Valve's Steam Data For December Points To A Huge Dip For Linux Gaming Marketshare

Valve just published their Steam Survey numbers for December 2020 and it's a huge letdown for Linux gamers if the numbers are indeed accurate.

According to the published numbers from Valve, the Linux marketshare on Steam represented just 0.57%, or a drop of 0.33% compared to the month prior. The December 2020 figures show Windows picking up just over 1.6% while macOS losing 1.31% marketshare down to 2.14%. These numbers are a huge upset for both Linux and macOS gaming.

It's possible these numbers are a bit off as we have seen many times in the past where Valve later revises their numbers based on varying explanations. But it's also possible there was indeed a huge uptick in Windows gamers around the holidays and various gaming sales, etc. There are also some that continue to doubt Valve's Steam Survey techniques, among other concerns.

But in any case with previously being at 0.9% and hoping to crack the 1.0% threshold soon for Steam Linux gaming, at this point the numbers are a disappointment for non-Windows gamers.

Do you think the #Steam Survey for #Linux #gaming marketshare will crack 1.0% for December?

— Phoronix (@phoronix) December 31, 2020

So at least as of the Steam Survey results as published now, the gaming on Linux marketshare is back down to 0.57% after seeing a steady rise since the introduction of Steam Play (Proton) for allowing many more games on Linux.

Update: Valve has now released updated numbers.