Recent data from Steam reveals an interesting shift in the PC market. Linux has surpassed the 5% market share among gamers, while the NVIDIA RTX 5070 graphics card, after a brief surge in popularity, has returned to more “normal” usage statistics.
According to the Steam Hardware Survey, the share of Linux systems among players has grown by approximately 5%, reaching one of the highest levels in the platform’s history. This signifies that the Windows alternative, bolstered by the Steam Deck and Proton compatibility layer, is systematically gaining momentum.
While Windows continues to dominate, the growth of Linux is undeniable and aligns with a trend observed over several months: an increasing number of players are experimenting with or switching to SteamOS-based systems.
Concurrently, the situation in the graphics card market presents an interesting development. The RTX 5070, which unexpectedly “shot up” to approximately 9.4% in a previous survey (e.g., February’s data), has since returned to around 2.7–2.8% in the latest report.
This sharp decline confirms suspicions that the earlier high result was an anomaly, likely linked to an influx of new users or specific market conditions, rather than a genuine surge in hardware sales. The RTX 5070 remains a popular card, but it no longer holds the dominant market position it briefly appeared to a month prior.
The overall report highlights two key observations. Firstly, Linux is experiencing slow but consistent growth. Secondly, even impressive hardware statistics in such surveys can be temporary. For the industry, this signals that the future of PC gaming is becoming increasingly diverse, both in terms of operating systems and hardware.