Most played games on Steam 2023, by average players per hour

First released in August 2012, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was the most popular game on the PC gaming platform Steam during 2023. The first-person shooter averaged almost 918 thousand players per hour. The title's successor, Counter-Strike 2, was ranked second. MOBA game Dota 2 was ranked third with over 386 thousand average hourly players during the measured period.

Counter-Strike at the top

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) was in second place among the Steam games based on peak number of concurrent players on the online gaming platform in 2023. The game reached 1.8 million concurrent players at its peak in 2023. Counter-Strike 2 again came in second place with 1.4 million peak concurrent players. Third-ranked action RPG Hogwarts Legacy accumulated with over 877 thousand peak concurrent players. Both Counter-Strike and Dota 2 have been around for the better part of a decade - in fact, Howarts Legacy, Baldur's Gate 3 and Sons of the Forest are the only titles released in 2023 to make the top list. All other games in ranking have been released within the last few years and have managed to accumulate a loyal player base.

Steam undisputed number one

When you think of PC gaming, you automatically think of Steam. The platform, developed by Valve Corporation, had humble beginnings as a digital distribution platform for Valve to provide updates for its games. Fast forward a few years and Steam released over nine thousand games in 2023 alone and is showing little signs of slowing down. In 2023, the peak concurrent player count on the platform nearly reached 33 million for the first time, a significant increase from six million in 2012. It seems that while Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft battle it out for console supremacy, Steam remains the undisputed king of PC gaming.