Popular online gaming platform Steam recently passed a massive milestone, boasting a new all-time high for online players with over 38 million users online. Since Valve originally launched Steam in September of 2003, the gaming platform has grown into one of the most-used gaming services and online marketplaces in the world. Steam's catalog boasts over 100,000 games in the U.S. with the service standing as the largest online gaming platform on PC, beating out competitors like the Epic Games Store. Now, Steam has passed another major milestone in the online gaming space.

While other platforms boast their own unique incentives for players to join, Steam gives its players plenty of reasons to return to the online service. Steam regularly hosts a variety of sales for different holidays alongside its own iconic "Summer Sale," often featuring thousands of games at discounted prices. Valve also released its own handheld console for the gaming platform, with the Steam Deck allowing players to access their Steam library and play their PC games on the go. Steam's continued success as a platform has now shattered another record for the service.

Steam recently set a new all-time record for the most concurrent online users on the platform, reaching a new high for the third time in the past two years. Steam would break the 38.3 million player mark early Sunday morning, with a staggering 38,367,277 players online serving as the new record for Steam. Steam had previously set a new record in January 2023 when the platform broke the 32 million barrier, then again earlier this year when the platform would exceed 37 million players. Steam is currently estimated to have over 130 million active users each month.

Steam just hit an all-time record of 38.3 million PC players online. PC gaming has been growing steadily in recent years, with Steam hitting an all-time peak of 32 million in January 2023 and 37 million in August 2024 pic.twitter.com/CYoERAy4UT

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 22, 2024

The overwhelming success of Steam comes as more developers have begun to bring their previously console-exclusive titles to PC. Sony has made major moves in releasing many of its most popular exclusives to Steam, most recently bringing 2022 Game of the Year winner God of War Ragnarok to Steam last week. Microsoft has also made several of its popular first-party games available on Steam, including the Halo and Forza franchises among others.

The new record for Steam's concurrent player count joins plenty of exciting news and rumors surrounding its creator, Valve. Valve recently unveiled its newest IP after being heavily rumored for more than a year, with Deadlock in beta testing as a third-person hero shooter MOBA. The Half-Life franchise has also become the subject of rumors once again, with a mysterious test branch for Half-Life 2 sparking rampant speculation about a new update to celebrate the game's 20th anniversary. Steam's worldwide popularity continues to cement Valve's place as one of the icons of the gaming industry.

Posted: Sep 26, 2024 7:49 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/steam-player-milestone-38-million-pc/