Thousands of gamers are installing Bazzite instead of sticking with Windows — and the reasons behind the shift are surprisingly compelling

Bazzite is a Linux distro similar to Valve’s SteamOS, explicitly built for gaming through the Steam storefront and designed to offer a more console-like experience than traditional desktop operating systems.

Recently, the Bazzite X (Formerly Twitter) account has been sharing updated usage statistics, and the timing is notable. Since Windows 10 reached end of life, the project has seen an apparent increase in new users.

This is not enough to seriously threaten Microsoft, but it is significant for an independent Linux distro with no corporate backing. Valve does not own Bazzite and is not an official SteamOS release; instead, it builds on the same foundations to deliver a focused gaming experience.

In a recent post on X, Bazzite revealed weekly user growth of around 1.25x over the last 30 days. That may sound modest, but for a niche operating system, it represents a meaningful rise. So, what does 1.25x actually mean? Let’s take a closer look.

Linux gaming is finally viable, but there are still hard limits

It is no surprise to see this surge. Around 90% of Windows games can now run on Linux thanks to Proton. However, kernel-level anti-cheat systems still block major titles like Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Battlefield 6, Rainbow Six Siege, and Valorant from running on Linux.

Gaming is not the only limitation. Linux still lacks native support for Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office, and most professional-grade modelling software, although alternatives do exist.

Despite these drawbacks, Bazzite is still pulling in around 50,000 weekly users, a figure that continues to rise alongside that 1.25x growth. The project has also served a total of 2 petabytes of installs. For those unaware, one petabyte equals 1,000 terabytes, and each terabyte contains 1,000 gigabytes.

Portable Xbox Console

Save 18% ($110)

ASUS ROG Xbox Ally (White): was $599.99 now $489.99 at Amazon

"The ROG Xbox Ally is a modest handheld that offers performance that's more on the level of the Steam Deck, making it one of the most direct competitors to Valve's device." — Rebecca Spear, Gaming and News Editor

Windows Central review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

View Deal

For context, Linux currently accounts for 3.20% of Steam users, compared to 94.79% on Windows as of November 2025.

It is still a massive gap, but there was a time when climbing above 3% felt impossible. The difference in user experience between Bazzite or SteamOS and Windows, especially for a console-like setup, is now night and day in my opinion.

Not only that, but Linux has also been shown to improve gaming performance on the Xbox Ally and other Windows handheld gaming PCs, while making the device feel far more like a traditional console.

If anything, this progress highlights how far Linux has come. Ideally, that momentum will push Microsoft to move faster, rather than getting slowed down by the realities of being such a large company, where decisions and meaningful feature updates can take far longer to land.

Have you considered switching away from Windows for gaming, or is Linux still a step too far? Let us know in the poll below.

Follow Windows Central on Google News to keep our latest news, insights, and features at the top of your feeds!