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Steam On Linux Use Skyrocketed In March - More Than Double The macOS Gaming Marketshare
(www.phoronix.com)
this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2026
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I'm extremely skeptical about Steam's statistics. They seem to have wild fluctuations like this on a regular basis. Not to mention the statistics they show about me in their "year in review" are often just very very wrong.
They fluctuate a lot, but I have yet to see a fluctuation that can't be explained away as "a ton of Chinese players played this month" or "a ton of Chinese players did not return this month". You can check Gaming On Linux's Steam Tracker page, and the rise has been fairly steady when you filter for English only. That said, these surveys are often revised a handful of days after initial posting, so check back in a week to see the more accurate data.
What statistics that they show you for year in review are very very wrong?
The survey is always offered only to a random subset of Steam users. The results only ever represent the fractions of users who took the survey, and are not representative of the entire Steam ecosystem as a whole. Unfortunately, this means that the increase/decrease in Linux usage is probably within the margin of error and is not a reliable statistic.
I haven't seen any issues with year in review, I'm curious what you've seen.
Especially when compared with macOS, an operating system famously known as NOT a gaming operating system.
That’s like saying you made a car that gets better gas mileage than a bicycle.
Like, ok. But how well does it run Photoshop or AfterEffects?
It matters when game devs argue that they don't support Linux due to player count, but are perfectly fine making builds for MacOS (See Riot Games). Showing these stats pushes back against that argument and gives devs more incentives to support Linux.
I'd be pretty impressed if you showed me a car with better fuel economy than a bicycle. I don't know about you lot, but I haven't had to refuel my bicycle a single time since I bought it.
If I don't refuel my bicycle I die
Sounds like you need a riksha.
Yeah, but how far will it go if you try to power it with gasoline?
Don't know yet but it seems to just be running on fumes.
This isn’t a conversation about cars or bicycles or even about fuel economy. it’s not even about transportation.
What you were trying to say and how it pertains to bicycles was very unclear but I think I deciphered it. But there are lots of Mac users who ride bicycles, I know one or two of them myself.
No, but that was a joke about bicycles.
I have a MacBook that I use opportunistically for games. It’s not my primary gaming machine, but I keep Steam on it for if I’m on a work trip and have some down time or whatever. I imagine a lot of the Mac users in the survey are in the same boat.
I certainly am