Linux has surpassed the 3% mark among Steam users for the first time, reaching 3.05% in the October 2025 hardware survey. This milestone reflects gains across distributions like Bazzite, Ubuntu, and Mint, with SteamOS remaining the most popular at 27.18% of Linux users. The increase of 0.41% from the previous month coincides with the end of Windows 10 support.
Valve's monthly Steam Hardware & Software Survey for October 2025 shows Linux achieving a significant breakthrough by climbing to 3.05% of total users, up from around 2% in October 2024. This marks the first time Linux has exceeded the 3% threshold, amid a slight decline in Windows dominance to 94.84% and macOS at 2.11%. The surge is attributed to the Steam Deck's influence, which runs SteamOS—a customized version of Arch Linux—and accounts for nearly one-third of Linux Steam activity.
Among Linux distributions, SteamOS leads with 27.18% share, despite a minor dip, making it the most popular option. Arch Linux follows at 9.82%, with notable growth in Bazzite, Ubuntu variants, and Mint. The Deck's custom GPU is the top choice on Linux systems. Broader survey highlights include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 as the most popular GPU overall, 16GB RAM as the leading system memory, 1920x1080 resolution as the most common display, and the Meta Quest 3 as the top VR headset. Interestingly, 6-core CPUs edge out 8-core ones by about 3% in popularity.
This progress aligns with advancements in Valve's Proton compatibility layer, which enables Windows games to run on Linux, and the expiration of free Windows 10 support in October 2025, prompting some users to switch. While challenges like anti-cheat incompatibilities persist, the milestone signals growing developer interest in native Linux support and positions the platform as a stronger contender in gaming.