Steam On Linux - Down To 3.05% For September? (phoronix.com)
(Saturday October 03, 2026 @04:51PM (EditorDavid)
from the losing-Steam dept.)
- Reference: 0186016144
- News link: https://linux.slashdot.org/story/26/10/03/2056206/steam-on-linux---down-to-305-for-september
- Source link: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Survey-September-2025
[1]Phoronix reports :
> Steam on Linux use in March hit an all-time high of around 5.33% marketshare. Since then it pulled back to around 4% while for September 2026 the Steam Survey results... indicate a rather steep decline of 0.85%, down to 3.05%. Meanwhile macOS is at 1.92% and Microsoft Windows at 95%... Steam's Survey reports a 7.42% increase in Chinese use, up to 31.39% overall of the Steam population. Usually those large month-over-month swings where Steam China use shoots up dramatically is a boost to Windows and a detriment to Linux. Some attribute the large increases in Simplified Chinese use to being a reporting/sampling issue.
>
> When diving into the Steam Linux data exclusively, CachyOS has spiked by another 2.65% to now account for 18.12% of the sampled Linux gaming population. That even outperforms SteamOS Holo coming in at 17.37%. Among Linux gamers on Steam, AMD CPUs still account for the high 60 percentage space thanks to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine using AMD APUs and their open-source/Linux support being popular with enthusiasts.
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Survey-September-2025
> Steam on Linux use in March hit an all-time high of around 5.33% marketshare. Since then it pulled back to around 4% while for September 2026 the Steam Survey results... indicate a rather steep decline of 0.85%, down to 3.05%. Meanwhile macOS is at 1.92% and Microsoft Windows at 95%... Steam's Survey reports a 7.42% increase in Chinese use, up to 31.39% overall of the Steam population. Usually those large month-over-month swings where Steam China use shoots up dramatically is a boost to Windows and a detriment to Linux. Some attribute the large increases in Simplified Chinese use to being a reporting/sampling issue.
>
> When diving into the Steam Linux data exclusively, CachyOS has spiked by another 2.65% to now account for 18.12% of the sampled Linux gaming population. That even outperforms SteamOS Holo coming in at 17.37%. Among Linux gamers on Steam, AMD CPUs still account for the high 60 percentage space thanks to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine using AMD APUs and their open-source/Linux support being popular with enthusiasts.
[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Survey-September-2025
Market share (Score:2)
by Vintermann ( 400722 )
I suspect that "market share" is a lot about what kind of games heavy players are playing on Steam right now. March was when Slay the Spire 2 was released, a very Linux friendly game, popular with Linux demographics. Months where DRM-ridden MMOs or extraction shooter of the month dominates - which is most of them - will see lower Linux use.
Re: (Score:2)
Every single game developer, so they know where their potential market base is, so they know what platforms to invest development time into.
Re: (Score:3)
Even 3% is still a pretty significant market-share that you can get (or not) with not a lot of effort if you use sane development processes. Hence quite a few people will care. Also note that this share indicates a much larger potential share.