Team Fortress 2 has just broken its concurrent user record

Team Fortress 2 by Valve
(Image credit: Valve)

Team Fortress 2 has just broken its own concurrent user record.

Valve's fan-favorite shooter, which released waaaay back in 2007, just broke the 150,000 simultaneous players milestone on PC – a first for the seminal FPS. 

According to Steam DB, before today, the game's highest ever concurrent count was 147,000 players – almost 5,000 fewer players than today's impressive new record of 151,253, with 147,000+ online right now as I type this. 

"Maybe word got around that the bot problem is a whole lot better now?" suggests one player on the game's official subreddit. "Probably mostly older players joining for the first time in a while to see just how much better it's gotten since they last played."

Others are not as convinced.

"It's still counting bot players as players, I'm pretty sure, but also a lot of people probably have hopped back on to see how bad the issue still is, like myself," added another. "Been on about a two-year break."

As we summarized in our list of the best free Steam games, Valve’s evergreen team-based shooter is "an endlessly refined set of nine classes that both perfectly complement and counter one another, and from there you can make it as serious or silly as you want. If you want pure shooting mechanics, play standard game modes on official maps. Or you can embrace its wackiness, and the endless community servers, maps, minigames, and memes it has spawned. Collect hats and trade them in chilled lobbies, play a recreated version of WarioWare, or break out of jail while a team of guards tries to stop you. The choice is yours. Microtransactions are purely cosmetic".

Team Fortress 2 is not the only older PC game that boasts a burgeoning player base. Thanks to a free-to-play event and a brand-new season of content back in March, Rainbow Six Siege broke its own concurrent user record on Steam earlier this year too, even though the shooter released way back in 2015.

The latest installment of Ubisoft's FPS series broke its own record for simultaneous players by clocking up an astonishing 201,503 concurrent users. That's more concurrent users than it's ever had before, and significantly beating the previous record of 199,307 users set back in March 2020.

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

CATEGORIES
Vikki Blake
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
Monster Hunter Wilds trailer screenshot showing a young woman with long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail smiling slightly, pumping her left fist in the air
Steam has doubled in size in just 5 years, as Monster Hunter Wilds' launch pushes it beyond 40 million concurrent users
Skyrim
Skyrim Special Edition is about to beat its concurrent player record 9 years after launch thanks to a huge sale
Team Fortress 2 by Valve
Valve adds "all the Team Fortress 2 client and server game code" to its Source mod tools, letting modders "build completely new games based on TF2" and publish them on Steam
The Fantastic Four seen in Marvel Rivals' Season 1 'Eternal Night Falls' trailer.
Marvel Rivals is more popular than ever, soaring past 570K Steam players to set a new record as Season 1 launches
Undertale
As the wait for more Deltarune continues, Undertale goes on sale for just $1 on Steam and reaches a new peak player count after 10 years
Monster Hunter Wilds
Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and now Dota 2 fall to Monster Hunter Wilds as it crosses 1.3 million peak Steam players despite 49% positive reviews
Latest in Games
Everybody's Golf Hot Shots
The surprise theme of today's Nintendo Direct was classic PlayStation franchises getting a comeback without Sony's involvement
Hogwarts Legacy how many spells
Unannounced Hogwarts Legacy DLC reportedly canceled, partly because the studio wasn't sure it'd be worth players' money
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Ubisoft reaches deal with Tencent to create $4.3 billion mini-Ubisoft subsidiary to "spearhead development" on new Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six games
Black Myth: Wukong
English is no longer the biggest language on Steam as Chinese gamers embrace PC gaming even harder after Black Myth: Wukong
Skyrim
Ex-Bethesda dev says his new studio isn't making a "little Skyrim," but does channel a key part of the iconic RPG: "Stuff got built because somebody cared about building it"
Assassin's Creed Shadows Belly of the Beast Ise Sadaoki sending Naoe to get papers
How to retrieve the papers in the Assassin's Creed Shadows Belly of the Beast quest
Latest in News
Everybody's Golf Hot Shots
The surprise theme of today's Nintendo Direct was classic PlayStation franchises getting a comeback without Sony's involvement
Hogwarts Legacy how many spells
Unannounced Hogwarts Legacy DLC reportedly canceled, partly because the studio wasn't sure it'd be worth players' money
Ultimate X-Men #14
Ultimate X-Men #14 pays homage to a classic Wolverine moment as the Shadow King returns
Assassin's Creed Shadows screenshot showing Yasuke kneeling and praying while wearing a traditional purple robe
Ubisoft reaches deal with Tencent to create $4.3 billion mini-Ubisoft subsidiary to "spearhead development" on new Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six games
Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in The Last Of Us season 2
The Last of Us showrunner says he isn't worried about fan reaction to season 2: "The best way we could respect our fans and honor them is to not worry about them"
Black Myth: Wukong
English is no longer the biggest language on Steam as Chinese gamers embrace PC gaming even harder after Black Myth: Wukong