23 Million Gamers on Global Pandemic Lockdown Shatter Steam Records

Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:40 PM

By Thomas Bardwell

Steam servers are steaming hot. | Source: Screenshot via CCN.com

Steam broke yet another peak user record yesterday with 22,678,529 users.
The most popular game was Counter-Strike global offensive, which again set a concurrent player record above 1 million.
The surge in activity is attributed to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures across the globe.

Steam broke another record this weekend, hitting an all-time peak of nearly 23 million concurrent users. More people than ever before were using Valve’s digital storefront yesterday.

Nearly 23 Million Steam Users

This latest figure comes after Steam hit the 20 million mark last weekend, and surged past 21 million on Friday, Mar. 20. According to the Steam tracker website, SteamDB, 22,678,529 were using the platform simultaneously yesterday . Of these, around 7 million were in-game at the same time.

Steam Breaks Another Record as It Nears 23 Million All-Time User Peak — Source: SteamDB

Much like last weekend’s record, the top game on Steam was Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which once again hit an all-time peak over the million mark with 1,102,067 players . Trailing was Dota 2 and PUBG with over half a million each. Grand Theft Auto V and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege completed the top five with nearly 200,000 players a piece.

Breaking Records

The latest record continues a trend that began in January when lockdown measures hit China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. As more countries have taken extreme measures to combat infections, the number of users has risen exponentially, breaking record after record.

Gaming as a whole has seen a surge in activity due to the impact of the coronavirus. Recently launched multiplayer battle royale shooter, Warzone, hit 30 million players in ten days . In Italy, internet traffic has increased by over 70% and is attributed to online games like Fortnite by one of the country’s leading telecom operators.

With countries like Italy, France, Spain, and a growing number of US states already in lockdown, and nations like the UK flirting with the idea of stricter home-confinement , we’re should see the Steam figure reach even higher in the weeks ahead. 23 million seems likely by the end of this week.