Steam sees more growth with Linux gamers, and Windows 11 popularity surges

Date:
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 14:33:46 +0000

Description:
Linux continues to get more and more popular, while Windows 11 has really taken off with Steam gamers.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

The number of Linux gamers active on Steam continues to increase going by the latest hardware survey from Valve for November, and has now reached 1.16% plus theres been a big increase for Windows 11 adoption (more on that later).

Since April 2021, the amount of Linux gamers on Steam has kept on going upwards, so thats seven straight months of growth with the figure crossing the 1% adoption mark five months ago, and (obviously) remaining above that level since.

Admittedly in November, there was only a very slight uptick of 0.03%, but thats still an increase, taking Linux to 1.16% as mentioned.

Presumably the more recent increases are at least partly down to the Steam Deck effect, with more folks checking out Linux as an alternative gaming platform ahead of the handhelds release. Analysis: Steam Deck could spark bigger rises still and watch out for Windows 11, too

Gaming on Linux , which spotted this, observes that once the Steam Deck actually comes out, that could stoke adoption figures to a greater level depending on whether Valve counts the devices (or rather, Steam OS 3-powered hardware) in its figures. Remember, it didnt with Steam Machines, but given Valves pretty firm insistence on marketing the Steam Deck as a PC just a small, handheld one wed imagine itll be up for inclusion in the monthly reports.

As weve said before , this is the first time in years that Linux has
exceeded the 1% mark of OS adoption on Steam, and funnily enough, the last time this happened was when Proton the compatibility layer that facilitates running Windows games in Linux (and with the Steam Deck) was first released by Valve.

Maybe we could see Linux driven towards the 2% mark, or even a scenario where it starts to challenge macOS as the second most-used operating system in
Steam Apples platform is now on 2.7%.

The vast majority of gamers are, of course, using Windows, and mostly Windows 10, but with the latest figures for November, a big shift has started to
occur with many more folks moving to Windows 11.

Windows 11 was on 1.82% in Octobers survey, and has now leapt up to 8.28%, with Microsoft making the OS available to a good many more PCs as of mid-November. If that kind of pace continues, the January Steam hardware survey could see around 20% of gamers on Windows 11 . Check out the best gaming PCs currently out there



======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/steam-sees-more-growth-with-linux-gamers-and-wi ndows-11-popularity-surges/


--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)