Steam Hits 40M Concurrent Players with Monster Hunter Wilds Launch

Steam, the premier digital game distributor for PC players, has shattered its own concurrent user record, reaching an unprecedented peak of 40 million players. This milestone was achieved over the weekend, which notably coincided with the launch of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, 2025. Steam's user count soared to 40,270,997 simultaneous players, eclipsing the previous record of 39.9 million set in February 2025.

SteamDB reports that Steam's concurrent user record, often viewed as a benchmark for the success of Valve's platform, has been consistently broken every month since May 2024. The peak has escalated from 35.5 million to 40.2 million in just over six months. While this figure includes idle players—those with Steam open but not actively using it—the number of users engaged in gameplay has also hit a new high, increasing from 12.5 million to 12.8 million.

Throughout 2024, Steam experienced surges in player peaks, breaking records twice in March and again in July. The latest peak is largely attributed to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, which alone saw a 24-hour concurrent peak of 1.38 million players. Other notable games contributing to this peak include Counter-Strike 2 with 1.7 million users, PUBG with 819,541, Dota 2 with 657,780, and Marvel Rivals with 268,283.

Despite its popularity, Monster Hunter Wilds has received a 'mixed' user review rating on Steam, prompting Capcom to release official guidance addressing PC performance issues. Additionally, Capcom has announced early details for Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1, which will introduce an endgame social hub.

For those embarking on their Monster Hunter Wilds journey, resources are available to enhance your experience. Check out what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn't tell you, a guide to all 14 weapon types, and our ongoing detailed walkthrough. For multiplayer enthusiasts, a guide on playing with friends is also available. If you participated in one of the open betas, learn how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character.

IGN's review of Monster Hunter Wilds awarded it an 8/10, stating, "Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge."