For the first time in Valve history, a Steam user has apparently crossed the unholy threshold of 40,000 games owned to claim the rarest game collector badge available.
SteamDB rankings show that Steam user Sonix, or SonixLegend in full according to their public Steam profile URL, reached the 40,000 game threshold today, September 23, 2025, making them the first user to unlock the "Game Collector: 40,000+" Steam badge.
Sonix is something of a hidden legend among Steam obsessives, with records of their gargantuan collection going back years.
Their Steam record shows Sonix unlocked this 40k badge at 9:31 am, and this matches SteamDB data down to the second. In total, Sonix owns 40,029 games on Steam. That pile o' games sits alongside 22,136 DLCs owned and 26,936 games wishlisted.
Their favorite game? According to their Steam profile, it's Alien Swarm, a free multiplayer shooter released by Valve in 2010, clocking in at 551 hours played. All those games, and their favorite is free.
SteamDB also features an account value calculator which estimates the worth of a user's collection based on "lowest prices." By this conservative metric, the Sonix Steam account, our great PC gaming Library of Alexandria, is worth $250,041 at the time of writing.
Valve's records show Sonix is based in Shanghai, China and has been active on Steam for 15 years. Their account is level 303. For context, I'd consider myself an avid and PC-first gamer and I've been on Steam for 12 years, yet my account is only level 13.
Beyond achievements, Steam also gives out badges based on various actions, collectibles, and milestones, and there's a whole list of game ownership badges dedicated to stuffing your library silly.
One user put together a useful badge guide here, with badges starting at just one game. This doesn't necessarily mean purchasing that many games, as free-to-play games or various freebie code redemptions also contribute to the total.
The current pinnacle collector badge crowns the coveted 40k mark, and Sonix is alone at the top. Close behind, SteamDB shows user Ian Brandon Anderson (not to be confused with the fantasy author Brandon Sanderson) owns 39,489 games, while third place goes to user ikun at 36,660 games. I wasn't able to find ikun, but Ian Brandon Anderson is very real, and Steam shows the same 39,489 figure.
Curiously, our top three collectors have all achieved new game ownership records on September 23, and Sonix and Ian Brandon Sanderson set new badge unlock dates 10 minutes apart. Several other top 50 Steam collectors also set new records today, but I suppose it's not surprising that avid game buyers bought some games.
The Steam Ladder reports slightly different figures, bizarrely putting Sonix at second place with 44,228 games, but the official, straight-from-Valve badge milestones don't lie. All hail Sonix, overlord of Steam sales.
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