Valve has published its March report analyzing the preferences of Steam game delivery service users. The share of active Steam users using the Linux platform reached 5.33%, which is twice the figure reported in the previous month. Given that Steam has an estimated 132 million active users, 5.33% equates to approximately 7 million users. In the February report, this figure was 2.23%, in January – 3.38%, and in December – 3.58%.
The Arch Linux-based SteamOS Holo platform holds the largest share among Linux systems, accounting for 24.48%. Linux Mint's share is 8.8%, Arch Linux's is 8.78%, Ubuntu's is 5.25%, and Manjaro's is 1.45%. Compared to February's statistics, CachyOS and Bazitte have disappeared from the list, with shares of 8.59% and 5.79%, respectively. The March ranking also omits mention of the Freedesktop SDK (Flatpak runtime), which had a share of 5.26%. However, the March data does include systems named "64 bit" and "0 64 bit," with shares of 8.01% and 17.60% (!). It's possible that these are Bazitte and CachyOS, but such a significant increase in the share of each of these systems seems doubtful.
March statistics from the Boiling Steam project, compiled using data from ProtonDB, demonstrate a significant increase in the popularity of Bazitte and CachyOS distributions since last year. In March, CachyOS shot to the top spot among Linux distributions used by gamers, taking a 21.1% share and displacing Arch Linux, which had held the top spot since 2021. Bazitte's share reached 9.5%, placing it fourth.
For comparison, the share of Arch Linux is 14.9%, Linux Mint - 10.6%, Fedora - 9.2%, Ubuntu - 7.1%, Endeavour - 4.1%, Nobara - 3.9%, PopOS - 2.9%, Debian - 2.7%, NixOS - 2.4%, Manjaro - 2.2%. The total share of all distributions based on Arch Linux was 42.3%, based on Debian - 23.3%, based on Fedora - 22.6%.
The CachyOS distribution is based on the Arch Linux package base and is notable for its performance optimizations and the creation of a Handheld Edition build for wearable devices, featuring a GameMode-style interface and components for computer gamers. The distribution includes the BORE task scheduler enabled by default, optimized to reduce desktop latency and prioritize interactive processes. The kernel and packages are built with LTO (Link-Time Optimization) optimizations enabled and utilize instructions available in processors based on the x86-64-v3, x86-64-v4, and Zen4 microarchitectures. PGO (Profile-Guided Optimization) or BOLT (Binary Optimization and Layout Tool) optimizations are also enabled when building base packages.
The Bazitte distribution is aimed at gamers and is based on the developments of Fedora Kinoite and Fedora Silverblue (atomically updated editions of Fedora Linux with the KDE and GNOME desktops). The distribution is delivered as a monolithic image, not split into individual packages and updated as a single unit. Applications are installed in Flatpak format or as containers. Waydroid is used for running Android games. The distribution includes Steam and a selection of components sought after by computer gamers, as well as additional drivers for game controllers and Wi-Fi. Optimizations have been made to system components to improve responsiveness and enhance HDR and VRR support.
Linux share according to other sources:
- Wikipedia: 5.3% (4.2% a year ago).
- w3schools.com: 3.8% for September 2025.
- statcounter.com: 3.16% (a year ago - 4.2%).
- PornHub: 6.2% (5.1% a year ago).
- Cloudflare: 2.6-4.4% depending on the day of the week, averaging 3.5% (2.8% a year ago).
- analytics.usa.gov: 4%.
Source: opennet.ru
