Steam has once again broken its own concurrent player record, reaching 20 million concurrent users earlier today.
Steam Database announced the new record (thanks, PCGN), opining that "likely due to the many people staying at home due to the coronavirus", the digital platform had hit a record high, with 6.2 million of the 20 million online users reportedly actively in-game at the time. It smashes the existing record by almost 200,000 people.
#Steam has just reached a new concurrent online user record of 20 million, with 6.2 million currently in-game, likely due to many people staying at home due to the #coronavirus.https://t.co/bzLMfMOJvD#COVID19March 15, 2020
Right now it seems Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is clocking up the most players – that too broke a concurrent record recently – but Dota 2 and Rainbow Six Siege are sporting impressive numbers, too.
Steam's upward trend began in January when Chinese nationals began to self-isolate at the start of the COVID-19 crisis. On February 2nd, Steam's previous 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.
As Jordan reported earlier this week, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a string of high-profile cancellations, postponements, and changes related to the alarming spread of the coronavirus. Notably, E3 2020 was cancelled Wednesday, Pokemon Go implemented changes to encourage social-distancing, and Disney postponed seven live-action productions. EA has confirmed its halting all live esports events, too, and is also recommending its staff work from home, as is Rockstar.
On a more positive note, Nvidia is giving PC gamers a chance to make a real difference by using their hardware's power to access the Folding@home application, which lets you donate unused computing power to help with research into the coronavirus.
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