It finally happened. Linux gamers on Steam as of the Steam Hardware & Software Survey for October 2025 have crossed over the elusive 3% mark.

Free Windows 10 support ended for most people this past month, and the trend line of Linux usage has been quite clear leading up to this, as people prepared for the inevitable. An increase in Linux usage is also correlated to a drop in Chinese players, which did happen this month a little bit, but Linux usage is also trending up when filtering for English only. It’s worth noting that for all the official support Macs ever saw in gaming, they never represented anything better than about 5% of the market.

  • edgemaster72@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    10 hours ago

    So uh, what happened between March and September 2021 that caused the current upward trend? Was the Windows 11 announcement that poorly received?

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      6·
      10 hours ago

      Yes, and 2021 was a perfect storm of a bunch of stuff:

      • Windows 11 would break compatibility with older processors
      • Steam Deck announced preorders in July - wouldn’t release until 2022, but there was a lot of excitement about Linux gaming
      • LTT made a video series (part 1 was Nov. 2021) where Linus used Linux exclusively for a month

      So yeah, a lot of people were curious at the time, and while not all of it was directly related to Windows 11, that certainly was a factor.