The all-time concurrent player count on Steam was broken on December 8, as over 39 million players were consecutively logged into their accounts. The figures, which were determined by SteamDB, break the previous record set in September 2024 of 38 million.
The releases of three titles, in particular, have led to the colossal record on Valve’s service, which was precisely39,205,447 playersat 09:20 EST.These three titles arePath of Exile 2,Marvel Rivals, and the advanced accessIndiana Jones and the Great Circle.The combination of these anticipated and hyped games helped propel the large number of players, along with some titles that consistently draw high player counts. The continuous growth of Steam as a platform suggests that it may be able to reach the massive achievement of 40 million concurrent players soon.
Which Games Helped Steam Reach 39 Million Concurrent Players?
New Releases and Valve Classics Drew InPlayers
According to data fromSteamDB, the games that topped the charts during the 24-hour period when the record was set wereCounter-Strike 2,PUBG: Battlegrounds,Dota 2,Path of Exile 2, andMarvel Rivals.Valve’s eternally popular FPSCounter-Strike2continues to be a massive success for the company, with the nearly 1.6 million players almost eclipsing the all-time peak of 1.8 million concurrentCounter-Strikegamers. Another Valve IP ofDota 2assisted in Steam’s record-breaking achievement, suggesting that the company’s titles remain popular with gamers.
Of the top five most-played games among the 39 million players, two of the titles were new releases.These were Grinding Gear Games’Path of Exile 2and NetEase Games’Marvel Rivals,which were created in collaboration with Marvel Games. The former is an early access ARPG that had more than a million attempts to access the servers on launch, resulting in unprecedented and unexpected numbers by the developers. The free-to-play launch ofMarvel Rivalsachieved similar huge numbers, but this was expected due to the draw of the popular superhero IP.
Our Take: 40 Million Concurrent Steam Players To Come Sooner Rather Than Later
The next huge release to come in December is Machine Games’Indiana Jones and The Great Circle.Whilst the advanced access numbers are currently sitting at approximately 6500, the full launch on December 9 may yet propel Steam to a concurrent player count of 40 million.The massively anticipated stealth-action title hasalready been acclaimedby early players, suggesting that another widely popular title is on the cards for PC players.
10 Biggest Differences Between Path of Exile 2 & The First Game
Path of Exile 2 has a lot of changes that make it stand apart from the first game, setting its aim for even greater heights than POE accomplished.
Games likeCounter-Strike 2,Grand Theft Auto 5,andRustcontinue to be widely popular among players, but the array ofanticipated titles in Decembersuggests that Steam may have another record-breaking achievement on its hands soon.TheDelta Forcereboot also launched in December, with theLegacy of Kainremasters coming on December 10. The fantastic roster of high-quality titles released over the festive season, with the usual in-demand games,suggests that 40 million concurrent players onSteamdoesn’t seem like a far-fetched achievement.
Steam
Developed by Valve and released in 2003, Steam is a popular video game distribution service originally used by the company to provide updates for Valve games. In 2005, Steam expanded to distribute third-party titles. Steam users can not only browse games for purchase, but they can also post reviews and upload self-made content.
