Steam has once again proven that PC gaming is on the up, securing a new all-time high peak user count and notching up 39,205,447 concurrent players. This record came during a busy weekend that saw the successful launches of Marvel Rivals and Path of Exile II in early access, among others.
Big Numbers
Steam has gone from strength to strength in recent years, seeing a sharp increase in user activity during the COVID-19 pandemic and never really slowing down since. The data revealed in charts on SteamDB tell the story from the last twenty years:
The ‘A’ flag on the chart is the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic. This event saw millions of gamers worldwide locked down by their respective governments, and more than ever before turned to gaming and content creation as a way of occupying their time – and perhaps making a little money.
That of course warranted a massive growth in the number of PC players around the world.
This weekend, the popular PC platform hit almost 40 million concurrent users – a staggering number by all accounts. Since 2024 kicked off, Steam has been soaring, but some games understandably contribute to that success much more than others.
For example, Counter-Strike 2 maintains a regular 24-hour peak of around 1.5 million users, with PUBG and Dota 2 coming in behind with around 700,000 players. This weekend, Marvel Rivals hit a peak of almost 500,000 players, and Path of Exile II, which is in early access, stormed the charts and racked up 578,000 concurrent users.
It’s worth highlighting that the number displayed is peak concurrent users. That doesn’t mean they’re actively playing a game, they’re just online on Steam. At the time that the 39 million mark was hit, just over 12 million users were playing games.
Are you one of the 40 million concurrent users enjoying Steam right now? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news about Grand Theft Hamlet continuing to win awards
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