LinuxGameNetwork
This page is updated near the beginning of every month with the most recent results from Steam's Hardware and Software Survey. Bookmark it and check back as new surveys are released.
Linux User Percentage
The drop in Linux user share in late 2017 to early 2018 was due to a combination of factors. First was a counting error in the survey that Valve admitted to and later fixed. The error resulted in over-inflated user numbers from net cafes. Additionally, this time period was the peak player count for the hugely successful title PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. PUBG brought a lot of new players to the Steam platform from regions where net cafes are a popular way to play games. Both of these factors combined to substantially deflate the Linux user share on Steam. Because of overall growth of Steam however, a drop in Linux share does not necessarily mean an absolute drop in Linux players.
Linux User Percentage by OS Language
Restricting to reported OS language shows some interesting results with regards to the Linux share on Steam. The percentage of Linux users, of those with an English language OS, is around twice that of the general population. It's unclear whether this difference is due more English speakers preferring Linux, or more Linux users preferring English. But it's a surprising difference non-the-less.
Processor Preference of Linux Users
Since the release of AMDs Ryzen CPU line in early 2017, more and more Linux users have been foregoing Intel processors in favour of AMD. AMD became the dominent CPU vendor among Linux gamers in July 2022, due to a combination of attractive offerings and the wider release of the AMD APU-based Steam Deck.
GPU Vendor Preference of Linux Users
Note: GPU vendors were missing for Linux users on Steam's survey during most of 2021.
AMD is taking up ground in the GPU space among Linux users on Steam. The results of AMDs open source initiative began to bear fruit in 2017/18 as game performance approached some of Nvidia's offerings.
With the AMD-based Steam Deck's success and inclusion in Steam's Linux stats, AMD now has a clear majority in GPUs.
Most Popular Linux Distros
Steam (unfortunately) does not report many different Linux distributions, preferring to group most in the 'Other' category. Additionally, Valve separates out versions of many distros (e.g. Ubuntu LTS and non-LTS) resulting in some older versions of popular distros falling into the 'Other' category. It is probably the case that the numbers for large distros only reflect the current most-popular release versions.
Source: all data sourced from Steam's Hardware and Software Survey
