Steam Just Hit 10 Million Users Online At Once For The First Time

[John Elden Ring]

The player count on the digital distribution platform Steam recently exceeded 10 million active users, reaching this number for the first time on January 7, 2023. This represents a fairly significant milestone for a platform which has been waning in popularity for decades, PC.

The record was reached as players around the world began settling down to play some of the games which they picked up during the recently held Christmas Sale, a major annual event on Steam. The player count on the platform has been steadily rising, reaching 32 million concurrent users earlier this week. In other words, players who are logged into Steam but not actively playing a game.

According to the tracking website SteamDB, the total concurrent users on Steam reached a record high of 10,016,459 on January 7. This marks the first time that more than 10 million users have been recorded simultaneously playing a game on the platform. The number has continued to rise and is expected to continue increasing over the course of the coming weeks and months, at least based on previously recorded growth patterns.

 

[Vertigo]

So that 32 million concurrent number was nothing but padding. Nice to have realistic numbers.

 

[Remij]

So that 32 million concurrent number was nothing but padding. Nice to have realistic numbers.

32M concurrent users
10M concurrent players

Different things. People being logged into Steam and browsing the store, on the forums, watching streams, or just chatting or trading cards or whatever, are still users...

So it's not padding, it just represents concurrent people active on Steam in some capacity vs people actually playing games concurrently.

Either way, Steam stays growing.

 

[KnittedKnight]

Sheep keep showing up at the farm. The feed doesn't even come from the farm owner unlike at some other farms.

 

[Vertigo]

32M concurrent users
10M concurrent players

Different things. People being logged into Steam and browsing the store, on the forums, watching streams, or just chatting or trading cards or whatever, are still users...

So it's not padding, it just represents concurrent people active on Steam in some capacity vs people actually playing games concurrently.

Either way, Steam stays growing.

Padding.

 

[Remij]

Padding.

Nah. They simply go by the same metrics as everyone else in the industry.

Users =/= players.

 

[KiryuRealty]

And they’ve had 50 million fanboys online since 2008!

 

[COCONUT]

It's (from my point of view) the best gaming platform. Mods, forums, voice, games, all in the same place.

I have some concerns for the future in terms of cloud gaming. I don't see (for example) MicroSoft allowing their games on Steam Cloud and on xCloud (maybe i'm wrong, time will tell). But at least for now, the best.

 

[rofif]

So that 32 million concurrent number was nothing but padding. Nice to have realistic numbers.

I wonder where 32mil comes from.
Even 10mil... it is just people with turned on computers. Not playing

 

[ethomaz]

I have my doubts these numbers are really accurate.

Valve blocked that API data and what these external sites do today are well estimates.

But at least we have some estimate.

 

[COCONUT]

I have my doubts these numbers are really accurate.

Valve blocked that API data and what these external sites do today are well estimates.

But at least we have some estimate.

I think they got it from the oficial Steam graphs tool that Valve shared not long ago.

 

[Satoru]

It's (from my point of view) the best gaming platform. Mods, forums, voice, games, all in the same place.

I have some concerns for the future in terms of cloud gaming. I don't see (for example) MicroSoft allowing their games on Steam Cloud and on xCloud (maybe i'm wrong, time will tell). But at least for now, the best.

Agreed. It's flawed, but it's the best platform, especially for indie games.

The convenience of using the workshop to download and install mods for you is great, for example.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Sony gave them a lot of exposure with their exclusives. When they want to sell their platforms or the SteamDeck they always show stuff like God Of War or Spider-Man.

They might not be the most played games on Steam but it gives them prestige just to have it there in the marketing.

 

[KiryuRealty]

It's (from my point of view) the best gaming platform. Mods, forums, voice, games, all in the same place.

I have some concerns for the future in terms of cloud gaming. I don't see (for example) MicroSoft allowing their games on Steam Cloud and on xCloud (maybe i'm wrong, time will tell). But at least for now, the best.

If you think MS will allow anyone else into their sandbox, you really need to look into their history.

 

[Vertigo]

I wonder where 32mil comes from.
Even 10mil... it is just people with turned on computers. Not playing

From users that simply have the steam icon installed.

It’s padding as fanboys will use it to deceptively misrepresent its active userbase.

It’s also not the same as consoles running idle. It’s more likely a pc is being used for work and business when an idle console is still most likely to be used to game.

And then there’s representing 20 years of pc hardware. So then what? Add PS4 totals to PS5 if those metrics were available?

Padding

 

[Bort]

I don't think I have closed it, for a decade?

I do also use EGS.. to get the free games. Maybe one day, I shall play one of them.

 

[Remij]

I wonder where 32mil comes from.
Even 10mil... it is just people with turned on computers. Not playing

Jesus, I literally explained it right above your post..

32M is people logged into steam
10M is people in-game.

 

[Bort]

Jesus, I literally explained it right above your post..

32M is people logged into steam
10M is people in-game.

I love that all 10mil were playing Monkey Island.