Steam hits 18,801,944 concurrent users – the highest ever recorded

Steam has just hit its highest ever concurrent users, recording 18,801,944 users yesterday.

According to SteamDB (thanks, PCGN), the highest number of concurrent users peaked at 18,801,944 players at 2.20pm UK time on Sunday. Before yesterday, the highest concurrent figure was set in January 2018 when the platform recorded 18,537,490 users.  

Interestingly, however, whilst the record set in 2018 boasted 7 million online players recorded actively in-game, yesterday this figure had fallen to 5.8m, perhaps intimating that many players, though logged into the system, were either away from keyboard (AFK) or perhaps running the platform in the background whilst doing something else. 

“Steam has broken its record for most concurrently online users that was held for two years. Previous record was 18,537,490 users. It’s still increasing!” SteamDB tweeted when the record was broken. “But there’s about 1 million less players actually in-game (≈5.8mil vs ≈7mil two years ago).”

.@Steam has broken its record for most concurrently online users that was held for two years. Previous record was 18,537,490 users. It's still increasing!

But there's about 1 million less players actually in-game (≈5.8mil vs ≈7mil two years ago).https://t.co/D6WDHbz0B4

— SteamDB (@SteamDB) February 2, 2020

Valve recently announced which games on its digital PC storefront, Steam, generated the most revenue in 2019. In a round-up on Steam’s website, the company categorised 2019’s biggest earners into four tiers: platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. Though the individual tiers themselves were not ranked – so it’s unclear which title, overall, generated the most revenue – the ten highest-earning “platinum” games were: Destiny 2, Warframe, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Grand Theft Auto 5, The Elder Scrolls Online, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Monster Hunter World, Civilization VI, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Dota 2.

In terms of the highest-grossing new releases, Valve also tracked games only released in 2019. CodeVein, Destiny 2, Devil May Cry 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Mordhau, Planet Zoo, Red Dead Redemption 2, Resident Evil 2, Remnant: From the Ashes, Sekiro, Star Wars Jedi: Fall Order, and Total War: Three Kingdoms were last year’s biggest earners on Steam.

Valve also recently discontinued production of its Steam Controller, confirming to press that the last batch of controllers – on sale for just $5 (approximately £3.90), excluding shipping – were the “last batch of these gamepads that will ever be made”. The Steam controller proved divisive upon its launch in 2015 and while some people loved it and use it regularly, others failed to see the advantage of the touch panel instead of a second analogue stick.