Steam continues to dominate the gaming world in 2026, boasting impressive statistics that highlight its vast reach and financial success.
The platform currently has 132 million monthly active users (MAU) and 69 million daily active users (DAU), with over 52.27% of MAU checking in daily.
Steam generated $11.1 billion alone in H1 2026, at a 14.5% YoY growth.
Steam Statistics 2026 (Editor’s Pick)
- Steam has 132 million monthly active users (MAU).
- The platform sees 69 million daily active users (DAU).
- Steam’s sales revenue recorded $11.1 billion in the first half of 2026.
- In the US, Steam holds an impressive 75% market share.
- On March 29, 2026, Steam set a new all-time record with 42.68 million concurrent users online.
- Steam recorded a total of 138,226 games on the platform.
How Many People Use Steam?
Steam currently has over 132 million monthly active users. (MAU).
This represents a 10% increase from the 120 million users recorded last year.
Here is a table displaying the number of Steam active players by year:
| Year | Steam Monthly Active Users |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 132 million |
| 2020 | 120 million |
| 2019 | 95 million |
| 2018 | 90 million |
| 2017 | 67 million |
Note: This is the last recorded data by Steam when Valve Corporation announced their monthly active users in 2021.
Source: Statista
Steam Daily Active Users
Steam has 69 million daily active users (DAU).
The latest data shows a growth of 6.4 million from the 62.6 million daily users in 2020. Interestingly, over 52.27% of Steam’s monthly active users check in at least once a day.
Here is a table displaying the daily active users of Steam worldwide:
| Year | Steam Daily Active Users |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 69 million |
| 2020 | 62.6 million |
| 2018 | 47 million |
| 2017 | 33 million |
Source: Statista
Note: The last Steam monthly active users and daily active users data were recorded in 2021. The numbers may be higher, but there are no sources of record on the website or anywhere.
Steam Concurrent Users
Steam started the year with a milestone by hitting its all-time concurrent users with 42.04 million users, which was almost 150K more than its previous best in October 2025 (41.66 million).
It took only 2 months to break this new record. On March 29, 2026, Steam recorded 42.68 million concurrent players. As of August 2026, 32.97 million players are active.
The peak number of players in-game also came in January 2026, reaching 13.39 million.
Here is a table displaying the concurrent users of Steam recorded in the past months:
| Month | Peak Concurrent Players | Gain Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 41,315,290 | -1.1% |
| June 2026 | 41,782,300 | +1.4% |
| May 2026 | 41,202,124 | -2.7% |
| April 2026 | 42,349,867 | -0.8% |
| March 2026 | 42,686,616 | 3.4% |
| February 2026 | 41,296,217 | -1.8% |
| January 2026 | 42,042,778 | 1.7% |
| December 2025 | 41,328,894 | -0.3% |
| November 2025 | 41,450,904 | -0.5% |
| October 2025 | 41,666,455 | 2.8% |
| September 2025 | 40,253,139 | 4.4% |
| August 2025 | 38,805,229 | -0.04% |
| July 2025 | 38,821,393 | -3.10% |
| June 2025 | 40,079,662 | 0.002 |
| May 2025 | 39,979,623 | -1.30% |
| April 2025 | 40,490,922 | -1.80% |
| March 2025 | 41,239,880 | 0.033 |
| February 2025 | 39,924,077 | 0.015 |
| January 2025 | 39,342,021 | 0.0006 |
Source: SteamDB Charts
Steam Revenue
Games on Steam generated an estimated $11.1 billion in gross revenue in the first half of 2026, the platform’s biggest half-year ever.
That is 14.5% higher than H1 2025, and 8% higher than the holiday-heavy second half of 2025, which is the more unusual comparison given that H2 normally wins on winter sales. It also exceeds what Steam made in the entirety of 2020.
Alinea Analytics estimates Steam’s annual gross revenue grew from roughly $5.5 billion in 2017 to about $20 billion in 2025.
Here is a table displaying Steam revenue by year:
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2026 (H1) | $11.1 billion |
| 2024 | $10.8 billion |
| 2023 | $8.7 billion |
| 2022 | $7.6 billion |
| 2021 | $7.4 billion |
| 2020 | $7.2 billion |
| 2019 | $4.5 billion |
| 2018 | $5.3 billion |
Source: PC Gamer
Best Selling Games on Steam
Borderlands 4 was the best-selling game on Steam in 2025.
Here is a list of the top best-selling games on Steam by revenue.
| Rank | Steam Game | Steam Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borderlands 4 | September 12, 2025 |
| 2 | Counter-Strike 2 | September 27, 2023 |
| 3 | HELLDIVERS 2 | February 8, 2024 |
| 4 | No, I’m not a Human | September 15, 2025 |
| 5 | Dying Light: The Beast | September 18, 2025 |
| 6 | Marvel Rivals | December 6, 2024 |
| 7 | Dune: Awakening | May 20, 2025 |
| 8 | Hollow Knight: Silksong | September 4, 2025 |
| 9 | NBA 2K26 | September 5, 2025 |
| 10 | Path of Exile 2 | December 6, 2024 |
Source: SteamDB.
Most Popular Games On Steam
PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and Black Myth Wukong are the most popular games on Steam, with all-time peaks of 3.2 million and 2.4 million players, respectively.
Right behind them are Palworld, Counter-Strike 2, and Monster Hunter Wilds, making up the top 5.
Here is a table displaying the most-played games on Steam:
| Rank | Games | All-Time Peak Players |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS | 3,257,248 |
| 2. | Black Myth: Wukong | 2,415,714 |
| 3. | Palworld | 2,101,867 |
| 4. | Counter-Strike 2 | 1,862,531 |
| 5. | Monster Hunter Wilds | 1,384,608 |
| 6. | Lost Ark | 1,325,305 |
| 7. | Dota 2 | 1,295,114 |
| 8. | Cyberpunk 2077 | 1,054,388 |
| 9. | ELDEN RING | 953,426 |
| 10. | Banana | 917,272 |
Source: SteamDB
Steam Games Statistics
Steam released 16,115 new games till August 2026. Now, the number of games has reached a total of 138,226 in 2026.
Meanwhile, the platform released a record-breaking 21,344 games in 2025, a 15.51% increase from 2024.
| Year | Games Released on Steam |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,820 |
| 2016 | 4,648 |
| 2017 | 6,927 |
| 2018 | 8,864 |
| 2019 | 8,065 |
| 2020 | 9,636 |
| 2021 | 11,217 |
| 2022 | 12,246 |
| 2023 | 14,031 |
| 2024 | 18,478 |
| 2025 | 21,344 |
| 2026* (August) | 16,115 |
Source: Steam Releases
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the most popular game on Steam by average playtime, with 903 hours.
| Game | Average Playtime |
|---|---|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 903 hours |
| Garry’s Mod | 295 hours |
| PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS | 203 H |
| Terraria | 135 hours |
| ARK: Survival Evolved | 123 hours |
Source: Steam Ladder
- The most-rated game on Steam is Portal 2, with 97.71% of an average rating.
Only seven games have more than 97% of ratings on Steam. Here are further details about the top-rated games on Steam:
- Portal 2- 97.71%
- Stardew Valley– 97.63%
- People Playground– 97.47%
- Vampire Survivors– 97.33%
- Portal– 97.18%
- Hades– 97.16%
- HoloCure– 97.00%
Source: Steam DB
Steam Content Statistics
Here, we will take a look at the most popular languages used by Steam users on the Steam platform. Let’s dive right in.
English is the most common language on the Steam gaming platform, with 36.87% of the share.
- English- 36.87%
- Simplified Chinese- 23.81%
- Russian- 10.31%
- Spanish-Spain- 5.63%
- Portuguese-Brazil- 4.08%
- German- 2.96%
- French- 2.38%
- Japanese- 2.18%
- Polish- 1.92%
- Turkish- 1.64%
Source: Statista.
Steam Library Statistics
You’ll find a diverse range of game developers within the Steam Library. In the following section, we’ll highlight some of the industry’s leading developers on Steam.
Valve game developer has the top ratings, with an 8.5 rating.
- Valve- 8.5 ratings
- Supergiant Games- 8.44 ratings
- Klei Developers- 8.4 ratings
- The Behemoth- 8.36 ratings
- Free Lives- 8.35 ratings
- CDPR- 8.18 ratings
- Bethesda- 7.85 ratings
- Feral Interactive- 7.8 ratings
Source: Finance Online.
What Steam Gamers Use?
Gamers utilize various tools and devices while engaging in online games. In this section, I have gathered all pertinent statistics regarding the gadgets used by Steam gamers.
Let’s take a look.
- 48 million Steam users use game controllers.
- 74.83% of Steam users use NVIDIA video cards.
Here is a list of video cards that Steam users use.
- NVIDIA- 74.83%
- AMD- 16.28%
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060- 9.19%
- Intel- 8.76%
100% of Steam users use microphones.
71.34% of Steam gamers use Intel as a PC processor.
22.91% of Steam gamers use Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets.
- Oculus Quest 2- 22.91%
- Oculus Rift S- 21.58%
- Valve Index HMD- 16%
71.82% of Steam users with multiple monitors have a desktop resolution of 2840 x 1080, while 67.29% have a primary display resolution of 1920 x 1080.
The Windows 10 64-bit operating system is most commonly used by Steam games, with a 63.46% share in 2023.
- Windows 10 64-bit- 63.46%
- Windows 11 64-bit- 30.33%
- Windows 7 64-bit- 1.6%
- Mac OS 12.5.0 64-bit- 0.52%
- Others- 4.09%
16 GB RAM is used by more than half of Steam users, with a 51.74% share in 2023.
- 16 GB- 51.74%
- 8 GB- 21.3%
- 32 GB- 13.84%
- 4 GB- 5.84%
- Other- 7.28%
Source: Finance Online.
Conclusion: Over 132 Million People Use Steam Every Month
In conclusion, Steam’s statistics for 2026 underscore its substantial growth and continued influence in the gaming industry. The platform’s 132 million monthly active users (MAU) and 69 million daily active users (DAU) signify a massive, engaged user base.
Achieving a record $11.1 billion in revenue in H1 2026, a 14.5% increase year-over-year, and a peak of 42.68 million concurrent users in March 2026 demonstrates its expanding market presence.
