, but it's such a grey area, I'd rather filter out the whole country when considering the Linux marketshare globally. And while only focusing on English isn't probably the best way to do so, it's simple and (so far) appears to be giving us a consistent view of overall growth.
1 Likes, Who?
Looking on the brightside, the English-only tracker hit an all time high with Linux at 4.15%.
Where (and HOW) can this info and percentage be displayed on the Steam Survey information site?
It's a derived value.
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje 2 Nov 2023
This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers. Also the "other" section includes probably Linuxes and then also Chrome OS is definitely Linux but is often left out from Linux share.ChromeOS shouldn't be in the 'Desktop Linux' share, as it doesn't run normal Desktop Applications, right? As far as I know it's about as Desktop Linux as the Samsung Dex thing.
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
1 Likes, Who?
Freedesktop.org SDK 23.08 (Flatpak runtime) 64 bit 5.73% +5.73%
It's quite odd. Did you mistype here?
It's quite odd. Did you mistype here?
0 Likes
These Simplified Chinese spikes are just noise (to me). Steam isn't explicitly blocked in China, but it's such a grey area, I'd rather filter out the whole country when considering the Linux marketshare globally.Well, but, if it's so grey-area-almost-blocked, how does Simplified Chinese manage to show up as 45.93% of the total Steam use? That seems like a market chunk big enough it should maybe not be filtered out or treated as noise.
China is a huge important country. And certain other powers' determination to change that situation do not seem likely to work; it is just going to keep on getting more important as time goes on. That's not a judgement of values; it's not about whether I like China or like US dominance better or whatever, I'm just saying that's what is going to happen, unless there's a hot war that goes nuclear and everybody loses. So for Linux people, I think them not using Linux is a Big Deal and likely to get bigger.
3 Likes, Who?
ChromeOS is a weird case. Because I mean, unlike Android it is actually Gnu/Linux (Android as I understand it is the first major example of a Linux without Gnu). Somewhere deep under the hood, ChromeOS is basically perfectly normal Linux. It's just, the Desktop Environment is serious crippleware. So like, yes, functionally, unless you do some weird stuff, it doesn't act like a real Linux, 'cause it won't run the normal Linux ecosystem of software (or much of any software, really). But then, I'm sure that's also true of whatever is running the box under my TV that came from my internet provider, and nobody says that isn't real Linux.This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers. Also the "other" section includes probably Linuxes and then also Chrome OS is definitely Linux but is often left out from Linux share.ChromeOS shouldn't be in the 'Desktop Linux' share, as it doesn't run normal Desktop Applications, right? As far as I know it's about as Desktop Linux as the Samsung Dex thing.
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
One could argue that ChromeOS is real Linux, but it's not real desktop Linux.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 2 Nov 2023 at 7:56 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
These Simplified Chinese spikes are just noise (to me). Steam isn't explicitly blocked in China, but it's such a grey area, I'd rather filter out the whole country when considering the Linux marketshare globally.Well, but, if it's so grey-area-almost-blocked, how does Simplified Chinese manage to show up as 45.93% of the total Steam use? That seems like a market chunk big enough it should maybe not be filtered out or treated as noise.
China is a huge important country. And certain other powers' determination to change that situation do not seem likely to work; it is just going to keep on getting more important as time goes on. That's not a judgement of values; it's not about whether I like China or like US dominance better or whatever, I'm just saying that's what is going to happen, unless there's a hot war that goes nuclear and everybody loses. So for Linux people, I think them not using Linux is a Big Deal and likely to get bigger.
I don't disagree. I'm just saying that I, personally, don't care about China's impact on Steam stats. I'd rather not see them.
Last edited by scaine on 2 Nov 2023 at 8:52 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
slaapliedje 3 Nov 2023
Yeah, that's why I said specifically Desktop Linux :) It's about 'Desktop Linux' as AtariOS is.ChromeOS is a weird case. Because I mean, unlike Android it is actually Gnu/Linux (Android as I understand it is the first major example of a Linux without Gnu). Somewhere deep under the hood, ChromeOS is basically perfectly normal Linux. It's just, the Desktop Environment is serious crippleware. So like, yes, functionally, unless you do some weird stuff, it doesn't act like a real Linux, 'cause it won't run the normal Linux ecosystem of software (or much of any software, really). But then, I'm sure that's also true of whatever is running the box under my TV that came from my internet provider, and nobody says that isn't real Linux.This survey appears not very useful until we get some absolute numbers. Also the "other" section includes probably Linuxes and then also Chrome OS is definitely Linux but is often left out from Linux share.ChromeOS shouldn't be in the 'Desktop Linux' share, as it doesn't run normal Desktop Applications, right? As far as I know it's about as Desktop Linux as the Samsung Dex thing.
"Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market. It would be twice as much if people could stop arguing about who counts and who doesn't".
https://www.theregister.com/2023/07/18/linux_desktop_debate/
One could argue that ChromeOS is real Linux, but it's not real desktop Linux.
1 Likes, Who?
Patreon
PayPal
An idiots guide to setting up Minecraft on Steam Deck / SteamOS with controller support
How to install extra software, apps and games on SteamOS and Steam Deck
See more from me