Gaming statistics
Reference, maintained weekly from primary sources
How many people are actually playing the biggest games on Steam, how old those games turn out to be, and what the listed games companies earn. Counted from Valve’s own data and from company filings. No market-size estimates, no units-sold claims, no forecasts. Quote any of it with credit.
What are people actually playing?
| Game | Playing now | Players | Released | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 1,244,704 | 2012 | 14y | |
| Dota 2 | 810,648 | 2013 | 13y | |
| PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS | 781,354 | 2017 | 9y | |
| Apex Legends™ | 210,201 | 2020 | 6y | |
| Rust | 83,198 | 2018 | 8y | |
| Stardew Valley | 82,871 | 2016 | 10y | |
| Valheim | 75,781 | 2026 | 0y | |
| Team Fortress 2 | 74,223 | 2007 | 19y | |
| War Thunder | 70,532 | 2013 | 13y | |
| NARAKA: BLADEPOINT | 67,367 | 2021 | 5y | |
| Dead by Daylight | 66,794 | 2016 | 10y | |
| Warframe | 65,891 | 2013 | 13y | |
| Grand Theft Auto V Legacy | 56,763 | 2015 | 11y | |
| Palworld | 54,902 | 2026 | 0y | |
| Terraria | 48,889 | 2011 | 15y | |
| Don't Starve Together | 45,649 | 2016 | 10y | |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege | 43,798 | 2015 | 11y | |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 42,931 | 2020 | 6y | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 39,135 | 2019 | 7y | |
| Baldur's Gate 3 | 37,818 | 2023 | 3y |
The biggest games are old
The median game in that table came out 10 years ago, and 11 of 20 are a decade or older. The oldest still drawing a crowd is Team Fortress 2, from 2007. That cuts against how the industry talks about itself, where attention follows launches. On this evidence the audience mostly sits in games that have been out for years.
One caveat that works in the other direction: the year shown is the date Steam displays, which for a game that spent years in early access is its 1.0 date rather than the day people could first play it. Several titles here are therefore counted as younger than they really are, so the median age is a floor.
What do the listed games companies earn?
Revenue for the most recent full year each company reported to the SEC. Filed figures, not estimates. Betting and casino companies are deliberately not in this table: mixing a sportsbook into “what games companies earn” answers a different question.
| Company | Revenue | Latest year | Five years earlier | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Take-Two Interactive | $6.66B | $3.37BFY2021 | 2026 | |
| AppLovin | $5.48B | $1.45BFY2020 | 2025 | |
| Roblox | $4.89B | $1.92BFY2021 | 2025 | |
| Unity Software | $1.85B | $0.77BFY2020 | 2025 | |
| Corsair Gaming | $1.47B | $1.70BFY2020 | 2025 |
Questions people ask about these numbers
How many people play Counter-Strike 2 at once?
1,244,704 were in Counter-Strike 2 at 14 Oct 2026, 13:42 UTC, from Valve's own count. Concurrent players swing heavily by time of day and day of week, so treat any single figure as a snapshot rather than an audience. It also counts Steam only.
What is the most played game on Steam?
Of the major titles tracked here, Counter-Strike 2 had the most players at 1,244,704, ahead of Dota 2 at 810,648. Valve retired the endpoint that lists every app on Steam, so this is a named selection of major games rather than a ranking of the entire store.
Are the most popular games new or old?
Old, mostly. The median game in our table came out 10 years ago and 11 of 20 are a decade or older. Because Steam shows a game's 1.0 date rather than its early access launch, several are counted as younger than they are, so that median is a floor.
How big is the games industry?
This page does not say, because no primary source states it. Every widely quoted figure for the size of the games market comes from an analyst firm, each counting different things, and none publishes a method anyone can check. What is checkable is how many people are in a game right now and what the listed companies filed, which is what you see here.
Which games company makes the most money?
Of the listed games companies tracked here, Take-Two Interactive reported the largest revenue at $6.66B in its most recent annual report. Every figure comes from that company's own Form 10-K filed with the SEC. Betting and casino companies are not included.
Where does this data come from, and can I quote it?
Valve's own Steam Web API for player counts and release dates, and SEC EDGAR for company revenue. Both are primary sources, free to check, and every figure carries the moment it was taken. Quote any of it with credit to Gaming Trend Wire and a link to this page.
Method, and what these numbers are not
Players. The number of people in each game at the moment the page was generated, from Valve. It is a snapshot of one platform, not a chart of the industry: a game can be huge on console or mobile and absent here, and Valve retired the endpoint that lists every app, so the games below are a named selection rather than a ranking of everything on Steam. The date is the one Steam shows, which for a game that spent years in early access is its 1.0 date, not the day people could first play it.
Company revenue. Revenue as the company reported it. Fiscal years end on different dates, so the year shown differs by company. Betting and casino companies are deliberately not here. Only full year periods are counted: the raw data mixes quarterly rows, segment rows and restatements, so a row is used only when its start and end span a full year.
This page states what the numbers are, never what they will be. No forecasts and no predictions about any game or company.
Every figure is regenerated from the source by a script in our repository and refreshed weekly, so the player counts are a weekly snapshot rather than a live feed.
Citing this page
Free to quote with credit to Gaming Trend Wire and a link to this page. If you need a cut we do not show, or you think a figure is wrong, write to us and we will check it against the source and correct it in the open.