Steam Set A Record Over The Weekend With 9.5 Million Concurrent Peak Users

Who said you need a console to play games? Valve Corp.’s Steam online gaming service set a new peak record over the weekend with more than 9.5 million users logged in simultaneously, according to the service’s statistics page.

The top three games people are playing on the service are “DOTA 2” ("Defense of the Ancients"), “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" and “Grand Theft Auto V,” which knocked “Team Fortress 2” down to fourth place. The Steam online service, which allows users to download and play games on a computer, has seen steady growth in recent months, setting a peak record of 9 million concurrent users in March and 8.5 million in January, according to IGN.

Beyond the online service, Valve is working on a number of new projects to attract more users to Steam, including its Steam Link home game streaming technology, Source 2 video game engine and the SteamVR virtual reality headset, developed in partnership with HTC.

Steam, first introduced in 2003 on PC, has grown over the years to offer more than 4,500 games to its 125 million active users, as of February 2015. It has since expanded its support to Mac and Linux, and its users can purchase games through companion iOS and Android apps.