Steam On Linux Usage Climbs Higher Thanks To The Steam Deck

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Steam On Linux Usage Climbs Higher Thanks To The Steam Deck

Valve just posted their November 2022 Steam Survey results and it shows the Linux gaming marketshare continue to climb, driven by the success of their Arch Linux powered Steam Deck handheld gaming console...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-November-2022

[Bobby Bob]

All mostly thanks to Valve and the work they've done on making the experience of gaming on Linux considerably better over the years. If Valve keeps at this, I can see the marketshare rising higher and higher over time, eventually reaching say 3 or 4%, and at that point, market forces should start to take over, gaming related companies will be supporting Linux and trying to make their products and services better on Linux to access that growing market.

It's a very good plan long term, because if Valve lays this ground work now, they can have a solidified future of no longer being dependent on Microsoft and Windows for their core business model of selling games, and not only that, but in this new growing market of 'Linux gamers', by being 'the first' and 'established' player in that market long before the competitors, Valve will have almost a decade head start over other companies like Epic or EA or Ubisoft etc, when those companies eventually decide it's worth looking into it.

[Amarildo]

I was there in 2012 when the Beta for the SteamForLinux was just opened and Left 4 Dead was the first ported game. People said it would be "the year of Linux" back then and were all REALLY excited for Linux. 2013 came along, nothing. 10 years later and we're still not breaking 2%, I've seen the Linux marketshare on Steam go up to 1.5% many years ago, and it seems we're still stuck on this number even though VALVe released the SteamDeck.

What will it take for us to break 2%? And 3%? What about 5%?

[betam4x]

I was there in 2012 when the Beta for the SteamForLinux was just opened and Left 4 Dead was the first ported game. People said it would be "the year of Linux" back then and were all REALLY excited for Linux. 2013 came along, nothing. 10 years later and we're still not breaking 2%, I've seen the Linux marketshare on Steam go up to 1.5% many years ago, and it seems we're still stuck on this number even though VALVe released the SteamDeck.

What will it take for us to break 2%? And 3%? What about 5%?

You are talking a native port vs. Windows API compatibility. Not the same thing. Note that I am a seasoned developer that has used Linux since 1999 (!) along with MS-DOS since 3.1 and macOS from the Macintosh 128k onward. I have never been able to use Linux on the desktop due to compatibility and reliability, and usability for the Linux desktop (e.g. X/Wayland combined with GNOME/KDE with any combination of hardware including NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD GPUs)

Valve is actually doing a great job of tackling all 3, though at the expense of openness.

Just my three cents. (note that due to inflation, 3 cents might become 3.14 cents tomorrow, and obviously the gains will rise from there)

[Quackdoc]

installing games through steam right now leads to an large amount of bloat if not using dedupe. hope this can be solved since I don't see myself migrating to a fs with that capabilities any time soon

[sarmad]

I was there in 2012 when the Beta for the SteamForLinux was just opened and Left 4 Dead was the first ported game. People said it would be "the year of Linux" back then and were all REALLY excited for Linux. 2013 came along, nothing. 10 years later and we're still not breaking 2%, I've seen the Linux marketshare on Steam go up to 1.5% many years ago, and it seems we're still stuck on this number even though VALVe released the SteamDeck.

What will it take for us to break 2%? And 3%? What about 5%?

You sound like a troll, but will answer you anyway. A jump from 1.28 to 1.44 is approximately equal to 200k extra Linux users in the month of October. It sounds reasonable that Valve sells around 200k Steam Decks per month. Valve is most likely selling less than that and some of that increase is coming from genuine new Linux users.

When will we hit 5%? Try this: (5-1.44) / (1.44-1.28)
So, approximately 22 months if growth remains at this pace.

[AlanTuring69]

Wonder if we can install Fuschia on Steam deck? Also pretty interesting how they're using CISC processors when the industry is barreling towards RISV-V. I have a custom rig set up with RISC-V that can play lots of games like pacman and pong that tbh my old i7 machine really didn't do justice.

[cl333r]

Just my three cents. (note that due to inflation, 3 cents might become 3.14 cents tomorrow, and obviously the gains will rise from there)

Nonsense. According to this accounting tutorial your math is totally wrong.

[rhadlee]

Where are the Linux-based Steam Deck competitors, I wonder? I am one the fence about the 1st generation Steam Deck. But the relatively short battery life and mediocre screen make me wait for the Nintendo Switch successor, which may end up being the more worry-free package.

[rhadlee]

Wonder if we can install Fuschia on Steam deck? Also pretty interesting how they're using CISC processors when the industry is barreling towards RISV-V. I have a custom rig set up with RISC-V that can play lots of games like pacman and pong that tbh my old i7 machine really didn't do justice.

What industry are you talking about? Gaming hardware seems pretty entrenched in x86 and (to a lesser degree) ARM land.