Valve’s Steam sets record with 10 million concurrent, in-game players

This weekend Steam saw 10 million users concurrently playing video games. We’ve become somewhat accustomed to these milestone stories over the years, but this one — 10 million people, all playing a game, not just idling in the browser or the storefront — seems worth a nod.

Steam breached the 10 million player figure on Saturday morning(EST), another 10,000,000 players were logged in around the same hour on Sunday. Steam, or at least the API of Steamdb.info says so. In 2017, Steam began tracking concurrent in-game users. The service’s last big spike, under this measure, came March 30, 2020 — as the COVID-19 pandemic was driving everyone indoors, of course — with 8.1 million, all online at the same time playing something.

Steam’s playership sharply dropped off as life returned to normal, but came back to hit a high of 9.2 million concurrent, in-game players over the Valentine’s Day weekend in 2022. The PC gaming marketplace and community notched 32 million concurrent online users — not necessarily in a game — on Thursday as well. That’s also a record.

As for what folks were playing, it’s looks like the usual suspects — Global Offensive – Counter-Strike, It has over a million users at peak times daily, for example. Big multiplayer ensembles like Dota 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Modern Warfare 2 – Call of Duty, Apex LegendsIt also contributed to the bottom-line.

What does all this indicate? Steam’s user base continues to grow, as one would expect, probably assisted by the handheld Steam Deck, which is about to hit its one-year birthday. In September, Steam will be 20 years old. If that makes you feel old, well, know you’re not alone.