Steam sets record for concurrent users over the weekend
Steam hit a milestone of over 30 million concurrent users over the weekend.
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What you need to know
If you were on Steam over the past weekend, there’s a good chance that you helped the platform hit a new record. The platform had a 24-hour peak of 30,032,005 users between Saturday, October 22, 2022 and Sunday, October 23, 2022. That’s the highest that Steam has ever seen within a 24-hour period and shows that the steady rise of Steam users doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
SteamDB figuresshow that the number of concurrent Steam users has gone up quickly since the start of the global pandemic (viaTom’s Hardware). Steam usage was rising before the pandemic hit, but it took a significant turn upward in March 2020, which was when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
User numbers bounce up and down a bit each month, but the overall trend is clearly upward. There’s a good chance that Steam will continue to break records for concurrent users over the coming months. As GPU prices drop and hardware like theSteam Deckbecomes more common, more people will likely try out the popular gaming platform.
The previous record for concurrent Steam users was 29,986,681. That mark was set at the end of March 2022.
Generally speaking, Steam’s concurrent user count drops in the summer and goes up in cooler months (referring to seasons in the northern hemisphere). We’ll have to wait to see if that trend continues, but if it does, we’ll likely see several new high water marks this winter from Steam.
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Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
