Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Saros review
  • Arc Raiders
  • The Boys S5
  • Best turn-based RPGs
  • Submit your clips. Win prizes
  • Delta Force giveaway
Don't miss these
Escape From Tarkov
FPS Games Escape from Tarkov is the 11th most-played PC game says new report, beating Overwatch and PUBG
Hands holding new Steam Controller in front of woodgrain surface with chess board in backdrop.
Hardware Steam Controller orders immediately break Valve's servers before $200 scalper listings appear
Best FPS games: A screenshot of the Doom Slayer shooting a Cyberdemon in the game Doom Eternal.
FPS Games The 25 best FPS games to play in 2026
Schedule 1 character in cowboy hat
Games PC gamers buy way more games that cost less than $30 at launch compared to console, analysts say
Astarian looking pensive with his hand resting on his chin in Baldur's Gate 3
Games The 25 best Steam games to play in 2026
An astronaut holding a gun points away, while another astronaut clutches his head
Co-op Games After 6 games in 15 years, dev loses it as over 10,000 Steam players flock to his new co-op game
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era key art showing a knight charging across a field, with a dragon swooping in the distance
Strategy Games Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era publisher celebrates 1.5 million Steam wishlists
Helldivers 2 PS5 screenshot
Games The 25 best online games to play in 2026
Gamble With Your Friends character with both hands out
Co-op Games Another friendslop hit prints money on Steam as Gamble With Your Friends sells 500k copies
Steam sale: a screenshot of a collection games in a Steam library
Games Steam Sale dates 2026: When is the next Steam sale?
Two characters in S&box
Games Garry's Mod follow-up S&box will launch on Steam with "sustainable" payout for content creators
Crimson Desert hero shutting his eyes
Open World Games Crimson Desert still reaching impressive player numbers on Steam over a month after launch, despite being single-player
Cyberpunk 2077 character Johnny Silverhand
Games Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and Skyrim help make PC game sales more diverse than console – report
Steam and Valve's Gabe Newell
Games 14 years ago, Valve boss Gabe Newell thought Steam would be replaced in "2 or 3 years"
A parade rolls down the street in the Race Day DLC for Cities: Skylines
City Builder Games Steam reviewer spends 30,000 hours playing Cities: Skylines, decides it sucks: "BY FAR most frustrating, enraging game"
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Want to add more newsletters?

GamesRadar+

Every Friday

GamesRadar+

Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.

GTA 6 O'clock

Every Thursday

GTA 6 O'clock

Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.

Knowledge

Every Friday

Knowledge

From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.

The Setup

Every Thursday

The Setup

Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.

Switch 2 Spotlight

Every Wednesday

Switch 2 Spotlight

Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.

The Watchlist

Every Saturday

The Watchlist

Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.

SFX

Once a month

SFX

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Games
  2. FPS Games
  3. Steam

Steam sets an all-new concurrent user record of 27.1 million

News
By Vikki Blake published 27 November 2021

And 7.8 million of those were actively playing, too

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Steam logo on blue_1080
(Image credit: Valve)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

It's happened again: Steam has set another new concurrent user record, this time clocking up a staggering 27,182,165 players earlier today.

According to SteamDB, of those 27.1 million users, 7.8 million were actively in-game and playing something – which is also a brand new record for Steam, too.

It's an incredible achievement for Valve's PC platform, not least because many of the prior records set in 2020 and 2021 occurred during national coronavirus lockdowns across the world.

Article continues below
You may like
  • Overwatch: The Reign of Talon Overwatch smashes Steam record, more than doubling its previous concurrent player peak with over 165,000 fans jumping in
  • Windrose early access release trailer screenshot shows a male pirate wearing a bandana on his head, facing the camera. Windrose sells 1 million copies in less than a week, passes 220,000 concurrent Steam players
  • Overwatch's game-changing update isn't even out yet, but its Steam peak passed Call of Duty and Battlefield anyway

Steam once again beats its online concurrent users record with over 27 million users currently online.Previous record was set in April at 26.9 million.https://t.co/D6WDHbz0B4 pic.twitter.com/z9d5cDd1JLNovember 27, 2021

Steam's upward trend began in January 2020 when the world began to self-isolate at the start of the COVID-19 crisis. On February 2, Steam's existing record of 18,537,490 users – set in January 2018 – was surpassed, smashing the existing record by an impressive 300,000 to peak at 18,801,944 players. 

It's gone on to be broken several times since, including a weekend in March which saw numbers breach 20 million for the first time, and then 22 million just a week later. We saw 24.7 million users peak in December 2020, and then 26.5 million in February 2021.  

The latest record – which was set in April 2021 – stood at 26.9 million users.

As for the games we're playing? The titles that have been keeping us busy include CS:GO – which itself has seen a concurrent peak of almost a million players today – as well as Dota 2, New World, Halo Infinite, Team Fortress 2, Rust, Apex Legends, MIR4, GTA 5, and Farming Simulator 22.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

ICYMI, Halo Infinite – which has yet to release in full and with only a beta version of its multiplayer available to play right now – is already the most-played Xbox Game Studios title of all time on Steam. However, players are already reporting that they're encountering cheaters using aimbots and wallhacks to cheat their way to victory. 

"Let me turn off cross-play until you guys can get an actual anti-cheat implemented," one player implored to developer 343 Industries.

Looking for something new to get stuck into? Here are the best PC games right now.

CATEGORIES
PC Gaming Platforms
Vikki Blake
Vikki Blake
Social Links Navigation
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter. 

Read more
Overwatch: The Reign of Talon
FPS Games Overwatch smashes Steam record, more than doubling its previous concurrent player peak with over 165,000 fans jumping in
 
 
Windrose early access release trailer screenshot shows a male pirate wearing a bandana on his head, facing the camera.
Open World Games Windrose sells 1 million copies in less than a week, passes 220,000 concurrent Steam players
 
 
FPS Games Overwatch's game-changing update isn't even out yet, but its Steam peak passed Call of Duty and Battlefield anyway
 
 
GTA 5 cheat codes and phone numbers
Grand Theft Auto Ahead of GTA 6, Rockstar-owned GTA 5 RP mega mod FiveM breaks its own Steam record with 200,000 concurrent players
 
 
Steam logo from Valve
PC Gaming Valve says "more games are finding success" on Steam than ever, and nearly 6,000 made over $100,000 last year
 
 
Key art from Overwatch's Reign of Talon event, showing the screen split between a red and blue background with four heroes on each side facing off against each other.
FPS Games Overwatch player peaks have only grown since Season 1's launch weekend and show no signs of stopping: "We're so back"
 
 
Latest in FPS Games
A picture of Classic Marathon showing the player walking down a corridor in first-person with a gun drawn and a terminal at the other corner
FPS Games I played Marathon and its 1994 predecessor to see how Bungie has evolved over the years
 
 
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 cutscene David Mason and Troy Marshall talking
Call of Duty Activision kills Call of Duty rumor: next game will not be on PS4, ending last-gen support
 
 
Escape From Tarkov
FPS Games Escape from Tarkov is the 11th most-played PC game says new report, beating Overwatch and PUBG
 
 
A Rebel soldier on Endor in Star Wars Battlefront
FPS Games Somehow, EA's Battlefront is still the best-selling Star Wars game of all time
 
 
Marathon Thief shell in dark lighting
FPS Games Bungie doesn't see Marathon going anywhere: "We know where we want to take the story over the next few years"
 
 
Marathon runners
FPS Games "Lack of marketing" on Marathon shows "lack of faith from" Sony, says former Square Enix exec
 
 
Latest in News
The title character of Mina the Hollower
Action RPGs Zelda-like Mina the Hollower gets May release date in "make-or-break" moment for Shovel Knight devs
 
 
Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 3
Fantasy Shows New House of the Dragon poster features an ominous Rhaenyra parallel from the books: "Win or Die"
 
 
Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
RPGs Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead "was crossing fingers" for other "super creative games" to win GOTY
 
 
Xbox Series X/S logo
Games Xbox CEO introduces new boot-up sound after exec overhaul, but it sounds close to the current one
 
 
Two GTA 6 characters gasp at a phone screen
Grand Theft Auto It's been exactly 1 year since GTA 6 Trailer 2, and fans are being as normal as you'd expect
 
 
Battlefield 6 soldier grimacing
Games EA hopes you don't remember all the Battlefield 6 devs it laid off as it reports "record" year
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Karl Urban as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat 2
    1
    When is Mortal Kombat 2 on streaming? Speculation on the HBO Max release date
  2. 2
    Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead "was crossing fingers" for other "super creative games" to win GOTY
  3. 3
    New House of the Dragon poster features an ominous Rhaenyra parallel from the books: "Win or Die"
  4. 4
    How to solve Rathma's puzzle in Diablo 4
  5. 5
    Xbox CEO introduces new boot-up sound after exec overhaul, but it sounds close to the current one

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...