Steam Hits 40M Concurrent Users Playing Monster Hunter Wilds

Steam, the leading digital game distribution platform for PC players, has shattered its own concurrent user record, reaching an unprecedented peak of over 40 million players. This milestone was achieved over a weekend that coincided with the launch of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28, with Steam registering an astounding 40,270,997 simultaneous players. This new record surpasses the previous high of 39.9 million set in February 2025.

According to SteamDB, Steam's concurrent user record, which many view as a key indicator of Valve's platform success, has been consistently broken almost every month since May 2024. The concurrent peak has surged from 35.5 million users to 40.2 million in just over six months. While this figure includes idle players—those with Steam open but not actively playing—the number of users engaged in games has also reached a new high, rising from 12.5 million to 12.8 million.

Steam experienced significant player peak surges throughout 2024, breaking its record 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. However, other titles also contributed significantly, with Counter-Strike 2 attracting 1.7 million players, and PUBG, Dota 2, and Marvel Rivals achieving impressive 24-hour peaks of 819,541, 657,780, and 268,283 users, 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. Capcom has also revealed early details for Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1, which will introduce an endgame social hub for players.

To aid players in starting their Monster Hunter Wilds journey, resources are available covering what the game doesn't explicitly explain, as well as a comprehensive guide to all 14 weapon types featured in the game. Additionally, there is an ongoing Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough, a multiplayer guide to facilitate playing with friends, and instructions on how to transfer characters from the open betas.

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."