
Looking forward, Valve will almost certainly be hoping that the upward trend continues. As has been the case for some time, Valve's very own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive still proves to be an incredibly popular choice for players logging into the platform, while more contemporary releases such as the likes of Football Manager 2022, Apex Legends, and Amazon's New World have also played their part. Steam's most recent record-breaking success story has drawn upon a mix of classic titles and heavy-hitting newcomers. In February of last year, IGN reported that the service had seen over 26.4 million players, while further records were later set over Thanksgiving weekend, when over 27.3 million players were playing at one time.

You might have expected the mass lockdowns of 2020 to make that the peak, but those numbers have only continued to grow, breaking the record multiple times. In March 2020, the platform celebrated a landmark milestone as over 20 million different players were seen to be using the service. Since the beginning of the global pandemic, Steam has seen a consistently growing fanbase. Concurrent users saw strong growth during 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19, but it's clear that growth also continued to persist in 2021. Steam hit 28 million concurrent users today. The exact number, which stands at 28,230,661, is the first time in history that Steam has reached over 28 million concurrent players - after narrowly missing out earlier this month.
STEAM CONCURRENT PLAYERS PC
The increase in internet data usage has seen ISPs suspending data caps and promising not to penalize customers for missed payments during the outbreak.As reported by analyst Daniel Ahmad (tweet below), the Steam community recently helped set another record for the PC service as over 28 million players flocked to the platform.
STEAM CONCURRENT PLAYERS FREE
For those in lockdown in Italy, they've also got the option of a free Pornhub premium subscription. With bars, restaurants, and cinemas closing, numerous events being canceled, and people advised to avoid public gatherings, it's not a surprise to see so many turning to Steam while stuck at home. #Steam has just reached a new concurrent online user record of 20 million, with 6.2 million currently in-game, likely due to many people staying at home due to the #coronavirus. Counter-Strike: GO saw over one million concurrent players, a new record, while DOTA 2 had over 700,000, and PUBG was over 500,000. There were also some high user numbers for Steam's top games. It seems a large number of those logged in were just browsing or letting the program run in the background.

While there were more than 20 million people logged into Steam, the in-game player count never went higher than 6.2 million-a million fewer than the 7.2 million record set on January 1, 2018. Before the weekend, Steam's highest concurrent player count was 18.8 million set on February 2, which came a few hours before the Super Bowl. On Sunday, March 15, Steam reached a massive 20,313,476 concurrent users, beating the previous record of just under 20 million from 24 hours earlier. Over the weekend, Valve's platform recorded its higher-ever number of concurrent players, over 20 million.


What just happened? As the coronavirus forces millions around the world to stay at home and practice social isolation, it seems one way to pass the time is by playing some Steam titles.
