Steam added 107 games with native Linux builds between September 30 and October 7, 2026, against 735 Windows releases in the same week, based on Boiling Steam’s weekly tracker. This brief covers Linux native game titles on Steam through weekly release counts, the last full-year native tally, notable 2026 releases, Steam Deck ratings, GDC 2026 developer targets and the Linux share of Steam survey respondents.
Linux Native Game Titles on Steam Statistics
How Many Linux Native Game Titles Reach Steam Each Week?
Boiling Steam counted 107 new native Linux releases in the week to October 7, 2026. Windows releases for the same week totaled 735.
That put Boiling Steam’s ratio of native Linux to Windows releases at 14.6%, the highest of the eight weeks charted. The low point was 10.2% in the week to September 16.
Weekly native counts in this window ranged from 70 to 131. Windows volume moved more, from 647 to 1,051 releases a week.
These counts measure game releases, not players. Desktop OS use measured by web pageviews is a different series, tracked in these yearly Linux desktop share trends.
Source: Boiling Steam, weekly native Linux release editions, August 12 to October 7, 2026
Native Linux Release Ratio by Week, Earlier in 2026
| Week (2026) | Native Linux releases | Windows releases | Boiling Steam ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 28 – Feb 4 | 69 | 739 | 9.3% |
| Mar 4 – Mar 11 | 82 | 716 | 11.5% |
| Apr 22 – Apr 29 | 87 | 765 | 11.4% |
| May 6 – May 13 | 60 | 511 | 11.7% |
| May 13 – May 20 | 70 | 664 | 10.5% |
| Jun 24 – Jul 1 | 108 | 823 | 13.1% |
| Jul 1 – Jul 8 | 47 | 393 | 12% |
| Jul 22 – Jul 29 | 147 | 918 | 16% |
| Jul 29 – Aug 5 | 138 | 926 | 14.9% |
Source: Boiling Steam, weekly native Linux release editions, January 28 to August 5, 2026
Across all 17 weeks in this section, Boiling Steam’s published ratio ran from 9.3% to 16%. The week to July 29 logged 147 native releases, the largest weekly count in this sample.
2,143 of 18,863: Linux Native Game Titles on Steam in 2024
SteamDB’s Instant Search listed 18,863 games with a 2024 release year, 2,143 of them Linux native, GamingOnLinux reported in January 2025.
A separate SteamDB releases page showed 19,003 games for 2024. GamingOnLinux flagged the gap between the two tools without identifying a cause.
Store filters can miss ports. GamingOnLinux’s compatibility guide names Baldur’s Gate 3 as a game with a native Linux version that its Steam page does not advertise.
Source: GamingOnLinux citing SteamDB, January 2025; GamingOnLinux compatibility guide, 2026
Steam Linux Catalog Milestones, 2014 to 2020
| Month reported | Linux games on Steam (GamingOnLinux count) |
|---|---|
| June 2014 | 500 |
| March 2015 | Over 1,000 |
| September 2016 | Above 2,500 |
| April 2020 | Over 6,000 |
Source: GamingOnLinux milestone reports, June 2014 to April 2020
These milestones are dated context. The April 2020 count of more than 6,000 games is the newest full-catalog milestone found for this article, and no full-year 2025 native tally could be verified.
Notable 2026 Releases With Native Linux Builds
| Title | Steam release date | Boiling Steam edition |
|---|---|---|
| Slay the Spire 2 | Mar 5, 2026 | 2026-03-11 |
| Huntdown: Overtime | May 7, 2026 | 2026-05-13 |
| Space Haven | May 13, 2026 | 2026-05-13 |
| Fields of Mistria | Aug 5, 2026 | 2026-08-05 |
| Dreamcards | Aug 19, 2026 | 2026-08-19 |
| Beetleball | Sep 3, 2026 | 2026-09-09 |
| Stuntboost | Sep 22, 2026 | 2026-09-23 |
| Radiotext | Sep 28, 2026 | 2026-09-30 |
Source: Boiling Steam, weekly native Linux release editions, March to September 2026
Slay the Spire 2 arrived on March 5, 2026, listed by Boiling Steam with an Early Access tag and a native Linux client.
Fields of Mistria ranked fourth in GamingOnLinux’s top 50 most-played Steam Deck games for September 2 to October 1, 2026, with a Verified rating.
Engine-level support is still an announcement. At GDC 2026, Unity said expanded official support for Steam, Native Linux, Steam Deck and Steam Machine was coming, per GamingOnLinux.
Some studios have moved the other way. Last Epoch dropped its native Linux version in September 2024 and pointed players to Proton, GamingOnLinux reported.
Proton runs Windows builds inside Valve’s container stack, covered in these Steam Linux Runtime numbers.
Source: GamingOnLinux, Steam Deck top 50 for September 2026, GDC 2026 coverage and September 2024 Last Epoch report
What Do Steam Deck Ratings Add to Linux Native Game Titles?
Valve had rated 30,006 games Verified or Playable for Steam Deck as of August 31, 2026. The split was 8,939 Verified and 21,067 Playable, per GamingOnLinux’s SteamDB count.
On January 24, 2026, the same tracker showed 7,518 Verified and 17,492 Playable games. The previous round-number milestone, 20,000 rated games, came in June 2025.
These ratings are not a native count. GamingOnLinux’s compatibility guide says Deck ratings span native Linux games and Windows games running through Proton, a mix our Steam Deck Linux usage figures track from the hardware side.
GamingOnLinux found no combined compatibility page for the Steam Machine as of August 31, 2026.
Source: GamingOnLinux citing SteamDB, January 24 and August 31, 2026
GDC 2026: 28% Target Steam Deck, 8% Target Linux
Among more than 2,300 industry professionals in the GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry survey, 28% used Steam Deck for their most recent project and 8% used Linux.
Interest showed the same split: 40% named Steam Deck as a platform they most want to develop for, against 12% for Linux. PC led current projects at 83%.
Out of 22 listed platforms, Steam Deck ranked third for interest and fourth for current projects, Steam Deck HQ reported. The survey is self-selected, so its figures describe respondents, not the whole industry.
Steam Deck HQ read the gap as a sign that most developers expect to use Proton instead of shipping a native Linux build.
GamingOnLinux pointed out that Steam Deck runs SteamOS, which is based on Arch Linux, while which distros developers code on is a separate dataset.
Source: GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry, via GamingOnLinux and Steam Deck HQ, January 2026
Steam Survey 2026: Linux Respondent Share and Distro Mix
Linux accounted for 3.05% of Steam Hardware & Software Survey respondents in September 2026, down 0.85 points from August, Phoronix reported.
March’s 5.33% is the 2026 high so far. February’s 2.23% is the low.
Large swings lined up with language-mix shifts. Simplified Chinese rose 30.74 points to 54.60% of respondents in February, per GamingOnLinux, and Phoronix logged a 7.42-point rise in Chinese use to 31.39% in September.
June first read 3.69%. Phoronix later noted that Valve’s July data implied a revised June figure, so the chart shows values as first published.
Linux closed 2025 near 3.5%, per Phoronix, and earlier months are covered in this Linux gaming market share history.
Source: Valve Steam Hardware & Software Survey, as reported by Phoronix and GamingOnLinux, January to September 2026
Linux Distributions in the September 2026 Steam Survey
| Distribution (Valve label) | Share of Linux respondents | Monthly change (points) |
|---|---|---|
| CachyOS 64 bit | 18.12% | +2.65 |
| SteamOS Holo 64 bit | 17.37% | -3.70 |
| Arch Linux 64 bit | 10.67% | +1.89 |
| Linux Mint 22.3 64 bit | 8.74% | +0.36 |
| Bazzite 64 bit | 6.97% | -0.79 |
| Freedesktop SDK 25.08 (Flatpak runtime) 64 bit | 4.68% | -0.58 |
Source: Valve, Steam Hardware & Software Survey, Linux only, September 2026
CachyOS 64 bit topped Valve’s Linux-only list in September 2026, ahead of SteamOS Holo 64 bit, the OS on Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
These shares describe opt-in survey respondents. They are not installed-base or pageview figures.
FAQs
How many native Linux games are on Steam?
GamingOnLinux’s last full-catalog milestone, from April 2020, counted over 6,000 Linux games. SteamDB data reported in January 2025 listed 2,143 native Linux titles among 18,863 games released in 2024.
What share of new Steam releases include a native Linux build?
Boiling Steam put native Linux releases at 14.6% of Windows releases for September 30 to October 7, 2026. Its 2026 weekly ratios cited here range from 9.3% to 16%.
Are Steam Deck Verified games native Linux games?
Not necessarily. Steam Deck ratings cover native Linux games and Windows games running through Proton. Valve had rated 30,006 games Verified or Playable by August 31, 2026.
Is Reddit right that most developers rely on Proton instead of native Linux builds?
Partly. In the GDC 2026 survey, 28% of respondents used Steam Deck for their latest project versus 8% for Linux. Steam Deck HQ read that gap as developers expecting to rely on Proton.
Is Linux use on Steam growing in 2026?
Readings swung widely. Linux hit 5.33% of Steam survey respondents in March 2026 and read 3.05% in September 2026, with large moves coinciding with shifts in the survey’s language mix.
