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Steam survey - Linux results

Discussion in 'STEAM Powered Linux' started by Aedan, Sep 4, 2013.

  1. Aedan

    Aedan Administrator Staff Member

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    Alas, the latest Steam survey shows that less than 1% of steam users are using Linux. :( Adding up the various Linux distros leads to a figure of just 0.93%, with almost all distros dropping percentage points.
  2. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    Not much of a surprise because most of the LinSteam users are still using WinSteam also.
    By the way, how many players does that add up to?
  3. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    Had Lin-Steam been a huge success, would that have helped out efforts? Now that it isn't will it hurts us?

    I just gotta say that LinSteam is a crappy service. If you want to play in Linux, POL is Outrageously better to play in.

    How could any one look a LinStream and see a good service that is just not being used? It's a crappy service just not being used. IMHO
  4. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    I don't think it will hurt us because the gamer we want are the windows users who are wanting to move to Linux.
    Wine has proven that WinSteam runs great in Linux, so there isn't much stopping them except a few games.

    I actually disagree...
    LinSteam works exactly like the WinSteam. It installs, updates and downloads games exactly like the Windows version.
    The only difference is your games list show Linux only games. That all.
    So I'll be using both for now... and maybe forever.

    But I kinda see your point... why are we even bothering with LinSteam when we can already run our WinSteam in Wine?
    Not sure if I have an answer for that because I run both.
    The main reason I use LinSteam is because the games will install and run seamlessly with out all the extra PlayOnLinux steps.
    Its just easier.
    So if there is a game on LinSteam that I like, I will play it there in Linux instead of using Wine.
    But all the rest of my games have to be played through PlayOnLinux.

    I'm still curious how many people that 1% is?
    Even if its only 5,000 gamers, that is still a profit for Valve and developers.
    Hopefully it continues to grow because I see a lot of potential for indie games and smaller companies like Double Fine to sell more games.
  5. SuperDanceParty

    SuperDanceParty New Member

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    I don't see it as an issue, especially with the recent announcement of SteamOS, based on Linux. Now developers are going to see extra incentive to develop cross platform games on Linux, because people are going to be buying (or making their own) steamboxes with SteamOS, and if they want to sell their products to those people, they gotta be cross platform. Plus lately, the linux game library on steam has been expanding at a steadily increasing rate.

    This isn't going to happen overnight people, but it's definitely gonna happen, and fast. It seems to me like Gabe and Valve are determined to make Linux the new gaming platform. They know Linux with OpenGL has better benchmarks than Windows with DirectX in games like Teamfortress 2, and with a specialized OS to boot... Valve is putting all their chips on this, and where they put their chips, devs will put their chips too.
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  6. danrok

    danrok Administrator Staff Member

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    It's approximately 500,000 of 50 million active Steam users.
  7. SuperDanceParty

    SuperDanceParty New Member

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    I'm curious how much activity that group creates, and how much revenue Linux users produce for devs and Steam. It's pretty clear from the humble bundle that Linux users spend a fair bit of money on games, considering we're a minority.
  8. danrok

    danrok Administrator Staff Member

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    I think diminishing sales of desktop PCs means Valve has to do something.

    Without PCs all we'd have for serious gaming would be the Xbox and Playstation. Neither of which is in partnership with Valve. They have their own online stores.

    It's plausible that, in future, a TV manufacturer could build TVs which double-up as gaming rigs with SteamOS and Steam built-in, along with some PC-type hardware. Why buy a console and TV, when you can just buy a TV which costs say $150 more than a standard TV, but has Steam?
  9. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    Its possible for the majority of consumers. Booting to Linux on your TV when you want to play games.... downloading the game and launching with Wine right there on the screen... interesting ideas!

    As for me, I'll keep buying PC components to get the best gaming experience and performance. Everyone likes their little portable gaming phones, but sacrifice true immersive audio & graphical quality and performance!
    graywolf.theheathen likes this.
  10. danrok

    danrok Administrator Staff Member

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    I don't think there would have to be any great sacrifice.

    Such a TV is unlikely to be fitted with a $1000 video card, but for 1080p graphics a top-end card is not needed.

    PC hardware may become more expensive in the future. As sales of components diminish prices may go up. And, as prices go up, sales will decline further.
  11. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    I'd like to clarify. When I say it's a crappy service, What I mean is that there is a crappy selection of games to play... once they have a more robust offering I think Linux users will flock to lin-steam.

    the future has a thousand paths by which to reach tomorrow.! ":O}
  12. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    I'm a little worried about hardware sales but at the same time not so much.
    I know the new platform is phones and tablets, but there is just something they can't replace with a large screen, surround sound and super high quality graphics. Even the consoles don't seem to match it.
    Consoles have basically turned into little computers with more than just playing games, so I get what you are saying...
    A gaming TV might be a plausible future for high quality gaming than Desktops or Consoles.

    We all know Desktops offer more power and quality. Until the video cards can get smaller and faster, Desktops aren't going anywhere.

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