Valve Publishes Steam Survey Numbers For April 2024

[qarium]

Maybe number of Linux gamers are not growing but software (Mesa, Wine, Wayland, ...) is improving nicely. I notice big improvements in performance and quality on latest FC40 using Plasma 6 and Wayland, and of course, AMD GPU. Intel is also adding a new GPU driver which could be ready soon in Linux 6.9, can't wait to try with my A770. Nvidia is a different story but I think they will change their act against Linux.

its plain and simple wrong that linux gamers are not growing valve steam grows all the time its just that windows steam users grow faster than the linux steam users. but in total numbers the linux gamers do in fact grow.

[cakeisamadeupdrug]

As far as gfx drivers go, the situation is infinitely better than 10 years ago but it's still not as seamless as on Windows especially for nvidia (entirely by nvidia's fault).

It kind of is. I think a lot of Linux folks either have forgotten or never experienced just how dire graphics drivers are on Windows. I've had breakages that needed running DDU on Windows, I've had flickering and crashes, and for a while there was an infinite loop of GeForce experience and Windows Update continually replacing the driver the other had just installed. Linux drivers aren't perfect, but neither are Windows drivers.

[blackiwid]

The survey just adds data they cannot collect automatically by law (like what distribution of linux/version of windows was being used or what model cpu/gpu is being used)

Nice to know, but the link you added does not support that...

[Weasel]

you use linux mint , and nvidia and intel? I cant understand people who continues to use nvidia for gaming in linux, better to use windows, is common sense the nvidia drivers have some problems with new distros, change to amd and the things will start to work or switch to windows if you use nvidia, even me change to red team some time ago because it works better in desktop linux

What the fuck are you talking about? Nvidia works absolutely flawless on Linux (with X11), and in fact they (Nvidia) even recommend Linux for AI stuff.

Google Cloud, Colab, etc… all run Linux with Nvidia. For games you even have Nvidia-specific stuff (nvml, nvapi, DLSS, etc) in Proton.

Just because YOU use Wayland and think that means "Linux" doesn't make it so. That's your problem. Literal skill issue.

[WannaBeOCer]

Linux won’t be the standard for a long while. I bet macOS takes off before Linux due to developers making ports for Apple most likely since Apple is paying extra for the ports. Which we don’t have on Linux.

Decent amount of Metal games and the list keeps growing: https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki...es_master_list

https://youtu.be/JbE74CvM_9Q?feature=shared

[Tuxee]

Linux won’t be the standard for a long while. I bet macOS takes off before Linux due to developers making ports for Apple most likely since Apple is paying extra for the ports. Which we don’t have on Linux.

Lol. Well we have one company... what's its name? Ah, yes. Valve. They provide us with literally thousands of "ports" playable OOTB.

[Tuxee]

What the fuck are you talking about? Nvidia works absolutely flawless on Linux (with X11)

The Mesa drivers have improved incredibly over the last couple of years and today I would consider them really good. Before that AMD GPUs could be a bumpy experience to say the least. But "absolutely flawless" for NVidia? That's the usual fanboi hyperbole and far far from a "universal truth".

[mrg666]

Just a couple of thoughts.
- Most of personal Linux use is on mobile devices and if gaming on Android is counted, Linux is actually pretty popular on gaming.
- Linux dominates compute servers and data centers where gaming is not important at all.
- Nvidia makes most of its money on computing and AI. The money Nvidia makes on gaming is 98% on Windows. Those two facts explain why Nvidia doesn't care about Linux desktop and gaming.
- Unless, Playstation switches to Linux from BSD (Sony wants to stay away from GPL to keep their source closed) or Steam releases a Linux gaming PC or console, there will not be a surge in Linux gaming share. Improvements continue in Linux gaming capabilities and other corporations (maybe Amazon) might also use this capability.

[WannaBeOCer]

Lol. Well we have one company... what's its name? Ah, yes. Valve. They provide us with literally thousands of "ports" playable OOTB.

Valve isn’t providing native ports, they’re providing a translation layer to get games running just like Rosetta on Apple. Translation layer performance is worse than native ports. There’s still a decent amount of anti cheat titles not working via translation layers.

The setup process on Linux is a pain for a normal user. Also experiences vary heavily depending on which operating system you install. Some have all the dependencies installed, some may require additional dependencies from their repository. I wouldn’t call this OOTB due to the setup requirement to actually get games running unless you’re using the Nobara Project.

Only developer I know that’s still making triple A native Linux ports are Feral Interactive. While most new Linux titles are made by indie developers. Apple has game developers now making triple A titles for their hardware.

[Tuxee]

Valve isn’t providing native ports, they’re providing a translation layer to get games running just like Rosetta on Apple.

No shit, Sherlock. You must be strong now: The "native" ports of Feral or Virtual Programming used frequently an in-house translation layer.

Translation layer performance is worse than native ports.

Well, that's not true, too. Quite the opposite. And Proton versions have improved their translation performance whereas native ports frequently get abandoned.

https://youtu.be/kKdT3RuL9jQ?t=100

There’s still a decent amount of anti cheat titles not working via translation layers.

Yes, you can't play PUBG or Fortnite. That's not exactly news.

The setup process on Linux is a pain for a normal user. Also experiences vary heavily depending on which operating system you install. Some have all the dependencies installed, some may require additional dependencies from their repository. I wouldn’t call this OOTB due to the setup requirement to actually get games running unless you’re using the Nobara Project.

Now you are trolling, right? Popping an Ubuntu from a live stick onto your hard drive is neither a pain nor a challenge. I recently had to set up a windows Windows 11. You don't want a Windows online account? Now THAT'S pain. An brand new Ubuntu 24.04 on a laptop is a 10 minute endeavour. Then install Steam, then install games, then play. It is that simple. Rly.

Only developer I know that’s still making triple A native Linux ports are Feral Interactive.

Nope. They stopped that. Proton is "too good" to make a native port viable.