Valve’s Steam Deck has been a runaway success. While the beloved handheld has sold less than most major console handhelds, it’s become a valuable system for many to take their PC games on the go. Additionally, the system has become a haven for the Linux operating system with Valve’s powerful Proton tool allowing many gamers to ditch Windows for the vast majority of games.
While there are still issues with anti-cheat, which Valve hopes will be fixed if its upcoming Steam Machine is successful, the Steam Deck has become the first true bastion for Linux gaming—something Valve failed to do with its original 2015 Steam Machines.
Following an all-time high of 3.2% in November 2025, Valve’s latest Steam Hardware Survey reports that Linux currently represents 3.19% of players on the platform. While still minimal in comparison to the juggernaut of Windows, Linux adoption is continuing to push the needle largely due to the success of the Steam Deck.
In the very same hardware survey, it was revealed that Valve’s handheld accounts for 21.4% of Linux players on Steam. The system’s graphics processor, the AMD Custom GPU 0405, accounted for 21.4% of video cards for Linux users.
Interestingly, Valve’s specific “SteamOS Holo” 64-bit operating system accounted for slightly less users than the Steam Deck’s GPU. Despite SteamOS now being usable on other handhelds, it does seem that a significant number of Linux gamers—including Steam Deck users—are offering to use Bazzite for gaming, which had a market share of 6.60% of Linux gamers.
Even more interesting is the fact that SteamOS has seen a significant reduction in users compared to the previous month. While Bazzite OS is up by 1.07% of users, SteamOS is down by a significant 6.01%. However, with Bazzite now pushing a petabyte of ISO files to users monthly, it’s no surprise that the alternative is growing in market share.
Nevertheless, Steam Deck as a product is the flagship of the Linux gaming sphere, at least until the Steam Machine releases later this year. While some may install Windows on their handheld—hey, it’s your device to do what you want with—the system has massively helped to push the Linux operating system further into the mainstream than any other gaming device has done.
Alongside its desktop Linux push, Valve is also using the Steam Deck to push its adoption of ARM-based technology as well. Back in late 2025, SteamOS lead Pierre-Loup Griffais revealed that Valve is actively funding ARM compatibility of Windows games which could lead to a smaller, ARM-based handheld from the company.
