Linux gaming simply hit a significant milestone — is Windows in hassle?

Reported on by VideoCardz, the most recent Steam Hardware Survey reveals Linux reaching 3.05% of all Steam customers for the primary time. That is up from round 2% this time final yr, which is a stable soar for a platform that has traditionally struggled to crack mainstream gaming adoption.

Windows has seen a small decline, dropping from roughly 95% to 94.84% of Steam customers. macOS at the moment sits at 2.11%, which is barely greater than I anticipated, given macOS isn’t significantly recognized for gaming.

Linux nonetheless has a protracted highway if it hopes to change into a real competitor to Windows in gaming. However, milestones like this counsel that extra gamers are paying consideration, and the dialog round PC gaming working methods could possibly be shifting.

What’s driving Linux’s gaming surge?

SteamOS now accounts for roughly 27% of all Linux installs on Steam. This is an impressive achievement and reflects how the Steam Deck continues to bring more players into the Linux ecosystem without needing them to actively choose it. It is still going to take a long time before Linux can make any meaningful dent in Windows, but momentum is kind of building, albeit slowly.

Microsoft’s ongoing AI push, the end of life for Windows 10, and several unpopular user-experience decisions could encourage more PC gamers to explore alternatives. Linux is also becoming surprisingly performant in certain titles, and it already delivers strong results on handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck and even the Xbox Ally.

RELATED: How to install SteamOS on your Windows handheld

The Steam Deck is not hitting Nintendo Switch 2 sales numbers, but it has still sold millions since launch. It is also widely respected in the space and continues to be a reference point every time a new handheld PC arrives.

SteamOS is not perfect, though. Many competitive multiplayer games rely on kernel-level anti-cheat systems, which Windows supports, and that means some players avoid SteamOS if their library includes titles that require it. For everyone else, SteamOS remains a strong option for handheld gaming.

For players who mostly enjoy single-player games, indie titles or do not play many competitive multiplayer games, it is hard to ignore how far Proton has come. Proton allows Windows-only games to run on Linux, and nearly 90% of games on Steam now work on Linux in some capacity. Not each sport runs completely, however the truth that a lot of the Windows library is playable reveals how far Linux gaming has progressed in a brief time period.

Is Windows in hassle? Not but

Windows continues to be by far the dominant platform at virtually 95% share, and Linux hitting 3% doesn’t threaten that place any time quickly. Still, it does present an actual shift in momentum.

That momentum could also be one of many causes Microsoft is paying extra consideration to gaming on Windows. The introduction of the Xbox Ally, which runs a stripped-down version of Windows with a more console-like interface, is the closest partnership we have seen between Windows and the gaming ecosystem so far. It is not perfect, and it still feels like a beta for what could eventually be a polished gaming-first Windows experience, but it shows Microsoft understands it needs to adapt.

The question is not whether Linux overtakes Windows soon, but whether rising gamer frustrations and a rapidly growing handheld market can give Linux its biggest opportunity yet.

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