As if 19 million online users wasn’t enough, Steam breaks another concurrent user record with 22 million users online at once.
Players around the world continue to practice self isolation and social distancing in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. And what better way to pass time than to grind your favorite video games?
According to official figures from the Steam Database, 2,678,529 players concurrently jumped on Steam all at the same time.
This specific spike happened around 3 PM UK time (mid-morning for USA and peak evening hours for China).
Steam began to notice a spike in their concurrent online player base in January, when Chinese players began to self-isolate amidst COVID-19 threats.
On February 2, Steam’s previous record of 18.5 million users (in January 2018) was surpassed at a peak of 18.8 million users.
Daniel Ahmad, a video game industry analyst, tweeted about Steam breaking its concurrent user records.
“Steam just achieved a new peak concurrent user record of 22 million, one day after reaching 21 million and six days after reaching 20 million.
Global lockdowns and self isolation due to COVID-19 has led to at home gaming becoming a safe form of entertainment to pass the time.”
He further provided a specific timeline of Steam’s concurrent user record breaks:
“Previous records:
18.5m in Jan 2018: Driven by PUBG
18.8m on Feb 2, 2020: During Chinese New Year when China was in lockdown.
19.1m on Feb 9, 2020: Before end of extended Chinese New Year period.
20.3m on Mar 15, 2020: After countries in Europe go into lockdown.
21.2m on Mar 20, 2020: After lockdowns announced in more countries including the US. Also release of Doom Eternal.
22.0m on Mar 21, 2020: Continuation of the above.”
Titular games like Dota 2 and Counter Strike: Global Offensive are becoming a crowd favorite once again, helping the latter break concurrent records as well.
The news comes amidst many high-profile event cancellations, postponements,and changes related to coronavirus threats.
In particular, the annual E3 was cancelled for this year, Pokemon Go implemented changes on its game to encourage players to practice social distancing, and media giant Disney also postponed the production of its seven upcoming live action adaptations.
Gamers were quick to share their thoughts over the news:
“Crazy numbers :D”
“In the end only gamers survive”
“Remember kid, staying home and play your video game!”
Big shot streamers have also encouraged gamers to stay safe inside their homes as the quarantine and city lockdowns continue. Twitch star Pokimane, in particular, urged gamers to: “please stay home and play video games”
As the rest of the world continues to deal with quarantine and lockdown, Steam’s records might continue to break in the next coming weeks.
