The concurrent user number is up from 6 million last year.
“PC gaming is dead,” comes the cry from the platform’s opponents every few years, and with the massive hype surrounding Sony and Microsoft’s latest boxes, some may be starting to think it’s true. So, let’s put this silly notion to bed once and for all with some hard, cold, facts. Fact: Steam has now broke 7 million concurrent users, up from 6 million at the same time last year. Fact: Steam has 65 million registered users, up a staggering 15 million from last year. Fact: I can, right now, purchase several games on Steam (some of them GOTY contenders released this year) for less than the price of a Big Mac meal.
Back in 2011, there were around 40 million registered accounts with around 5 million concurrent users. This means that the amount of concurrent users has increased steadily by one million every year. To put things into perspective for you Microsoft’s Xbox Live has 48 million accounts and Sony’s PlayStation Network has 110 million.
Furthermore, the console game with the highest ever concurrent number of players was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on the Xbox 360, with 1.4 million. Meanwhile, Riot Game’s League of Legends (which is not on Steam), boasts a concurrent player base of around 5 million. Steam’s most-played game is DoTA 2, with a peak of around 550,000 players.
This bodes very well for Valve’s upcoming Steam Machines, as having such a healthy install base is sure to make the initiate a success.
Source: PC Games N
