Steam Linux Usage Dropped Lower In October But With More Questionable Data
Over the summer Steam on Linux use was at nearly 2% but it's been sliding since even though the Linux-powered Steam Deck continues selling quite well and being well received by the gaming community. In September was a 0.19% drop to 1.63% as just the latest in the Linux marketshare decline. But the just-published numbers for October show a 0.24% drop month-over-month with now putting Linux at 1.39%.
But when looking at the other numbers, red flags are raised. In October the Steam Survey shows Windows 11 losing 6.9% marketshare to Windows 10 picking up 7.61% marketshare.... Yes, Windows 10 gaining massive marketshare in late 2023?! To a reported 65% use among Steam gamers... In the past such large swings for Windows 10 have typically correlated to a large influx in reported Steam Chinese users.
With these numbers, Steam on macOS now trails even further behind Linux. While macOS used to have 3~4% Steam gaming marketshare, for October it's reported at just 1.19% after suffering a 0.24% dip with this big Windows 10 swing.
When looking at the language support, it confirmed the suspicions that the large swing was due to Chinese gamers. According to the Steam Survey, for October the simplified Chinese market rose by 13.71% to 45.93%. According to Valve's own survey, it reports nearly half of the user-base using the Chinese language support. Whether it's a bug, loosening of restrictions in China, or other factors isn't clear.
When pulling up the Linux-only data, it shows SteamOS (Steam Deck) on around 42% of Linux gaming systems polled for the survey.
And around 70% of Linux gaming systems are powered by AMD processors, in large part due to the Steam Deck relying on an AMD APU.
Those curious about the October 2023 Steam Survey results can find all the data in full via SteamPowered.com.
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