Steam Shows No Signs of Slowing Down, Sets New Historical Record

Key Takeaways

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Steam reached a new record of 42 million concurrent users on January 11, 2026, surpassing its previous peak set in October 2025. This growth is largely due to the platforms steady increase over the past few years, with an accelerated jump during the pandemic.
Steams revenue also saw significant growth, with December 2025 being its best month ever, generating over $160 million—a 23% increase from December 2024.
Popular games like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG: Battlegrounds continue to drive user engagement on the platform. Additionally, new releases such as ARC Raiders have also contributed to Steams success.
The release of the Steam Deck, along with features like built-in cloud saves, family account and game sharing, Steam Input for controller compatibility, and Steam Workshop for mod support, have further bolstered Steams user base and solidified its dominance in the PC gaming market.

Steam Sets New Concurrent User Record at 42 Million, Boosted by Popular Games like CS2, Dota 2, PUBG

On January 11, 2026, Steam reached a new peak of 42,042,778 concurrent users, surpassing the previous record of 41.6 million set in October 2025, according to Wccftech, citing SteamDB data. This new high aligns with Steam’s consistent growth over the past several years. The platform had approximately 36 million users in March 2024, then surpassed 38 million by September of that year and reached 40 million in March 2025. In contrast, Steam had 20 million users in March 2020. Before the pandemic, Steam’s growth rate was about 4.5% annually. Lockdowns led to a significant jump, with over 30% growth in a single year. Afterward, the platform stabilized, maintaining a strong annual growth rate between 12% and 14%, well above pre-COVID levels. Steam’s growth isn’t limited to user numbers. According to estimates from Alinea Analytics, December 2025 was Steam’s best month ever, with over $160 million in revenue—a roughly 23% increase from December 2024, and surpassing the pandemic peak in December 2020. Several factors contributed to this continued success: Popular Games: Titles such as Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG: Battlegrounds remain highly popular on the platform.

Steam’s Dominance in PC Gaming Soars to 42 Million Users Organically with Steam Deck and New Releases

New Releases: ARC Raiders was the bestselling game during November and December 2025. Steam Deck: The release of the Steam Deck has contributed to user growth. Platform Features: Valve has added features like built-in cloud saves, family account and game sharing, Steam Input for controller and peripheral compatibility, and Steam Workshop for mod support. Hardware Development: Valve is developing the Steam Machine, a prebuilt gaming PC running on Linux and SteamOS with a custom AMD CPU and GPU, as well as the Steam Frame, a VR headset for streaming games. What’s remarkable is that this record was achieved organically, without any major game launches or special events driving the surge. Of the 42 million users logged in, 13 million were actively playing games. Given these numbers, Valve and its founder, Gabe Newell, are well-positioned for the future as Steam solidifies its dominance in the PC gaming market.

In Case You Missed It

In other gaming news, you won’t want to miss this week’s excitement! Jonathan Dubinski has been digging into SNK’s surprise crossover in his latest post, “Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves – Wait, What?! Ken the Survivor is Coming as a Playable Character?” (Jan 12, 2026), where he explores how Kenshiro from Hokuto Shinken fits into the Fatal Fury universe and what it means for future crossovers. Meanwhile, every Thursday brings new free games to the Epic Games Store, and this Sunday’s release is a tower defense classic that’s sure to pop some fun into your gaming routine – Bloons TD 6! Sophie Laurent has all the details in her recent post, ‘Don’t Forget This Sunday: Epic Games Store PlayersForLife Bloons TD 6 for Free’, published on January 11th. And in an unexpected twist, Marcus Thompson unveils a three-minute clip of ARC Raiders in first-person mode, sparking intriguing conversations about the game’s design possibilities in his post, “Video Shows ARC Raiders in First-Person Mode”. Check out these awesome reads here: Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves – Wait, What?! Ken the Survivor is Coming as a Playable Character? Don’t Forget This Sunday: Epic Games Store PlayersForLife Bloons TD 6 for Free Video Shows ARC Raiders in First-Person Mode.