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The latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey is out for June 2023, and it shows just how much the Linux share is now influenced by the Steam Deck.

Overall the Steam Deck has kind of taken over Linux gaming and June 2023's statistic are pretty striking. For the last few months SteamOS was sitting in the low to mid 20% but it seems there's been a big uptick over the last month because it's jumped rather a lot.

According to Valve's stats:

  • SteamOS Holo 64 bit 39.33% +14.01%
  • Arch Linux 64 bit 8.33% -1.66%
  • Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS 64 bit 7.87% -1.85%
  • Freedesktop.org SDK 22.08 (Flatpak runtime) 64 bit 6.02% -1.25%
  • Linux Mint 21.1 64 bit 4.55% -0.91%
  • "Manjaro Linux" 64 bit 4.37% -1.42%
  • Other 29.54% -3.38% 

We can expect that SteamOS Holo count to increase again, considering how well the Steam Deck is selling during the Steam Summer Sale 2023. Something to keep in mind though, is that for a lot of people the Steam Deck will be an additional system, not their only one used by Steam but you usually only get the survey on one machine.

The overall stats are:

  • Windows 96.77% +0.63%
  • OSX 1.79% -0.60%
  • Linux 1.44% -0.03%

Going by what Valve list that puts Linux use almost as high as the remaining Windows 7 and 8 machines noted in the survey results. 

Latest details of the Linux user share over time can be seen on our dedicated Steam Tracker page.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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37 comments
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Eike Jul 3, 2023
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I don't stop being surprised how low the percentage of the 1 - 2 million Deck users is compared to all Linux users. :)


Last edited by Eike on 3 July 2023 at 6:26 pm UTC
Philadelphus Jul 3, 2023
Looking at those numbers: bets on whether Linux exceeds MacOS in Steam share by the end of the year?
Salvatos Jul 3, 2023
> you usually only get the survey on one machine.
Not in my experience. I had it on two different desktops one week apart just last spring and I've had it on my laptop as well.
Eike Jul 3, 2023
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Quoting: PhiladelphusLooking at those numbers: bets on whether Linux exceeds MacOS in Steam share by the end of the year?

Wow, this is hefty!

Linux 1.44% -0.03%
OSX 1.79% -0.60%

So it's 2.39 => 1.79 in a single month, and this cannot be due to China, or Linux would have seen a similar drop!
Mohandevir Jul 3, 2023
Quoting: Salvatos> you usually only get the survey on one machine.
Not in my experience. I had it on two different desktops one week apart just last spring and I've had it on my laptop as well.

Got it on my Steam Deck, my laptop and my PC, this month. I decided to distro hop on my PCs and it triggered the survey for each fresh install (wasn't a fresh install for my Steam Deck).


Last edited by Mohandevir on 3 July 2023 at 7:43 pm UTC
mahagr Jul 3, 2023
After the last update, for me Steam is now totally broken in my computer, fonts are huge and menus do not fit into the space they are given. So yeah, I am not gaming in my Linux desktop for a bit as it also lost all the games due to folder change, which I am not able to fix without tinkering as also the configuration modal is broken. :)

On the other hand, I have no interest to game in my computer right now, I guess.. I just use my Steam deck instead.

If someone else has ran into the scaling issue, please let the rest of us to know how to easily fix it.
Klaas Jul 3, 2023
On my desktop I've got the menu click issue, i.e. I cannot remove games/view the settings menu either in the context menu or through the gear icon without holding shift or control.
Eike Jul 3, 2023
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Quoting: mahagrAfter the last update, for me Steam is now totally broken in my computer, fonts are huge and menus do not fit into the space they are given. So yeah, I am not gaming in my Linux desktop for a bit as it also lost all the games due to folder change, which I am not able to fix without tinkering as also the configuration modal is broken. :)

On the other hand, I have no interest to game in my computer right now, I guess.. I just use my Steam deck instead.

If someone else has ran into the scaling issue, please let the rest of us to know how to easily fix it.

You could try
GDK_SCALE=1 steam
in the terminal.
CatKiller Jul 3, 2023
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QuoteSomething to keep in mind though, is that for a lot of people the Steam Deck will be an additional system, not their only one used by Steam but you usually only get the survey on one machine.

This is definitely not the case. You get the survey on every machine with Steam, although at different times for each machine. Those for whom the Deck is a complementary system will have an entry in the survey from the Deck when it's the Deck's turn, and an entry in the survey for their other machine when it's the other machine's turn.
const Jul 3, 2023
Quoting: EikeWow, this is hefty!

Linux 1.44% -0.03%
OSX 1.79% -0.60%

So it's 2.39 => 1.79 in a single month, and this cannot be due to China, or Linux would have seen a similar drop!
Well, the 2% increase of simplified chinese certainly had an impact, but look at the change of used Languages for Linux:

English 80.13% -4.35%
Simplified Chinese 3.84% +1.66%
German 3.32% +0.41%
Russian 2.93% +0.51%
French 1.71% +0.21%
Spanish - Spain 1.36% +0.21%
Spanish - Latin America 1.20% -0.02%
Portuguese-Brazil 0.94% -0.01%

I'm currently to lazy to do the maths, but this month is kind of odd. My impression is we would have seen a very similar dip to OSX if it wasn't for the Steam Deck.
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