SUMMARYSteam’s September 2026 survey placed Linux at 3.05% of the sampled Steam gaming population, down from earlier highs near 5.33% in March. Windows remained at 95% and macOS at 1.92%, while Chinese-language usage rose sharply to 31.39% of the Steam population. Among Linux gamers, CachyOS reached 18.12% of the Linux sample, ahead of SteamOS Holo at 17.37%, and AMD CPUs continued to dominate with roughly the high 60% range.
Phoronix reports:
Steam on Linux use in March hit an all-time high of around 5.33% marketshare. Since then it pulled back to around 4% while for September 2026 the Steam Survey results... indicate a rather steep decline of 0.85%, down to 3.05%. Meanwhile macOS is at 1.92% and Microsoft Windows at 95%... Steam's Survey reports a 7.42% increase in Chinese use, up to 31.39% overall of the Steam population. Usually those large month-over-month swings where Steam China use shoots up dramatically is a boost to Windows and a detriment to Linux. Some attribute the large increases in Simplified Chinese use to being a reporting/sampling issue.
When diving into the Steam Linux data exclusively, CachyOS has spiked by another 2.65% to now account for 18.12% of the sampled Linux gaming population. That even outperforms SteamOS Holo coming in at 17.37%. Among Linux gamers on Steam, AMD CPUs still account for the high 60 percentage space thanks to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine using AMD APUs and their open-source/Linux support being popular with enthusiasts.