It has been about a year since the beginning of the global pandemic, and many people are at home playing video games. We saw the count of concurrent Steam players breaking their own record several times during that time, and the record was broken again.
Industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls shared the news on Twitter, showing that more than 26 million Steam users were logged in at the same time, representing a historic peak for the service. The number was actually slightly higher than the one listed in your tweet when we checked it, so it looks like Steam’s record could grow even more.
Concurrent Steam Platform Users Violated 26 Million for the First Time Today
After the growth of the first blockade in the first quarter of 2020, new records for PCCUs were set in January and February 2021
Note: CCUs in the game did not reach the record set in March 2020 pic.twitter.com/xVhlwy780Y– Piers Harding-Rolls (@PiersHR) February 7, 2021
One variable, however, is how many people are actually actively playing a game at that time. This record was no broke today, although it has come closer than any other time in almost a year.
It is difficult to say for sure why the player record was broken today, as it was a very dry period for new game releases. Basic items like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Grand Theft Auto V and Team Fortress 2 remain at the top of the charts, with over 1 million people playing CS: GO in particular. The weekend is usually the point at which the player count increases each week. The reason for this is quite obvious, although game launch days can also cause the same spikes.
The last big spike we saw in December made more sense on paper, as Cyberpunk 2077 had just launched. It still appears in February, but the total player count has dropped considerably as CD Projekt Red continues to work to improve stability and fix bugs. The game’s worst problems were found on the consoles. This certainly makes the PC a more attractive platform for the game, at least for the moment, as the next generation versions will not arrive until the end of 2021.