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Remember folks, it doesn't matter if the overall Linux percentage drops right now. There's a lot of room for errors, we have tons of games to come, and Linux is still awesome.

Why shouldn't I be worried?
It’s a percentage from a survey, and Steam's overall user base is increasing massively all the time. This means that even with lower percentages, our overall user count is actually higher. To make that clear: Linux is growing all the time, but so is Mac and Windows.

We have no idea how they are sampling their data, and to state this again, it’s a survey. It’s not a hard statistic to be thrown around to claim Linux gaming is dying, it’s really not.

The numbers
Total: 0.88% -0.06%

Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.26% -0.02%
Ubuntu 15.04 64 bit 0.14% +0.14%
Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca 64 bit 0.09% 0.00%
Linux 64 bit 0.05% +0.05%

See the survey results here. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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43 comments
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Pecisk Jun 3, 2015
I guess will install Windows then...or better, maybe let's just not wait for miracle in Steam survey data :)

I care less and less. All I care is good ports and people voting with their wallets.
FutureSuture Jun 3, 2015
Steam usage must be growing so fast that the Linux adoption rate just cannot keep up. Linux still has more users using Steam than before. Unfortunately, so do Windows and Mac OS.
Beamboom Jun 3, 2015
Arf. It's frustrating.
sub Jun 3, 2015
I hope rumours are not true that Newell just came up with Linux/SteamOS/SteamMachines to put pressure on Microsoft.
As Win10 seems like it will get good reception and "lacks" all the stuff Newell was afraid of, some people argue Valve might abandon Linux sooner or later. After all, SteamMachines missed the fantastic "Win8" time window to take off - and that sounds reasonable to me. :/
Teal Jun 3, 2015
I wish Steam had a statistic of the sum of people running it on the various platforms at any given time, and how many of them are playing games.

For me, the survey only seems to happen when I am installing steam, and I usually just skip it, and I am pretty sure so will a plenty of other Linux users.
Teal Jun 3, 2015
Quoting: subI hope rumours are not true that Newell just came up with Linux/SteamOS/SteamMachines to put pressure on Microsoft.
As Win10 seems like it will get good reception and "lacks" all the stuff Newell was afraid of, some people argue Valve might abandon Linux sooner or later. After all, SteamMachines missed the fantastic "Win8" time window to take off - and that sounds reasonable to me. :/

I kind of doubt Valve would just ditch it due to their investment in Vulkan.

And as long as Microsoft has it's own app store, they are still a monetary threat to Valve, and afaik Windows 10 still has an (albeit optional) app store.
keiki Jun 3, 2015
I doubt that Steam will switch over using Windows for their Steam box. The effort they would have done until now would be pointless. And the license fee, which they would have to pay to Microsoft is surely high enough.
Pecisk Jun 3, 2015
Quoting: subI hope rumours are not true that Newell just came up with Linux/SteamOS/SteamMachines to put pressure on Microsoft.
As Win10 seems like it will get good reception and "lacks" all the stuff Newell was afraid of, some people argue Valve might abandon Linux sooner or later. After all, SteamMachines missed the fantastic "Win8" time window to take off - and that sounds reasonable to me. :/

Microsoft hasn't given up walled garden approach. It's still there and Valve knows it very well. Fool me once - shame on you, Fool me twice - shame on me.

Linux users really should stop being afraid of Windows. Seriously, all I hear every time when Microsoft releases new Windows is how it will finally destroy Linux desktop. That's amazing PR pull if you ask me. Windows still costs 100USD/EUR at retail. Microsoft will offer similar discounts to illegal users, but for very short time and they are similar to Windows 8. DirectX 12 doesn't mean all games will magically run faster - you have to use low level functionality for that. DirectX12 being locked Windows 10 only will limit it's addoptation.

And so on and so forth.

Also what it got to do with blip in statistics I wonder. Yes, there are hopes and fears, but Linux users should be better than that.
mao_dze_dun Jun 3, 2015
It's only logical. There are too few AAA releases, even fewer first day releases and virtually no stable such. The Linux triple A game market consists of 3-4 aging game ports (quite buggy upon release) and a lot of vague promises.
jamesc359 Jun 3, 2015
For anybody that might be worried about the decline I'd like to point out that I've gone years without receiving a Steam survey, only to turn around and have three or four in a year. This year for example I've received four surveys. One on Windows and three on Linux, two of which were in the same month a couple days apart, so clearly Valve's polling method is far from perfect.
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