Millions of players use Steam every day, but which games managed to grab the biggest pieces of that pie? We’ll tell you!
Over the years, Steam has become the largest collection of PC games ever. Every year, thousands and thousands of new titles find their way onto Valve’s platform, but by no means all of them make it into the limelight. Most of them simply disappear behind true blockbusters with thousands of players.
We summarise for you the Steam games with the largest number of players. Among them are a few titles that no one would have expected. The results are based on the statistics from (Steamcharts.com). By the way, the number of players active at the same time was measured here: Our ranking is therefore based on which games were able to captivate the most people in front of the screen at the same time at X point in time.
As of the update of 18 February 2022, a lot has changed in the list. Steam’s player numbers are steadily increasing and with them the requirements to stay in the top 10. No less than three games have said goodbye here to make room for the new additions:
- Place 10: Postal – 408,008 players
- Place 9: Among Us – 438,524 players
- Place 8: Life is Strange 2 – 468,634 players
The newcomers, however, are not treading carefully in the rankings. On the contrary: one of them even directly mixes up the Top 3!
Table of Contents
Place 10: Fallout 4
- Highest number of players: 471,955
- Genre: Role Playing Game
- Developer:Bethesda
When was the high point?
Originally, you would think that GTA could have set at least one record for 2015 with its release, but amazingly, its concurrent player numbers were trumped by another title just a few months later. In fact, in April 2015, nothing was known exactly about Fallout 4, which was only officially announced a few months later shortly before E3 and then also released immediately in November of the same year.
Apparently at exactly the right time, because the fourth part of the role-playing game series left the best mark of GTA 5 behind shortly after its release and came to 471,955 players active at the same time.
What about now?
Fallout 4 remains a popular title with Steam players five years after its release. Even all the hassle surrounding Fallout 76 hasn’t changed that. With around 16,000 players a day, it can’t really compete with GTA 5 here anymore, but it still remains a board.
Place 9: Capcom Arcade Stadium
- Highest Number of Players : 481,088
- Genre : Collection
- Developer :Capcom
When was the high point?
Capcom Arcade Stadium cheats a little on the ranking. Because it’s not just one game, but a collection of 32 arcade classics that Capcom released between 1984 and 2001. However, you only get 1943: The Battle of Midway when you buy it. All other titles are available as DLC.
Originally released on 25 May 2021, it reached its current peak of 481,088 players in November 2021. This could be due to the fact that since October 2021 the other games are no longer only available as a pack, but you can also buy them individually. Perfectly suited if you want to relive a classic. And apparently there are a lot of nostalgics out there.
What about now?
The nostalgia didn’t last long, though. For player numbers plummeted faster than in almost any other game. By January 2022, the peak was only 387 players. In mid-February, on the other hand, just 37 started the game at the same time.
Place 8: Terraria
- Highest number of players : 486,918
- Genre: Adventure
- Developer :Re-Logic
When was the high point?
If Minecraft existed on Steam, it would certainly be on this list. After all, its little brother Terraria has already made it to 4th place. But it took the indie game quite a long time to get there, because Terraria was actually released back in 2011. However, the game was improved more and more over time and the final version only celebrated its release on 16 May 2020. It was precisely in this month that the adventure game broke its player record and has since occupied 4th place in the list of the most-played Steam games with 486,918 players.
How about now?
Even without this special release, Terraria enjoys enduring popularity. On Steam, daily player numbers rank around 40,000 concurrent players on a monthly average. At the same time, despite previous announcements, the developers can’t leave it alone and keep releasing new patches.
Place 7: Valheim
- Highest number of players : 498,478
- Genre: Survival Adventure
- Developer:Iron Gate Studio
When was the high point?
Not only colossal AAA productions, but also small indies can really pack a punch. Metaphorically and literally, because despite its edgy voxel look, the Viking survival game Valheim reached almost 500,000 concurrent active players on Steam in February 2021. This all took place at the Early Access release in February 2021, which served the small Iron Gate studio a remarkable global success with over six million copies sold.
What about now?
No hype lasts forever, only a fraction of the really big player numbers are still in the game. Between 20,000 and 30,000 players are still active at the same time on average, which are of course still strong numbers. And with over 55,000 players at the same time in January 2022, it also shows some growth, even if that is of course still far from its former top value. Regular updates help to keep users coming back.
Place 6: Cyberpunk 2077
- Highest number of players : 830,387
- Genre: Action role-playing game
- Developer:CD Projekt Red
The years of hype surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 finally culminated in a major release success, although it was also accompanied by much criticism. Although CD Projekt also released the game on GOG and the Epic Store, Cyberpunk 2077 reached over 800,000 concurrently active Vs.
on Steam on 13 December 2020.
What about now?
Not much is left of the gigantic player numbers by now. However, it is recovering a little from its low point. While it only had a meagre 15,703 players in June 2021, it recorded a high of 37,456 players again in February 2022. Among other things, this was probably due to the extensive update 1.5.
Cyberpunk 2077 – Patch 1.5 and next-gen upgrade are here, all info
Place 5: New World
- Highest number of players: 913,027
- Genre: MMORPG
- Developer: Amazon Games
When was the peak?
New World was released on 28 September 2021 after many delays, so it’s not surprising that it peaked in October with a total of 913,027 players. The launch itself, however, turned out to be extremely difficult. The fact that news made the rounds that the game could destroy graphics cards did not cast a good light on it either.
How does it look now?
The success did not last long and since then the game has been on a pure downhill slide. In the month following its release, it had already lost more than half of its players. In December, things did not look very rosy either. In the period from 18 January 2022 to 18 February 2022, it had only 86,400 simultaneously logged-in users at its best. Figures that make other games jealous. For New World, however, only a small fraction of its former glory.
Place 4: Dota 2
When was the high point?
Welcome to the podium. The top three Steam games with the most simultaneously active players are in a class of their own. This is already evident in the third place, which is occupied by Valve itself. This is where Dota 2 is to be found.
The moba is the first game in this list to break the million mark. And not without reason, because it is the successor to the Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients, which founded a new genre. For a long time, Dota 2 was also ahead in the player numbers category on Steam and reached its current peak of an outstanding 1,291,328 players in March 2016, shortly after the big spring cleaning update was released.
How does it look now?
No question, a player count like that doesn’t happen by accident. Dota 2 is simply played far too often every day. The monthly average regularly cracks the top of all the other games in this list at lower places and the trend is upwards. In January 2022, it recorded 786,118 concurrent players.
Place 3: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Highestplayer : 1,305,714
- Genre: Tactical Shooter
- Developer:Valve, Hidden Path Entertainment
When was the high point?
After Dota, the next title in which Valve itself is involved comes directly in second place. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive takes second place. The almost legendary shooter was ranked directly behind Dota 2 for a very, very long time, but was only recently able to overtake the moba. However, it is not possible to fully assess where this further increase in players came from.
More and more CS:GO players have been recorded since February 2020. The shooter then reached its peak of 1,305,714 in April 2020, which is still valid today. The assumption is that the increased player numbers are connected to the quarantine measures during the Corona pandemic.
What about now?
The daily level of early 2020 is no longer reached by CS:GO today, but it remains a giant in terms of player numbers. Since November 2021, it has reached over 900,000 peak players every month. As of January 2022, it is even close to the million mark again. It is not unlikely that it will be able to surpass its previous record again in the future.
Place 2: Lost Ark
- Highest number of players : 1,324,761
- Genre: MMORPG
- Developer: Smilegate
When was the high point?
Lost Ark first appeared in the West on 11 February 2022 and immediately took the Top 3 by storm. As of 18 February 2022, just a week after release, it has left the competition in the dust with its 1,324,761 concurrent players logged in, taking the second spot of the titles with the most users on Steam.
How about now?
Lost Ark is soaring high, but history has already shown that the rush often drops off sharply so soon after release. This is normal even for MMORPGs. So Lost Ark must now show that it can retain players in the long term. To do that, it has to satisfy its users. But they are currently criticising the title heavily with their Steam reviews. This is not due to the game itself, but to server problems. But when they don’t work for a multiplayer title, it becomes critical.
Place 1: Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds
- Highest number of players : 3,236,027
- Genre : Battle Royale Shooter
- Developer:PUBG Corporation
When was the high point?
Winner, winner, chicke… oh you know how it goes. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds aka PUBG is the undisputed king when it comes to concurrent player numbers on Steam. At its core, it is a multiplayer shooter, but its gameplay is now more commonly referred to as Battle Royale.
The roots of the cult game lie in a mod for Arma 3, which was put together by the developer Brendan Greene (also known as Playerunknown), who did not invent Battle Royale as a genre in its own right, but at least made it suitable for the masses.
Already in its Early Access phase from March 2017, the game had ever-increasing player numbers and thus practically single-handedly ensured that games like Fortnite or Apex Legends came into being at all and even long-established genre giants like Battlefield or Call of Duty wanted to jump on the Battle Royale bandwagon. Its colossal record, meanwhile, stands at an incredible 3,236,027 players, reached with the final release in January 2018.
How does it look now?
Even though PUBG was once able to boast an almost unassailable number of concurrently active players, the battle royale is played daily by significantly fewer people than its two competitors in the top 3. “Only” around 600,000 players are currently active in PUBG at the same time. The trend is also continuing to fall. At the same time, it also almost doubled its player numbers from December 2021 to January 2022. The reason for this was the switch to a Free2Play system.
PUBG doubles its player base with Free2Play model, but there is criticism
