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Linux gamers on Steam finally cross over the 3% mark
It finally happened. Linux gamers on Steam as of the Steam Hardware & Software Survey for October 2025 have crossed over the elusive 3% mark. The trend has been clear for sometime, and with Windows 10 ending support, it was quite likely this was going to be the time for it to happen as more people try out Linux.
Update
More coverage:
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Linux Hits 3% On Steam's October 2025 Hardware Survey
Every month, Valve sends out a survey to some of its users to gauge what the most popular operating systems and configurations are from accounts on Steam. It's interesting to see it as well, showing the most popular CPUs, GPUs, operating systems, and even VR headsets and resolutions. This also appears on the Steam Deck, allowing them to include our handhelds in the survey. Now that it's October, we have a brand new survey edition to check out, and to my surprise, Linux has passed the 3% mark!
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Steam On Linux Gaming Finally Cracks 3% For October 2025
Steam on Linux use has hit an all-time high! With the Steam Survey results for October 2025 coming out this evening, Steam on Linux has finally cracked the 3% threshold! A few months back Steam on Linux was close to 3% before stumbling a bit but now it's above that elusive threshold. The only time Steam on Linux use was close to the 3% mark was when Steam on Linux initially debuted a decade ago and at that time the overall Steam user-base was much smaller than it is today. Long story short, thanks to the ongoing success of Valve's Steam Deck and other handhelds plus Steam Play (Proton) working out so well, these October numbers are the best yet.
The October 2025 numbers just published minutes ago put a hearty 0.41% increase to Linux for landing its overall marketshare at 3.05%. Windows meanwhile was at 94.84% (falling below 95% for the first time in a while) and macOS at 2.11%. For comparison, in October 2024 Steam on Linux was at 2.00%.
XDA:
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Linux breaches 3% of Steam's userbase for the first time, and no, it's not all SteamOS's doing
As the effects of Windows 10's end-of-life date have fully taken hold, we're beginning to see shifts in how people use their PCs. While some people have stuck with Windows 10 using the extended support plan, others have either bought a new device, forced Windows 11 on their older PC, or even jumped ship to a new operating system entirely.
As a result, we're seeing more Linux users logging onto Steam than ever before. And while the knee-jerk reaction is to claim that this is all SteamOS's doing with the introduction of gaming handhelds, the truth is a little more complicated than that.
Linuxiac:
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Linux Hits 3% Usage on Valve’s Steam Gaming Platform
Gaming on Linux has been steadily gaining ground among players worldwide. What was once considered a niche hobby is now a serious option for gamers.
Driven by Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, which allows thousands of Windows games to run on Linux, this free and open-source OS not only runs exclusive Windows games smoothly but often even outperforms Windows in some benchmarks. Which brings us to today’s topic.
For the first time in its history, Linux has surpassed the 3% usage mark among Steam gamers, according to Valve’s latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey for October 2025.
PCWorld:
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The Steam Deck pushes Linux past a new milestone: 3% of Steam gamers | PCWorld
It’s finally happening! The year of the Linux… PC gaming handheld device. (Okay, that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.) According to the latest Steam hardware survey, Linux has just over 3 percent of the market share of users who have Steam installed. It has almost certainly benefited from Valve’s own Steam Deck, which derives its handheld SteamOS operating system from a Linux base.
It’s not quite as one-sided as you might think. “SteamOS Holo” is the most popular flavor of Linux among Steam users, claiming 27.18 percent of the Linux slice. (That’s the latest version of the system on Steam Decks and exactly one other retail device at the time of writing, the Lenovo Legion Go S. Downloads are also available for the original ROG Ally.) That means about 1 in every 125 Steam users is accessing the service with a Steam Deck. It probably won’t surprise you that Bazzite, an open-source alternative to SteamOS that runs a lot of the same software plus more desktop tools, is among the closest runners-up.
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3% of Steam Users Play on Linux, a Third of Them on SteamOS
Steam is by far the most popular game distribution platform for the PC platform, and its hardware and software surveys provide a pulse of the PC gaming market. The platform's latest monthly snapshot shows Steam on Linux exceeding 3% of all Steam sessions. What's more, one-third of these Linux users play on Valve's own SteamOS platform, which is a specialized PC Linux distribution for gaming. 3.05% of all active Steam users are playing on Linux with Steam for Linux as the DRM platform.
This is a 33% year-on-year growth from October 2024, when Linux made up 2% of all active Steam users. With this, Steam on Linux has surpassed Steam on macOS, which held 2.11% of the active users. Windows continues to be the dominant OS for PC gaming, with a 94.84% stranglehold. Within Windows, the latest Windows 11 gained 3% market share at the expense of Windows 10. Windows 11 holds 63.57% of the market, compared to 31.14% held by Windows 10.
Adding Two:
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AMD CPUs and Linux hit record highs in latest Steam hardware survey | TechSpot
What just happened? It's the start of another month, which means Valve has released the results of its latest Steam survey. October was a good period for AMD and Linux, both of which reached record highs, while the three top GPUs constantly fighting for the number one spot switched places again.
We've seen the share of Steam survey participants who use Linux rise in recent times, mostly due to the Steam Deck and its Arch Linux-based SteamOS. Lunux's user share on the survey hit a milestone last month, passing the 3% mark for the first time ever. Arch Linux was the distro with the largest share, at 0.31%.
While Windows remains the dominant OS, its share declined slightly to 94.84%. Windows 11 continues to be the most popular version, reaching 63.5%, as Windows 10, which passed its end-of-life date on October 14, fell to 31%.
Linux gaming growth: SteamOS share exceeds three percent on Steam as hardware makers take notice
Linux gaming has reached a new milestone on Steam. Based on Valve's voluntary Steam Hardware and Software Survey for October 2025, Linux and SteamOS together now account for just over three percent of all responding Steam users, the highest figure ever recorded.
While three percent may sound modest, it signals the steady rise of Linux-based gaming led by the Steam Deck and a growing number of handheld PCs and mini PCs that ship with open-source operating systems such as Bazzite and HoloISO.
A post by @SlashdotMedia on X highlighted the milestone, drawing attention to the official survey data and growing recognition of Linux as a viable gaming platform.