Steam has set a new concurrent player record just days after setting a new record for itself. Despite the competition, the digital game distribution platform shows no signs of slowing down.
Steam was once the only digital distribution gaming platform available, but at the moment, Epic Games Store is most likely its main competitor. The platform frequently releases free games for its users, but it doesn’t appear that it will dethrone Steam anytime soon.
According to SteamDB, which tracks user counts in games and on the platform in general, Valve’s new Steam concurrent user record is 30,049,264 concurrent players. The company recently passed 30 million users for the first time, and it appears that this was no fluke, as the number has risen even further. This growth is likely due to a number of factors, and Valve may end up breaking another record during its iconic holiday sales period.
The increased availability of gaming PC parts is one of the primary reasons for Steam’s recent growth. It was difficult for gamers to obtain what they needed to play recent, resource-heavy video games on a PC due to a variety of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Scalpers marked up video cards significantly, forcing players to either spend significantly more than usual or wait. However, things have recently begun to stabilize, and Nvidia has introduced its RTX 4000 series, reducing demand for the less powerful but still impressive 3000 line and providing players with more affordable options.
Furthermore, more games that were previously available only on consoles are now available on PC. PlayStation exclusives, in particular, have begun to make their way to PCs, in some cases a few months to a year after release, or even simultaneously. Acclaimed titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man and Horizon Zero Dawn are now available on Steam, and as a result, gamers may be visiting some iconic PS4 and PS5 games on PC, further increasing Steam’s user count.
While many of Valve’s game series has faded into obscurity, its gaming platform is clearly not. Having said that, Gabe Newell and others have confirmed that Valve is working on multiple games. It’s unclear what they are or when they’ll be made public, but once a new Valve game is released, the Steam platform will almost certainly see a surge in users.
