14 DAY TRIAL // The Steam for Linux client has a pretty strong base that doesn't seem to change an awful lot and the latest numbers from the Steam Hardware Survey for November indicate just that.
The Linux desktop usage has been hovering around 1.1% for some time now, but it seems to be an increasing trend. From the looks of it, the past few months have seen more Linux gamers than ever before and that is definitely a good thing.
Even if the numbers don't seem to do justice to the Linux platform, which seems to be much more active than what the percentages might suggest, the rise is not as small as you might be tempted to think.
Right from the start, we have to make some things very clear. The Steam Hardware Survey is not an accurate tool for measuring the rate of use for Linux users, for several reasons.
For one, we don't know how many people will receive this questionnaire, we don't know how many will answer it, we don't know in what proportions they are sent, and we don't know if someone received it while being logged in Windows, while using that machine for Linux gaming.
There are too many unknowns in the equation and it's difficult to get all the facts, but we do have a few additional facts. For example, the Linux desktop usage in the world is estimated somewhere between 1 and 2%, so Steam might not be really that far off. We also know that the number of Steam users is increasing each month, and that reveals something very interesting.
Steam for Linux users are increasing more than the numbers say
When we say that Steam for Linux now has 1.13% of the platform, with a small increase of 0.01% from the previous month, we also have to take into consideration the fact that the base is also increasing. So, measuring 1.1% now and 1.1% back in August doesn't actually show the same numbers. In fact, there are now many more users than in August, although that's not reflected properly.
The Steam Hardware Survey for November shows a slight decrease for Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS 64-bit to 0.43%, and a big increase for Ubuntu 14.10 64-bit, which was made available back in October. The rest have remained pretty much the same, although we do expect to see an increase for Linux Mint 17.1 "Rebecca" 64-bit next month.
In the meantime, you can help to increase the number of Linux gamers by getting the latest Steam client.
