Valve’s Steam sets a record with 10 million concurrent players in the game

Steam hit 10 million concurrent users over the weekend, all playing video games. We’ve gotten a bit used to these milestone stories over the years, but this one – 10 million people all playing a game and not just roaming around the browser or storefront – seems worth a nod.

steam passed the 10 million player mark on Saturday morning

(EST) then another 10 million players logged in around the same time on Sunday and did their thing. Steam (or at least its API, acc Steamdb.info), started tracking the concurrent users in the game in 2017. The last major surge in service under this measure came on March 30, 2020 – when the COVID-19 pandemic naturally drove everyone indoors – with 8.1 million all playing something online at the same time.

Steam player count plummeted as life returned to normal, but peaked again at 9.2 million concurrent in-game players over Valentine’s Day weekend in 2022. The PC gaming marketplace and community recorded 32 million simultaneous online users – not necessarily in a game – also on Thursday. This is also a record.

What people have been playing looks like the usual suspects – Counter Strike Global Offensive, for starters, which reliably has around a million players logged in every day at peak times. Big multiplayer ensembles like dota 2PUBG: Battlegrounds, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, and Apex Legends also contributed to the final result.

What does that mean? As expected, Steam’s user base continues to grow, likely helped by the handheld Steam deck that’s about to celebrate its one-year anniversary. Steam itself turns 20 this September. If this makes you feel old, know that you are not alone.