Steam Hits All-Time Player Record, But Here's Why Physical Media Wins

Steam has just achieved an all-time player record, almost 23 years after its launch in 2003. What a way to start the year for Gabe Newell!

Could you imagine gaming without Steam? Sure, I might prefer owning my games with physical media, but there’s no denying that digital media has its benefits.

For example, other than downloading a game, the delivery is pretty much instant. You don’t have to wander out into the public chaos to pick up a game. This is great for us, who struggle with social interaction. As a disabled gamer, it’s also handy not having to get up and switch discs from my console to play a different game.

I also love how accessible Steam makes publishing games for indie devs! Gone are the days of exclusive publisher contracts and pricey production fees, which means we get so many interesting stories from underprivileged backgrounds.

But I have to say, you'll never pry physical games out of my hands.

Why I Prefer Physical Games Over Digital

For me, it comes down to game ownership. Sure, one day all consoles might spontaneously combust. But, for now, I own that game, and nobody can withdraw it from me.

Holding a bit of history in your hands is such a special feeling. For me, it helps me to visualise all the hours and tears and dreams the developers poured into making this art, just so that I can enjoy playing it. I have a real habit of buying games in Steam sales and never even booting them up. Physical media is all about the intentionality of choosing a game and immersing yourself in that world, rather than flicking between hundreds of different titles. So, you'll find me camping in my tower made of all my old PlayStation game cases before I ever give them up. Will physical media ever die? I sure hope not.

Steam Remains the Number One PC Platform in the World

When the PC platform Steam first launched in 2003, it wasn't primarily a digital-only store. One of its initial purposes was to launch its self-published games on disc, such as Half-Life 2, and make it easier to deploy updates and whatnot.

Over the years, third-party publishers were granted access to sell games on Steam, making it the go-to platform for most PC gamers across the world, before it would exclusively become a digital store.

Nowadays, there are other digital PC platforms, such as the Epic Games Store, but to this day, Steam remains the number one choice for gamers, despite Epic Games giving away free titles regularly.

So, with it being the number one PC platform on the planet, the platform achieved over 42 million concurrent users over the weekend (10 January). At the time of writing this article, there are over 35 million users on Steam.

“And we only started the year”, said Redditor ShiraNamiNani, highlighting that Steam is already achieving great numbers in 2026.

“Damn, how good the game is,” joked Mirzali0210, referring to the fact that concurrent Steam numbers are typically associated with video games and not the platform.

“Kind of incredible numbers, this is also unique accounts and not multi accounts, trade bots, etc,” explained Kamrankazemifar. “This is a massive W on Valve and Gabe Newell.”

Any excuse to boot up Steam during work hours and contribute to the cause. For science!