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Steam hits 12 million concurrent users.
- Thread starter Archie
- Start date
I'd imagine a gigantic percentage are people who have no idea it's running.
Saucycarpdog
Member
Is this a joke post? I can't even tell anymore.
MutonCommander
Banned
Last time I checked it doesn't.
Not really. Alot of people are dumb shits when it comes to their PCs and whats running on them. There is probably more than Steam running in the background they are not aware of.
It's possible.
I've had it running for months at one point, even though I wasn't playing anything on Steam during that time.
Kinda forgot it was there for a while, lol
MutonCommander
Banned
D
Deleted member 98878
Unconfirmed Member
But even if you've checked the option that Steam starts with Windows, the window does open and lets you know that Steam is running, doesn't it? I don't think there's a "start minimized"-option or something like that.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
you only need to start it once. if you are putting your computer in hibernate/sleep it isn't going to close. i do a hard restart of my computer only when i need to do updates. also its basically become my personal new chat client since all of my friends abandoned AIM and Facebook isn't as usable for me since you need a browser open
Saucycarpdog
Member
Randomizer123454444
Member
Does it matter if people have it in background when the YoY growth is over 40%? Even if half of people never use Steam, only have it in background, both halves are growing at a great rate.
Steam hits 12 million uncles with degrees in engineering looking to play pranks and forgetting that they have a $1000 computer.
Also I just realised that I am infact an uncle, with easily more than $1000 of hardware in my computer, and a degree in history. Amazing.
Sergey is just a nice dude, you're projecting hard.
We got 4 pages before the "My grandma installed steam thinking it would steam out the viruses in her computer and she leaves it running all day" posts. Guess it's too difficult for naysayers to do actual research.
That being said, it's nice to see that the growth is continuous. The more investment into all forms of PC infrastructure the better.
That being said, it's nice to see that the growth is continuous. The more investment into all forms of PC infrastructure the better.
The executable became self-aware.
FutureZombie
Banned
How many copies has Civ V sold?
fluffydelusions
Member
To test this, I just did a fresh install of Steam on my laptop and made a new account during the installation process, so that the settings from the main account on my desktop don't carry over.
Steam does start with Windows by default and it does not notify you that it does. It shows up in the tray, and takes you directly into your account. It doesn't give you options during installation in order to prevent it from starting up with windows, that's something the user must manually configure. Even when you restart the PC or shutdown and turn it back on, Steam starts with windows and logs you into your account without any notifications by default.
Logging out of Steam and unchecking the "Remeber my password" box will prevent it from logging the user in automatically.
To get a better idea of concurrent users, Steam should report on number of people actively playing on Steam at any given time.
roadrunn3r
Member
What I learned from this thread:
Steam reached 12 million concurrent users.
But most of them are on shitty PC's.
Steam users do not even know they have Steam installed.
Steam is the new Walmart.
AAA gaming on PC's is not sustainable.
I think I will sell my PC which I have upgraded myself multiple times a year and just buy a beautiful gaming laptop.
Steam reached 12 million concurrent users.
But most of them are on shitty PC's.
Steam users do not even know they have Steam installed.
Steam is the new Walmart.
AAA gaming on PC's is not sustainable.
I think I will sell my PC which I have upgraded myself multiple times a year and just buy a beautiful gaming laptop.
This doesn't mean anything.
This is the equivalent of those Sony fans saying PSN has "77 million accounts", when the people who actively use PSN are significantly less.
Concurrent users who are actively gaming on Steam is a far more valuable statistic than people who are logged on (who may or may not be doing anything on their accounts).
I just demonstrated above that Steam logs you in automatically at OS Startup, unless you configure it otherwise. My laptop Steam account that has nothing on it and isn't doing anything, but will now be counted among those 12+ million concurrent users.
Saucycarpdog
Member
No it doesn't. You have to check the box when you install steam or go into the settings. It will not do it automatically.
I would know. I created an account for my brother last week but every time he starts windows only the log in screen pops up, it does not log him in automatically. Why? Because I didn't check the "auto log in" box when he installed as I thought it would be annoying for hin for it to always pop up.
pinkurocket
Member
What? It's still pretty impressive that 12 million users are logged in on Steam at the very same moment, even if a lot of them have it running in the background.
I mean 12 million ... That's more than the number of people that live in my country lol.
I mean 12 million ... That's more than the number of people that live in my country lol.
it's a meaningless statistic because what percentage of those users are actually having fun?
steam should start reporting the number of concurrent users that are having fun as that's a more useful metric, like how many people actively use PSN (which is automatically fun btw)
Did you read my post?
I specified that you'd have to manually configure it to not start-up with the OS and that you'd have to check the box to prevent it from logging you in.
However, upon initial installation and creating an account during installation, it does not give you any options to prevent automatically logging in or to prevent it from starting with windows. There are no pop-ups either, as it open automatically to your tray and logs you in, whether you restart the PC or do a cold-boot.
I am literally doing installation and account creation at this moment, lol
roadrunn3r
Member
Exactly and honestly I don't think many Steam users are having any fun at all, It's just a bunch of indie games with very low production values.
Direct correlation on avatar and the number of people truly having fun.
zero till Feb 5th
I once made a steam account for my father.
He never ended up actually using it even when I bought 3 strategy games for him but at the time of making it he got counted as a concurrent user.
I'm not an expert but I think lots of people get their accounts made by relatives and gets counted as concurrent for the first day or two before they shut down their PC and then forget about their account forever.
Hype is real!
He never ended up actually using it even when I bought 3 strategy games for him but at the time of making it he got counted as a concurrent user.
I'm not an expert but I think lots of people get their accounts made by relatives and gets counted as concurrent for the first day or two before they shut down their PC and then forget about their account forever.
This actually happened but seriously don't take this as a reason to not take these numbers seriously. Please orochi.
Direct correlation on avatar and the number of people truly having fun.
zero till Feb 5th
Hype is real!
Its pretty funny. Someone always rises to the occasion.
Some of you folks here are taking that 12 million number at face-value and just running with it, unfortunately.
Agreed.
Agreed.
True, teh hardcores is sorely missing.
roadrunn3r
Member
Chance Hale
Member
My uncle's best friend works for valve and he said they have server farms dedicated to making and keeping fake accounts running to boost their numbers so I wouldn't count on those figures.
agiantenemycrab
Member
You could also try the crow market. They're in high demand these days. It's a popular delicacy in these parts
Didn't Beyond Earth have a free weekend? Then again, its closest competitor, Endless Legend is only at 646k with a free weekend....
Ugh. Does that mean more people bought the crap that is Beyond Earth than Endless Legend?
These are the default settings in my newly created test account
Be sure to create the account on a PC that doesn't have your main account already installed on, otherwise it will use those settings. As I specified in an earlier post.
Installing Steam fresh on a PC that never had it installed on before has the "Run Steam when my computer starts" checked automatically.
I've verified this on 2 PCs and a laptop within in the past hour.
Incidentally, those 3 test accounts I've made on 3 separate machines likely further buffed that 12+ million total, hence why that number at it's face-value is probably meaningless.
Gipsy Danger
Member
You are fucking reaching and you know it. How many people do you reasonably believe fit into your category?
Anyone who's installing Steam for the first time, so quite a few people. Also, I never claimed otherwise, I've already outlined all this in my original test post
The way these concurrent numbers are reported are as pointless as Sony and their 70+ million PSN account claims.
Those circumstances were the same when Steam was at 6 million concurrent, now we are talking about 12 million concurrent. That shows that the total user base has grown significantly.
Extenuating factors are irrelevant as the measuring stick is kept consistent.
Anyone who's installing Steam for the first time, so quite a few people. Also, I never claimed otherwise, I've already outlined all this in my original test post
The way these concurrent numbers are reported are as pointless as Sony and their 70+ million PSN account claims.
Valve generally reports 'active accounts.' Accounts that own a game and log in to play every month.
roadrunn3r
Member
I should add the "A good chunk of those 12 million users have only installed Steam for testing purposes " to my above list.
Can you link a source for this?
Because if true, it would have saved us all the past hour of arguing back-and-forth.