Steam's latest hardware survey for last month (July) showed that Linux has overtaken the Mac as a gaming platform.
In July, the survey shows us that Linux gamers now total 1.96%, which exceeds macOS on 1.84%. The month showed a pretty big increase for Linux, which found itself up 0.52%.
Of course, both are still absolutely miles behind the popularity of Windows with Steam gamers, which holds 96.2% of the available share across its various versions. But it's interesting to see Linux gathering momentum quickly - propelled largely by a single factor.
That's right - you guessed it - that factor is the Steam Deck, as the portable PC runs a flavor of Linux (SteamOS).
As Phoronix.com spotted (via PC Gamer, Ars Technica), Steam's breakdown of the Linux distros that make up those gamers shows that SteamOS represents 42% of them. So not far off half of Linux gamers on Steam are using the Steam Deck.
This is not wholly unexpected, of course, given the popularity of the Steam Deck.
If you're wondering what the latest scoop is regarding the breakdown of Windows gamers on Steam, Windows 11 is now up to a 36.7% share of the pie - though Windows 10 is still well ahead on 57.9%. There's still a scattering of folks using Windows 7 (and even Windows 8).
In other Steam Deck-related news today, it's worth noting that Baldur's Gate 3 has officially achieved 'certified' status for Valve's portable gaming PC, with the minor glitches holding it back having been ironed out with the first patch for the RPG.
