(Photo : NetEase Games / Screenshot taken from Steam)
Steam pulled off a significant achievement with 39 million concurrent players. Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile 2 and NetEase Games' Marvel Rivals greatly contributed to this.
The all-time concurrent player count on Valve's gaming platform was officially broken on Dec. 8, 2024. The data comes from SteamDB and goes past the previous record of 38 million that was set in September 2024.
Steam's Concurrent Players Record
The recent release of Path of Exile 2 and Marvel Rivals helped Steam break the record at 9:20 a.m. EST. Combined with the already high player count thanks to other popular titles, Valve's gaming platform continues to grow.
The top five games based on the highest concurrent player count during the 24-hour period when the record was broken are Counter-Strike 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Dota 2, Path of Exile 2, and Marvel Rivals.
Read Also: New Marvel Rivals Trailer Reveals Web-Slinging Spider Man as Next Addition to Roster
Counter-Strike 2, in particular, remains to be a stalwart game for Valve as it was seen to have nearly 1.6 million players. Dota 2 is another Valve game that helped to achieve the latest milestone with more than 700,000 concurrent players, according to Screen Rant.
Path of Exile 2 is also noteworthy as it has only launched its early access version where more than 1 million players tried to get in immediately. This caused the servers to crash and forced the developer to address the issue before people could login again.
Recently Released Titles
Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play 6v6 hero shooter by NetEase Games. Its superhero characters have been popular with fans for many years now.
Another noteworthy title that helped Steam break records is the release of advanced access for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
Marvel Rivals got one of Steam's biggest free-to-play launches in history and was able to peak at around 450,000 concurrent players. The situation suggests that Valve's gaming platform could reach 40 million concurrent players before the end of the year, Games Radar said.
Other top performers on Steam include Rust, Grand Theft Auto V, and the Call of Duty franchise. There are also many other notable titles that are set to release later this year that could add even more concurrent players to Valve's gaming platform.
This makes it highly likely that the number of people logged into Steam at any given time will continue to rise, especially as the holiday season approaches. This is expected to bring in an influx of players as they get some free time from school or work, according to Neowin.
Related Article: 'Path of Exile 2' Servers Go Down as Players Swarm Early Access Release