It finally happened. Linux gamers on Steam as of the Steam Hardware & Software Survey for October 2025 have crossed over the elusive 3% mark.

Free Windows 10 support ended for most people this past month, and the trend line of Linux usage has been quite clear leading up to this, as people prepared for the inevitable. An increase in Linux usage is also correlated to a drop in Chinese players, which did happen this month a little bit, but Linux usage is also trending up when filtering for English only. It’s worth noting that for all the official support Macs ever saw in gaming, they never represented anything better than about 5% of the market.

  • Deestan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    301·
    5 months ago

    I have a Windows laptop specifically for gaming, but I end up using my Linux coding laptop for games in the end.

    It’s less hassle figuring out how to enable nvidia drivers on xorg in GNU linux so that I csn use Proton emulation than to deal with this weeks clusterfuck of windows update trying to make me turn on ads and spying and trick me into using a microsoft.com account to log in.

    I am not joking.

    The windows still has some dust on it from when I did some house renovations months ago, because I haven’t been bothered to use it.

    • PhAzE@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      5 months ago

      Why not installed something like cachyos which has all of that figured out for you out of the box? Nvidia drivers, steam install, Proton, etc. I was up and gaming in no time post install.

      • Deestan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        5 months ago

        Well, it’s primarily my coding laptop, so I prioritize the OS that has the best tooling for my needs there. Gaming is just a happy secondary option on the machine. :)

      • Deestan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        9·
        5 months ago

        I run Windows normally.

        How long does your Window box function without updates? How long does it remain safe? Historically, a few months at best until they bundle telemetry in a new way. Then you need to find another rando dude’s github for workarounds.

        Anyway what you are describing is literally a hassle that for me is just not worth it. I can do all that and set up and update group policies for updates over and over oooooor I can literally spend less mental energy figuring out how to configure my drivers on Linux.

        What you do works for you and you feel it is convenient. That is fine.