Since its launch, Steam has been one of the go-to platforms for PC gamers, but it just broke its all-time record with more than 40 million people using Steam at one time. That doesn’t mean 40 million people are gaming all at once — that number is a bit over 12 million — but it’s still a massive increase from when Steam first started.
At the time of writing, Steam hit its all-time peak within the last two hours with a staggering 40,270,997 people. The majority of people are in the storefront or doing something else that’s not strictly gaming, but there are millions of gamers playing through some of the most popular titles right now.
Take Counter-Strike 2, for example; it currently has just under 1.3 million active players, while over 1 million people are exploring the world of Monster Hunter Wilds. Those two games are the undeniable champions at the present time, with the next most-played game — Dota 2 — coming in at just over 600,000 players.
With multiple games hitting more than one million players per day, it’s not hard to see why Steam is such a success. Even Amazon acknowledges Steam’s reign at the top, when a former Prime Gaming executive acknowledged that even the retail giant’s size didn’t give it enough of an edge to beat Steam.
Right now, the Steam Next Fest is still in full swing (though it ends tomorrow, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, now is your last chance.) Tons of demos are available for gamers to try out for free, so it’s a fantastic option to broaden your gaming horizons a bit with minimal risk.
And if the demos don’t appeal to you, Steam is renowned for its massive sales — and with the right know-how, you can walk away with a slew of new titles without breaking the bank.
Throw in the dominance of the Steam Deck in the handheld PC market, and Valve has a powerhouse platform that doesn’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon.
