Steam on Linux use in March hit an all-time high of around 5.33% marketshare. Since then it pulled back to around 4% while for September 2026 the Steam Survey results are now in and it’s clocking in just above 3%.

The Steam Survey results for September that were published this evening indicate a rather steep decline of 0.85%, down to 3.05%. Meanwhile macOS is at 1.92% and Microsoft Windows at 95%.

As with most months where Steam Survey indicates an abnormally large decline for Linux use, the second stop is checking on the language use… Once again a case of a big spike in Simplified Chinese use. Steam’s Survey reports a 7.42% increase in Chinese use, up to 31.39% overall of the Steam population. Usually with those large month-over-month swings where Steam China use shoots up dramatically is a boost to Windows and a detriment to Linux. Some attribute the large increases in Simplified Chinese use to being a reporting/sampling issue.

When diving into the Steam Linux data exclusively, CachyOS has spiked by another 2.65% to now account for 18.12% of the sampled Linux gaming population. That even outperforms SteamOS Holo coming in at 17.37%.

Among Linux gamers on Steam, AMD CPUs still account for the high 60 percentage space thanks to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine using AMD APUs and their open-source/Linux support being popular with enthusiasts.

Those wanting to dive in to all the Steam Survey stats for September can find the fresh data on SteamPowered.com.

  • folekaule@lemmy.world
    2·
    46 minutes ago

    I wonder what the sampling/reporting issue is? Why Chinese specifically? Are there droves of Chinese gamers flip-flopping between Linux and Windows? That doesn’t seem likely.

      • thingsiplay@lemmy.ml
        3·
        3 hours ago

        Not exactly what I meant. They ban for the government, similar to what is happening in Europe. It won’t have any effect on gamers, as no one is forced to give up Windows (other than the government bodies themselves).

    • DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world
      2·
      3 hours ago

      I am surprised that any nation would adopt a closed source product from abroad when it could build its own, especially given Linux. In a world like this, choosing that path seems genuinely diabolical.

      • thingsiplay@lemmy.ml
        1·
        2 hours ago

        Nations where using Windows for years when Linux came out. And it took at least two decades for Linux to be a viable option for governments, because they are dependent on Windows and didn’t have much experience in Linux. But the “turns have tabled”, finally. The world woke up.

  • cristian64@reddthat.com
    72·
    4 hours ago

    It’s extremely hard to believe that someone that has had a taste of Linux would switch back to Windows, if this is what the stats imply, which I’m not sure. I would need to be paid thousands to willingly use Windows again.

    • Euphoma@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3·
      1 hour ago

      The stats imply there were more chinese users surveyed this month and chinese steam users don’t use linux much

    • Veraxis@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      4 hours ago

      Sampling variation/statistical noise, probably. I wouldn’t read too far into it.

    • offspec@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 hours ago

      I mean the stats very clearly are useless this month for Linux usage as they are all months that have this simplified Chinese spike.

  • yxc999@lemmy.ml
    2·
    3 hours ago

    I still don’t get why I can’t opt in to participate in the survey every month, I’ve only been asked twice in the last three years on Arch

    • aim_at_me@lemmy.nzEnglish
      9·
      3 hours ago

      Because thats not how good stats works. They want random samples to draw actual stats from.

      Volunteering ruins the point.

      • yxc999@lemmy.ml
        1·
        2 hours ago

        Yeah, you have a point, but still, twice in three years? I don’t know how representative it really is, ESPECIALLY when you see 50-100% ups and downs in the Linux user base. 5 to 3 percent and back cannot be the actual stat, that has to be unreliable selection of users.

        • aim_at_me@lemmy.nzEnglish
          2·
          3 hours ago

          Probably. But it’d 50x the cost of the tool. And for only marginally better results.