Highlights
- Steam breaks concurrent player record, nearing 37 million active players.
- Summer Steam Sale and major gaming events contribute to record-breaking numbers.
- Steam Deck's release expands reach to non-PC gamers, increasing market share.
Steam has shattered its prior concurrent player record, which was established less than four months prior. The online gaming juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down, and this Steam player record offers one more indication as to how PC gaming is increasing in popularity.
Steam was established long before most online gaming platforms, as it was initially intended as a method of distributing Valve games and updates in the early 2000s. Over time, it gradually morphed into a marketplace for nearly every kind of game imaginable, and has retained extreme popularity despite competitors like Origin and Epic Games Store coming to challenge it. Now, the PC gaming platform has set yet another record for itself.
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According to SteamDB, Steam shattered yet another concurrent player record for itself, this time nearly reaching 37 million active players (36,928,521) on Sunday, June 30. Back in March, Steam broke its own record twice, initially hitting 34 million concurrent players and then surpassing it a week later with 36 milion users. While Valve releases very few games of its own anymore, Steam has continued to expand its reach to gamers all over the world. This market share has only increased further with the release of the Steam Deck, as even gamers without game-compatible PCs can utilize Steam's massive game library.
Why Did Steam Break Another Player Record?
There are likely a few factors to thank for Steam reaching this new concurrent player record. The first is that the Summer Steam Sale is currently going on, which offers one of the best opportunities for gamers to get titles at major discounts. The last time Steam broke its own record, it was holding the smaller Spring Steam Sale, so it stands to reason that is a major contributing factor.
Another element to consider is that the summer brings lots of major gaming events, updates, and releases with it. Elden Ring and Final Fantasy 14 have both received major expansions in recent days, GTA Online launched a new bounty hunter update, and numerous games are entering or recently entered a new season. Meanwhile, Valve's most recent release, Counter-Strike 2, is still seeing tons of players on its own.
It seems like it's only a matter of time before Steam ends up crashing through 40 million concurrent players. While it could still be a long time before that happens, the Winter Steam Sale seems like a likely time for Steam to set a new record for itself.
