Steam hits new most players online milestone after Windows 11 peaks on the platform

Earlier this month, Steam reported—for the first time ever in history—that Windows 11 has become the most popular operating system for gamers on the platform. It surpassed Windows 10, which had been the most popular for ages.

And now, the gaming marketplace has just hit another milestone. It reached a record of 38.3 million PC players online—with a peak online of 38,366,107 players on September 22, 2024. Just last month in August, Steam reached 37 million players online for the first time, which has been a sign of steady growth for the platform.

Counter-Strike 2 remains among the top 10 top-selling games on the platform, but many titles have been gaining momentum. EA Sports’ FC 25 is the current top seller, seeing a worldwide release on September 27. Cyberpunk 2077 also unexpectedly rose to the top 5 with a 50% discount, surpassing the hyped release of Black Myth: Wukong.

But what’s everyone playing? Well, Counter-Strike 2 is currently at the top with over 620k current players and a peak of 1.4 million. Banana follows with 370k players, then PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS at 310k players, and Dota 2 at 300k. A paid game like Black Myth: Wukong also ranks high, with almost 180k players.

Earlier this month, Windows 11 overtook Windows 10 as the preferred operating system for Steam users, now holding 49% of the market. This shift is partly due to Microsoft’s plans to end Windows 10 support in 2025—with support also dropping out of older systems like Windows 7 and 8.