2y ago

Nearly 40% of Linux gamers on Steam are on Steam Deck

www.gamingonlinux.com

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.

GNU/Linux Gaming on Kbin @kbin.social

genesis @kbin.social

2y ago

Nearly 40% of Linux gamers on Steam are on Steam Deck

www.gamingonlinux.com /2023/07/nearly-40-of-linux-gamers-on-steam-are-on-steam-deck/

17 comments

I'm surprised the number isn't higher than that tbh.
Valve really needs to push for Linux compatibility adoption for anti-cheat software.
Once Linux gets adopted by these companies, there's really no other feature Linux gaming can't one-up Windows gaming.
- That is not easy. Linux is about having full control over our own hardware. Client-side anti-cheats are about preventing user of having full control of the system.
  Especially the kernel-side anti cheats rely on kernel not being controlled by the user.
- A few of them did. The problem is also implementation in the games.
  In the past few months, I've been able to play more multiplayer games in Linux than before (notably Insurgency and Squad now work).
  I tend to mostly play single player, but all in all, I don't even remember when I last booted my Windows partition. If it wasn't for a last glimmer of hope of reviving my Oculus CV1, I'd probably wipe it.
- I doubt we will see more native games any time soon, making games work better with proton by the devs themselves is imho more important for the platform
- I think they are doing all they can. The major anti cheat systems already support Linux. It's just a matter of the game devs actually allowing Linux.
  Even Microsoft did that for Halo.
The Steam Deck has no doubt dramatically increased the number of Linux gamers, but at the same time the market has just grown at an even faster pace. It would be amazing if they gave us some absolute numbers one day, but I doubt they will. It's a great start though, Valve have done so much for gaming on Linux!
I am honestly shocked that it's not higher than that.
With Linux still being 1.4% that's actually a lot less steam decks bought than I thought there'd be. Or I guess something fucky could be going on with what i assume is the majority of people with a steamdeck, those with Windows and a Steamdeck
I don't even game much anymore, but that Steam Deck has been calling my name....what a slick piece of tech.
- If not gaming, you can use it as a portable PC like I've started doing. It replaced my laptop.
  And with a USB-C hub with HDMI, you can use it like a full desktop.
  I bought it more to hack with than play games (I'm not much of a gamer either unless you count single player sim and sandbox games and the last console I bought for myself before this was in 2001). I had this idea of turning it into a drone controller using an external RC transmitter somehow. Or control other robotics projects.
  It's powerful enough to be both the controller to navigate the vehicle AND offload some of the vehicle's processing load to it (like if I want to start doing object recognition) in an all in one unit.
With how much I've distro hopped recently I probably count as like 6 people this month. I've gotten a steam hardware survery every reinstall.
- I've gotten none and I've switched 4 times. :|
Oh yep that's me, never tried gaming on Linux before the Deck. I still use Windows on my PC, but Valve built a great experience with Linux on a handheld. Windows can't hold a candle to SteamOS on the Deck, it somehow took more tinkering to make games run correctly in Windows when I tried it.
I'll add two more to the tally as soon as mine ships.
Pretty excellent, it'll keep doint bigger numbers over time too as people continue to realize it's a great value

17 comments