Concurrent Users
Ongoing coverage on Concurrent Users.
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People don't understand Steam player numbers, Palworld lead says: "Poor Marathon and stuff are getting dragged through the mud ... I'm sure our day's coming"
John Buckley, publishing lead at Pocketpair, believes that the focus on Steam player numbers as a sole metric for game success is misleading. He argues that player falloff is normal and that concurrent user counts don't tell the whole story, especially for multiplatform games. Buckley suggests that Daily Active Users (DAU) would be a more informative metric for understanding a game's actual player base.
Arc Raiders and Marathon aren't "dead" just because their concurrent player count has dropped, Palworld lead says – but he's "not denying that some games do 'die'"
Pocketpair's John Buckley argues that games are not 'dead' simply because their concurrent player counts have dropped, emphasizing the importance of daily and monthly active users over peak concurrent numbers. While acknowledging that some live service games do fail, he believes many can sustain a healthy player base with just a few thousand daily players and criticizes the premature labeling of games as 'dead' for views.
Steam isn't slowing down in 2026, as Valve's platform smashes its concurrent user record for the third time in three months
Valve's PC gaming platform, Steam, has broken its concurrent user record for the third time in three months, indicating continued growth. This surge in players occurs despite the absence of the Steam Machine and rising PC hardware costs.