Windows 11 steals users as Steam Deck dominates Linux gaming in November Steam survey

Every month, the Steam Hardware & Software Survey provides insights into the hardware and software gamers around the world are using to get their daily dose of fun. The November Steam Survey results plot trends in PC gaming between June and November 2023, and they reveal a steady increase in adoption of the Steam Deck and a mass migration to Windows 11.

Firstly, and probably the most significant, change to the software section of the Steam Survey is the 12.05% reduction in Windows 10 users. Meanwhile, Windows 11 seemingly gained a sizeable chunk of that market share, growing by 11.51%. Linux and macOS, on the other hand, only occupied 1.91% and 1.53% of the market.

Overall, Windows lost 0.87% of the market share, while macOS absorbed 0.34% of that, and Linux now plays host to an additional 0.52% of the overall market share. The increased Linux adoption also means that Linux gamers are more common than macOS gamers for the first time.

Much of this Linux adoption is likely the result of many users picking up a Steam Deck, which now makes up 42.99% of all Steam installations on Linux after a 0.68% increase during the latest survey. Curiously, mid-range hardware saw a pretty significant increase overall, with quad-core CPUs now occupying 4.09% more market share than before. The most common CPU configuration is still the six-core CPU, at 31.88% market share, but the quad-core configuration now comes in a close second, at 23%.

1080p still remains the dominant display resolution, gobbling up another 1.08% of the market share for a total of 60.09%, although 4K is also seeing increased adoption, now representing 3.72% of the displays that play Steam games. Interestingly, fewer people are now using 1440p displays after a sharp 7.17% drop in representation.

Graphics cards also saw a bit of an upset, with cards sporting 4 GB of VRAM taking up an extra 3.71% of the market share, while 8 GB cards — still the most popular VRAM quantity — lost 3.63% of the market. This shift is happening while the entire PC gaming industry is reeling from discoveries that 8 GB simply isn't enough to run many modern games.

Overall, there were no huge shake-ups in the hardware, apart from more users moving away from the ageing Windows 10. The increase in Linux and macOS adoption may be of note to developers, and it's highly likely that the recent release of the Steam Deck OLED will push more gamers to adopt Linux as a gaming operating system. It also makes sense, then, that there are only a small handful of AAA games on the SteamDB trending and most played games lists, and even those are generally not the latest and greatest around.

Instead, many gamers are turning to less-demanding indie games that run on less powerful hardware, like the ROG Ally (curr. US$599.99 at Best Buy), and games that prioritise fun.