After crossing the 5 percent threshold for the first time in March 2026, Linux gaming on Steam settled back to 4.52 percent in April according to the latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey. The 0.81 point dip ends a remarkable run, but the figure still represents nearly double the platform's share from a year ago.
The historical trajectory tells the more interesting story. Linux sat at 2.27 percent in April 2025 and just 1.9 percent in April 2024, meaning the platform has more than doubled its Steam footprint in two years. Valve's continued investment in Proton compatibility and the steady momentum of the Steam Deck have driven most of that growth, with the upcoming Steam Machine expected to add another vector.
SteamOS Holo, the Arch-based distribution that powers the Steam Deck and the forthcoming Steam Machine, now accounts for roughly 23 percent of all Linux gamers on Steam. The remaining share is spread across desktop distributions like Arch, Linux Mint, CachyOS, and Bazzite, reflecting a healthy diversity outside of Valve's own hardware ecosystem.
The CPU breakdown reveals one of the sharper contrasts between Linux and Windows users on the platform. AMD holds 66 percent of the Linux gaming CPU share, with Intel climbing 0.64 points month-over-month to 33 percent. On Windows, Intel still leads with 55 percent, an inversion driven largely by the Steam Deck's AMD APU and the broader preference for Ryzen builds among Linux enthusiasts assembling their own systems.
