Initially Valve's Steam Hardware & Software Survey for December 2025 showed Linux at 3.19%, but they appear to have amended it with a nice boost for Linux.
I feel like this curve will need to be refitted, it looks more parabolic than they’re fitting it. A good thing IMO, it doesn’t just mean Linux marketshare is growing, but it’s growing faster.
And, like, it makes sense. Network effect plays a huge role on this. One more user means some dev saying “…fine, native Linux version”, in turn that means other users saying “yay, $game has a Linux version!”.
For sure. From personal experience, I’ve been gaming on Linux for a few years now, but it was only last year that one friend finally decided to switch and it stuck. And after that friend, 2 more made the switch. And then another friend got a Steam Deck.
I feel like this curve will need to be refitted, it looks more parabolic than they’re fitting it. A good thing IMO, it doesn’t just mean Linux marketshare is growing, but it’s growing faster.
And, like, it makes sense. Network effect plays a huge role on this. One more user means some dev saying “…fine, native Linux version”, in turn that means other users saying “yay,
$gamehas a Linux version!”.For sure. From personal experience, I’ve been gaming on Linux for a few years now, but it was only last year that one friend finally decided to switch and it stuck. And after that friend, 2 more made the switch. And then another friend got a Steam Deck.
It does feel like it’s starting to heat up.