Steam Linux Gaming Usage Remains Just Above 1.1%

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Steam Linux Gaming Usage Remains Just Above 1.1%

The November 2014 survey results are now out from the Steam Survey that show the current Linux gaming market-share...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTg1Mjk

[chris200x9]

you know I've never been surveyd on linux or mac (both of which I spend more time on than windows) but have been on windows twice.

[Xaero_Vincent]

Well, I think it's worth pointing out that many Linux and Mac steam users also run the Windows version of Steam in Wine to play their Windows-only games. I mean, I do this quite often. Does this 1.1% metric take that into consideration? Does Wine expose itself differently than Windows so that Steam can distinguish between the two?

Steam is great. The In-Home Streaming feature is awesome and lets me seamlessly remotely play my DirectX 10 & 11 games on Linux as if they were local, despite my Wine and Crossover not supporting them yet.

http://i.imgur.com/oo9KxY9.jpg

Valve also just released a new beta version of Steam that supports Twitch-like broadcasting. Sadly, it's only supported on Windows 7 & 8 ATM, but Valve is planning to support it on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows Vista in the near future.

https://steamcommunity.com/updates/broadcasting

[Almindor]

you know I've never been surveyd on linux or mac (both of which I spend more time on than windows) but have been on windows twice.

Yeah it's kinda random. This survey I actually got hit both on my work Mac and my home desktop Linux so I contributed to both platforms same. Luckily I didn't play anything in windows during that period

[schmidtbag]

you know I've never been surveyd on linux or mac (both of which I spend more time on than windows) but have been on windows twice.

Haha yeah it's completely randomized though. I've been asked maybe 3 or 4 times when running linux and maybe 3 times when running Windows. I get asked surprisingly often.

[dungeon]

Boring news, Windows is still above 95% and even raising WTF like it is first rate hit in the world

[zanny]

Until Steam Machines are on store shelves (or Ubuntu powered PCs are) this won't change. Despite the fact that a lot of people in the upper echelons of the tech ecosystem think everyone builds their own computers and custom installs their OSes etc, in practice they are a few percent of the market, and a colossal supermajority is buying prebuilt machines either online or at Best Buy.

The real metric that will matter is when we see Steam Machines released and how much of an impact it has on usage numbers.

[schmidtbag]

in practice they are a few percent of the market, and a colossal supermajority is buying prebuilt machines either online or at Best Buy.

To me, this is somewhat obvious, when you look at the stats. Considering Steam is targeted toward gamers and a startlingly high # of these people have Intel graphics, you know these people are just buying cheap home PCs.

[dungeon]

To me, this is somewhat obvious, when you look at the stats. Considering Steam is targeted toward gamers and a startlingly high # of these people have Intel graphics, you know these people are just buying cheap home PCs.

For sure, why should majorty of gamers buy PCs priced more then Playstation 4 ... just reading about it, seems like Playstation have 20 years anniversary today with limited edition P4 in original color:

To mark the 20th anniversary of the PlayStation, Sony is releasing a special 20th anniversary PlayStation 4. The console is limited to only 12,300 numbered units worldwide.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/12/03/playstation-turns-20-ps4-20th-anniversary-edition-revealed-2/

[Xaero_Vincent]

Until Steam Machines are on store shelves (or Ubuntu powered PCs are) this won't change. Despite the fact that a lot of people in the upper echelons of the tech ecosystem think everyone builds their own computers and custom installs their OSes etc, in practice they are a few percent of the market, and a colossal supermajority is buying prebuilt machines either online or at Best Buy.

The real metric that will matter is when we see Steam Machines released and how much of an impact it has on usage numbers.

Well the thing is, Steam Machines are already available unofficially. For instance, the Alienware Alpha was recently released with a custom themed UI on-top of Windows 8.1 and includes a Xbox 360 controller. With all the delays to the SteamOS versions and it's controller, by the time they are actually released, they'll be received with yawns and meh in the gaming community. Considering the Windows-based "Steam Machines" that are being released now and can run all Steam games, I think few people will want to choose the SteamOS one, which won't natively support all the games the Windows ones can and Valve rightfully will not endorse using PlayOnLinux or any Wine solution.

Quite simply, Valve will have to greatly sweeten the deal with free extras to entice gamers to choose 1st generation official SteamOS Steam Machines versus their Windows counterparts or even regular gaming PCs.