Steam Hits Record with Over 40 Million Players for Monster Hunter Wilds

Steam, the leading digital game distributor for PC gamers, has once again shattered its own record for concurrent users, reaching an unprecedented peak of 40 million players. This milestone was achieved over the weekend, coinciding with the much-anticipated launch of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28. The new record of 40,270,997 simultaneous players eclipses the previous high of 39.9 million set in February 2025.

According to SteamDB, Steam's concurrent user record, often viewed as a benchmark of Valve's platform success, has seen consistent growth. Since May 2024, the platform has broken its record almost every month, with the peak climbing from 35.5 million to 40.2 million users in just over six months. This figure includes idle players—those with Steam open but not actively engaged. However, the number of users actively playing games also reached a new high, rising from 12.5 million to 12.8 million.

Throughout 2024, Steam experienced significant 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 peak of 1.38 million players. Other titles like Counter-Strike 2, PUBG, Dota 2, and Marvel Rivals also contributed to the high concurrent user numbers, with peaks of 1.7 million, 819,541, 657,780, and 268,283 players, respectively.

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 revealed early details about Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1, which will introduce an endgame social hub for players.

For those embarking on their Monster Hunter Wilds journey, there are several resources available to enhance your experience. Check out what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, a comprehensive guide to all 14 weapon types, and our ongoing Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough. For multiplayer enthusiasts, there's a guide on how to play with friends, and 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.”