Top 10 Steam games peak player counts of all time: Most concurrent players in a game
SteamSteam shows public player count stats, meaning we can see which games are most popular. These are the top 10 highest player counts ever recorded on Steam, for concurrent players.
From classics like Counter-Strike and PUBG to major AAA releases like Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring, the top ten list covers a wide range of genres.
The top games are always changing, but over the years, some games on Steam have peaked at massive live player counts, with the highest ever at over three million. In early 2024, a surprise new entry joined the list – the overnight success of Palworld.
In 2024, we saw more surprises. An inconspicuous clicker game called Banana reached the top 10, and Black Myth: Wukong shot up to second place on its first day. 2025 could have some similar surprises in store with the impending release of a multiplayer Elden Ring spin-off and the always-looming GTA 6.
The first game of 2025 to crack the top 10 was Monster Hunter Wilds, which reached over 1.3 million players on release day, overtaking Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077.
For now, these are the top 10 highest peak concurrent player counts on Steam ever.
Highest Steam player counts
| Rank | Game | Release date | Peak players | Date achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PUBG | Dec 21, 2017 | 3,257,248 | Jan 13, 2018 |
| 2 | Black Myth: Wukong | Aug 20, 2024 | 2,358,580 | Aug 20, 2024 |
| 3 | Palworld | Jan 19, 2024 | 2,101,867 | Jan 27, 2024 |
| 4 | CS2/CS:GO | Aug 21, 2012 | 1,862,531 | Apr 12, 2025 |
| 5 | Lost Ark | Feb 11, 2022 | 1,325,205 | Feb 12, 2023 |
| 6 | Monster Hunter Wilds | Feb 28, 2025 | 1,307,976 | Feb 28, 2025 |
| 7 | Dota 2 | July 9, 2013 | 1,295,114 | Mar 6, 2016 |
| 8 | Cyberpunk 2077 | Dec 10, 2020 | 1,054,388 | Dec 10, 2020 |
| 9 | Elden Ring | Feb 24, 2022 | 953,426 | Mar 5, 2022 |
| 10 | Banana | Apr 23, 2024 | 917,272 | Jun 20, 2024 |
Data via SteamDB
Most popular Steam game ever
PUBG still holds the record for the highest peak player count of any game on Steam, with 3.25 million. This was achieved at the height of PUBG’s popularity in 2018.
However, since then, its average player count has dropped significantly. Although it’s still a popular game, it lags far behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, now CS2, which is almost always the most-played game on Steam every day.
Palworld’s shock success meant that CS:GO (now CS2) dropped to fourth in the list of all-time peaks. Palworld is also available on Xbox and Microsoft Store, so the true total will have been even higher when including all platforms.
Related
CS:GO, now CS2, is over a decade old, but still setting records.Other enduring games that make up the top games in average players are Dota 2, Apex Legends, and GTA V. All of these games regularly achieve over 200,000 average players at peak times.
As of 2025 however, there are some newer titles that have been pulling in similar numbers and could potentially climb the ranks. Marvel Rivals has had a stellar launch, but failed to crack the top 10.
Similarly to Marvel Rivals, Diablo 4 competitor Path of Exile 2 has maintained a steady PC player base since its launch into early access. It also dips into the charts for daily peaks exceeding 300,000 players and with its eventual full release being free-to-play, it’s possible it will draw the numbers to contend with the all-timers.
Single-player game player count record
Of course, all of the games mentioned above are live-service, multiplayer games (GTA V has GTA Online), so what about single-player experiences on Steam?
The highest player count achieved by a single-player Steam game is Black Myth: Wukong. For a long time, it was held by Cyberpunk 2077 but finally on August 20, 2024, Black Myth: Wukong beat it.
Black Myth: Wukong is the only single-player game in the top fiveBefore Black Myth: Wukong came around, Cyberpunk 2077 was the only single-player game to crack the 1 million mark, but Game Science’s debut has since shattered that record – eclipsing 2 million.
Right under Cyberpunk are two other single-player games, Elden Ring and Banana. Elden Ring is considered FromSoftware’s magnum opus and gained its record upon release.
Banana on the other hand is a clicker game, where players just click on a banana as a number goes up. It’s technically a single-player game, although just not in the way the others are.
Remember, these are only players on the Steam platform — so players using other launchers like the EA App, Xbox App, or playing on console, aren’t counted.
We will keep this list updated as new games are released and try to beat the records.
Popularity doesn’t always mean best though – for that, check out our list of the best 100 games of all time.