Your average Steam player probably spent most of their gaming sessions from 2024 ticking off their backlog - or stuck in one of the various 'forever' live service games we now have - according to data that Valve has just released.
Valve just put out its annual Steam Replay feature that gives you fun and sometimes worrying stats about your Steam activity over the last calendar year. You can see how many games you played, how many of them came out this year, your in--game hours, percentage breakdowns for every single month, and more stats that make you say 'huh, I should probably delete League of Legends.'
Among the fun personal tidbits, Valve also revealed that only 15% of playtime "by all Steam users" was spent in games that actually came out in 2024, and so, 85% of everyone's playtime was dedicated to things that came out in 2023 or prior.
- Valve "followed" 1.7 million Steam users for over a year, and now reports those gamers spent $20 million on microtransactions and another $73 million on games and DLC
- Steam's new game revenue is 10x higher than it was 10 years ago, but only around 200 made more than $1 million in their first 30 days
If you dedicated your gaming year to finally cleaning out your backlog - running through the dozens of games you've bought over the years for 95% off in various Steam sales - then, congratulations. I'm proud of you for not giving into peer pressure!
But I know that most of that 85% of playtime was more than likely spent in a multiplayer game that's been dominating for years already. Call of Duty, PUBG, Dota 2, and GTA 5 still draw in massive concurrent user crowds at any given time - though I'm still happy that 2024 had enough space to welcome all-new hits like Helldivers 2 and Balatro this year too.
Check out our list of the 25 best games of 2024 to catch up on the year.
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
