Linux gaming has reached a new milestone. According to GamingOnLinux, the October 2025 Steam Hardware & Software Survey shows Linux systems now account for 3.05% of all active Steam users, the first time the platform has broken the 3% barrier. The surge highlights continued momentum in Linux gaming adoption, likely boosted by the approaching end of Windows 10 support.
Windows still dominates with 94.84%, down 0.75 points, while macOS climbed 0.34 points to 2.11%. Linux’s 0.41-point jump represents its strongest monthly gain to date.
The survey also reveals which Linux distributions are leading the charge. SteamOS Holo 64-bit, powered by Valve’s Steam Deck, leads with 27.18% of Linux users, slightly down by 0.47 points. Arch Linux 64-bit follows at 10.32%, while Linux Mint 22.2 64-bit surged to 6.65%, up 6.65 points. CachyOS 64-bit gained 1.32 points to 6.01%, and Ubuntu Core 22 64-bit rose 0.55 to 4.55%.
Newer builds entered the rankings strongly, including Freedesktop SDK 25.08, Bazzite 64-bit, and Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS 64-bit, each claiming between 3.7 and 4.3% of the Linux share. Meanwhile, older releases like Linux Mint 22.1 and Manjaro Linux saw small declines.
Though 3% might sound modest, GamingOnLinux notes that it represents millions of gamers across Steam’s vast user base. The publication credits the Steam Deck’s popularity for much of the growth and speculates that Valve’s rumored “Steam Frame” VR kit, if released, could extend that momentum.
This milestone underscores Linux’s growing foothold in PC gaming. As the ecosystem matures, developers and players alike are likely to see stronger support, broader compatibility, and more reasons than ever to play natively on Linux.
All data courtesy of GamingOnLinux and Steam.
