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[Burekma]

How come multi-millions games like CoD have so little Steam users? It had to sell at least a million on PC and half of those must be playing it online and how many non-Steam vs Steam PC copies are out there? I realize it is day-to-day stats, but the game JUST released.

COD on the PC started dropping like a rock in popularity after MW2.

I find it amusing how people like to make fun of the whole "MW2 boycott" drama, but look where we're at now. MW2 still had 200k concurrent at peak. BO2 can't even go past 60k. And while MW2 boycott didn't happen, it was just delayed to future titles.

 

[Sentenza]

Really? I thought I saw something in the news stating that BLOPS2 sold 11 mill or something, and it isn't even a month old. I presumed at least 1 mil. would be on PC. Is the disparity of multiplats that large between PC and consoles?

No, it's not (necessarily) "all multiplats". It's specifically CoD.

 

[Nome]

COD on the PC started dropping like a rock in popularity after MW2.

I find it amusing how people like to make fun of the whole "MW2 boycott" drama, but look where we're at now. MW2 still had 200k concurrent at peak. BO2 couldn't even go past 60k. And while MW2 boycott didn't happen, it was just delayed to future titles.

I think it's more the influx of alternative titles that did them in, not the boycott.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I'm pleased.

 

[wutwutwut]

Really? I thought I saw something in the news stating that BLOPS2 sold 11 mill or something, and it isn't even a month old. I presumed at least 1 mil. would be on PC. Is the disparity of multiplats that large between PC and consoles? I always thought if PC numbers are low, it is because it is hard to track sales on an open platform compared to a closed one.

No, no, it's just CoD. Actually good games often sell more on PC than on consoles.

 

[Archie]

High quality F2P shooters (TF2, Planetside, Tribes, Blacklight, etc) are one reason CoD has been on a decline on the PC.

 

[Conciliator]

Not enough laughing .gifs in the world for this.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. It definitely ain't happening tomorrow, but anything could happen given a few years. Game communities are fickle.

EDIT: To be clear, I have no vested interest, I don't care about MOBAs.

 

[Burekma]

I think it's more the influx of alternative titles that did them in, not the boycott.

Well, the only real alternative that came was BF3, and that came after the series was already on the decline. I doubt the cod crowd went looking for stuff that wasn't "AAA", and everything else that came wasn't really a good enough alternative to COD4.

I still think the shittifying of the MP with lagfest p2p matchmaking and cheaters galore is what did the series in.

Edit: Come to think about it, the two aren't mutually exclusive and just might be connected.

 

[Madouu]

Since CPL died, probably? I'm not really sure.

I was a 1.6 player at the time the US competitive scene started lagging away behind the rest and a counter strike editor for MeetYourMakers so I can tell you a bit about that.

The death of CPL played a part in the fall of competitive 1.6 in North America but what really killed it was the rise (and death a year later) of the CGS. A very american type of competition, with franchises, TV coverage and a lot of money invested in at the time. The competition decided to choose Source over 1.6, as well as change most of the rules of the game that were agreed upon for years to promote "faster paced gameplay" which was more in accordance with the TV format. The biggest teams chose to migrate to source since that's where the money was now. For example, I remember that coL with very skilled 1.6 players such as fr0g became L.A coL and team 3D was New York 3D. It was pretty funny to see that at the time.

Meanwhile 1.6 continued to grow in the other parts of the world thanks mainly to the ESL and events such as the ESWC, WCG and WSVG. The biggest european organizations invested quite a bit of money in their 1.6 teams, and the overall player skill grew immensely. Meanwhile, the 1.6 scene in NA consisted of what I would call "B" teams since most skilled players were looking to get into the CGS franchise system. CGS lasted two years, then closed shop. Some teams tried to get back into the top competitive 1.6 play afterwards, but the train had moved and the skill gap became too much a hurdle for them to overcome so they pretty much gave up.

When I came to Canada about a year after these events happened, I was extremely sad to see the state 1.6 was in. It took me a lot of effort to find a semi competitive team to play with and when I finally did, it didn't last very long. There were still quite a bunch of teams playing at the amateur level (ESEA and such) but it was nothing like the thriving comepetitive scene in the rest of the world.

This is my friends the story of the fall of 1.6 in NA.

 

[Deadbeat]

Dead on arrival because the CS community has decided ages ago that they are going to overzealously stick to their preferred variant of Counter-Strike whether a superior version is released or not.

Wheres all the custom content that CS 1.6 has had generated over the past decade? You cant transfer that so the community isnt moving.

Besides, valve can kiss my ass if they ever expect me to buy another version of CS if it doesnt have oil rig.

 

[Delusibeta]

I think it's more the influx of alternative titles that did them in, not the boycott.

Bluntly, why pay $60 for Black Ops 2, when you can pay $0 for Blacklight Retribution or Planetside 2?

 

[Barkley's Justice]

Dota numbers are amazing. I can't wait to see the entire asian market crash on steam to play it

is it though?

all the gamers in the world, 153,779?

it's the same when i hear, "the game sold 1 million copies!"

is that supposed to be impressive?

there's, what, 100 million wiis out there... ~140 million PS360's combined...and a game sells a mill and it's a hit? that always sounded like a shit benchmark to me.

 

[Kade]

Wheres all the custom content that CS 1.6 has had generated over the past decade? You cant transfer that so the community isnt moving.

Besides, valve can kiss my ass if they ever expect me to buy another version of CS if it doesnt have oil rig.

Oilrig is a subpar map. 747 is where it's at.

 

[HK-47]

is it though?

all the gamers in the world, 153,779?

it's the same when i hear, "the game sold 1 million copies!"

is that supposed to be impressive?

there's, what, 100 million wiis out there... ~140 million PS360's combined...and a game sells a mill and it's a hit? that always sounded like a shit benchmark to me.

What?

 

[DTKT]

is it though?

all the gamers in the world, 153,779?

it's the same when i hear, "the game sold 1 million copies!"

is that supposed to be impressive?

there's, what, 100 million wiis out there... ~140 million PS360's combined...and a game sells a mill and it's a hit? that always sounded like a shit benchmark to me.

It's concurrent users. It's probably played by more than a million.

 

[la flama blanca]

It's concurrent users. It's probably played by more than a million.

PLUS it's in beta.

 

[watership]

steam is pc gaming!

Ya, screw competition! Wait. No.

 

[MRORANGE]

 

[Basileus777]

Steam's a great place to activate and collect the PC games I buy elsewhere at lower prices.

 

[I H8 Memes]

Steam's a great place to activate and collect the PC games I buy elsewhere at lower prices.

Even that helps by expanding Steams user base numbers and bringing more attention to the Steam platform. This thread is proof of that. That exposure helps Steam expand their numbers even more.

 

[Madouu]

Such as Dota 2 entering open beta, and Dota 2 having a Chinese version. It will definitely kill Heroes of Neweath, no question, and I think it will give League of Legends a definite run for its money within the next 24 months.

I'm pretty sure all of the HoN players have dota 2 beta keys by now, and HoN is non existent in the chinese market so while I agree that the game has stopped growing and is on a slippery slope, this is not what is going to kill or has killed the S2 game.

From a gamer perspective, I'm perfectly fine with where the three games are right now and I hope the three will still have active communities in the next year.

 

[Subterranean]

I am sure Gabe is doing his evil CEO laugh while sharpening his knives as he saw the users hit 6 million.

 

[Valnen]

Really? Football Manager? Ugh.

 

[Sober]

Even that helps by expanding Steams user base numbers and bringing more attention to the Steam platform. This thread is proof of that. That exposure helps Steam expand their numbers even more.

I'd think it works the other way around. There probably aren't many people who really look for deals outside of Steam (which is probably a small percentage of the total Steam population), while I guess a lot of people will see a Steam sale and be happy with just buying it off Steam. But maybe eventually some are more willing to look from out of Steam and see what other DD sites are offering in exchange for Steam keys.

In both the Amazon and Steam sales threads, we all found out CODBLOPS1 was going to be 20$ on Amazon and it came up 20$ later on Steam. No one on GAF was going to bite but if you checked back later in the evening, it jumped up the Top Sellers chart for a while really quick, so I wouldn't discount a large portion of the Steam userbase.

 

[alba]

How so?

Dumbed down gameplay. It doesn't hold a candle to freedom and the amazing feedback that 1.6 gives you. They made all the right choices with DotA2 and left CS to rot. They don't care about the IP, simple as that. They outsourced every single one of their CS project over the years and it gradually got worse, breaks my heart.

 

[Valnen]

Game is absolute trash, no surprise

I know a casual CS fan that seems to find it enjoyable enough.

 

[JaseC]

As one who loves 1.6 and only moved to Source when the former began to fade away here, I find GO even in its current form to be an acceptable amalgamation of the two versions. The game certainly needs more work, but it's far from the offensively bad instalment many 1.6/Source "purists" (for lack of a better term) seem to believe it is. That said, I'm hardly surprised GO is as divisive as it is.

 

[Lunchbox]

apples ibox will do that in a week

 

[Misguided]

What's up with more people playing the old CS games than CS:GO?

 

[DTKT]

Dumbed down gameplay. It doesn't hold a candle to freedom and the amazing feedback that 1.6 gives you. They made all the right choices with DotA2 and left CS to rot. They don't care about the IP, simple as that. They outsourced every single one of their CS project over the years and it gradually got worse, breaks my heart.

I think that's key here. I wonder if Hidden Parh approached Valve with a pitch first. Then, Valve decided to give it a shot.

 

[KingKong]

GO is fine, theres a reason why the top 1.6 players are switching or coming back to it when they never did for CSS

Its not a carbon copy of 1.6 but the differences are very minor

 

[alba]

I think that's key here. I wonder if Hidden Parh approached Valve with a pitch first. Then, Valve decided to give it a shot.

Valve pitched it I believe since it originally was just a CSS port to current gen consoles.

GO is fine, theres a reason why the top 1.6 players are switching or coming back to it when they never did for CSS

Its not a carbon copy of 1.6 but the differences are very minor

The reason is that there are no more 1.6 tournaments, nothing to do with the game.

Anyhow, back on topic

 

[Soule]

I had seen this getting kinda close like 5.6m but really didn't expect this to happen so quickly. Growth every year is kinda surprising, pity about the restrictions in the Asian market as I'd love to get my paws on more statistics

 

[alexandros]

In terms of registered accounts, Steam is comparable to Live and PSN.

And to be more specific, here are the latest quoted numbers from each company:

Xbox Live: 40 million accounts (source)

PSN: 90 million accounts (source)

Steam: 90 million (source, in Greek by Valve's economist)

 

[wazoo]

Steam: 90 million (source, in Greek by Valve's economist)

Greek numbers are always inflated ...

50M is the last number from London Games Conference 2012 from John Clark from Sega

 

[dani_dc]

Greek numbers are always inflated ...

50M is the last number from London Games Conference 2012 from John Clark from Sega

50 Million active users (I believe its usually definied as users who have spent money on steam and were active on the last month or three), I imagine the 90 million might be for registered users (such as innactive accounts, or people who play free to play but havent spent money), perhaps someone that can read the source can clear us about what the number means.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Great to know Steam is gaining more traction. In my opinion the launch of next generation consoles will help it even more - people will see the jump from PS3/X360 is not so big. Steam will push Big Picture Mode, Steam sales will show gaming on a PC doesn't have to be more expensive than on console, etc.

 

[Nome]

Great to know Steam is gaining more traction. In my opinion the launch of next generation consoles will help it even more - people will see the jump from PS3/X360 is not so big. Steam will push Big Picture Mode, Steam sales will show gaming on a PC doesn't have to be more expensive than on console, etc.

For the most part, PC games have been $10 less than on consoles this entire generation. Besides, the big barrier to entry for PC gaming is getting the PC, not the games.

 

[Castor Krieg]

For the most part, PC games have been $10 less than on consoles this entire generation. Besides, the big barrier to entry for PC gaming is getting the PC, not the games.

Yes, but to enjoy quality PC gaming you would need to spend much more than the price of a console. However with Steam and Amazon sales that 10$ difference suddenly turns out to be 20$ or even 30$ different very quickly.

As for getting the PC - I find it funny how 10-15 years ago that wasn't the problem. I would assume people should be getting more technology proficient as times goes by, not less.

 

[diamount]

I think the list says it all. The majority of people have Steam on auto-login and just let it run idly it seems.

 

[eot]

That's a really awful article for many reasons, and I'm honestly surprised Valve would use numbers like that. A game's success should be measured in terms of engagement--something Valve likely knows, but didn't emphasize because CSGO and CSS failed miserably in that department. If 1.6 has less total players than CSS or CSGO, but has more concurrent players than either, then that means 1.6 is the more engaging game. It means CSS and CSGO has much higher churn, and is generally less interesting of a game. It shouldn't be any surprise that CSGO has more total players, seeing as how it was heavily advertised, while 1.6 gets zero advertising share nowadays.

Yeah it's weird to use that as your main metric. The numbers don't surprise me though, seeing as CS:S was promoted loads on Steam while they buried 1.6.

 

[Shorty11857]

I'm pretty sure all of the HoN players have dota 2 beta keys by now, and HoN is non existent in the chinese market so while I agree that the game has stopped growing and is on a slippery slope, this is not what is going to kill or has killed the S2 game.

From a gamer perspective, I'm perfectly fine with where the three games are right now and I hope the three will still have active communities in the next year.

Pretty sure hon is actually growing right now not in north America and Europe but overall concurrents are higher lately than they were before

 

[waypoetic]

Maybe i should log in.

 

[alexandros]

50M is the last number from London Games Conference 2012 from John Clark from Sega

That's for active users, we already know about them. I'm talking about total registered users.

I imagine the 90 million might be for registered users (such as innactive accounts, or people who play free to play but havent spent money), perhaps someone that can read the source can clear us about what the number means.

I will attempt a rough translation. Just for context, he's describing how he decided to work for the company.

I will always remember the conversations from those two days. For starters, I was struggling to keep up with them. Their minds were racing at a thousand miles per second. Although they had no knowledge of economic theory, they were able to grasp difficult concepts before I even had the chance to finish my sentence and move them even further along in seconds. Very soon I realized that these people have created not one but several virtual economies. In total, 90 million people worldwide took part in them.

My interpretation is that this number represents Steam's total of registered accounts.

 

[Pranay]

Yes, but to enjoy quality PC gaming you would need to spend much more than the price of a console. However with Steam and Amazon sales that 10$ difference suddenly turns out to be 20$ or even 30$ different very quickly.

As for getting the PC - I find it funny how 10-15 years ago that wasn't the problem. I would assume people should be getting more technology proficient as times goes by, not less.

Your talking as if sales dont exist on console ?

Most games these on consoles are pretty much available for 45$ at preorder if you look into and also has great resale value in them.

Also in 2 months you can pretty much get games at half the price or more.

 

[Ikuu]

Pretty sure hon is actually growing right now not in north America and Europe but overall concurrents are higher lately than they were before

I love how they hid the breakdown of users, don't want people to see exactly where it is growing (and shrinking).

It going open beta isnt gonna make that big a difference since there is a glut of keys out there. China might make a difference, but LoL already has a decent Chinese base and they own Korea.

Completely disagree with this, watch the numbers jump up once the game is available to everyone and they don't need to jump through any hoops to get in. If the Chinese numbers are reported through Steam then it'll make a difference, but they might be playing a special client or LAN only, not sure how things are going to work.

 

[lastplayed]

Steam is just a glorified chat client for me now. All the games I currently play have their own launchers.

 

[Sentenza]

Greek numbers are always inflated ...

50M is the last number from London Games Conference 2012 from John Clark from Sega

Actually, he's the one who was using old data.
Steam reached 50 millions and 5 millions of concurrent users in December 2011.

He apparently didn't bother updating his stats before making his presentation.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

I think that's key here. I wonder if Hidden Parh approached Valve with a pitch first. Then, Valve decided to give it a shot.

I'm pretty sure it was expanded from a project to port CSS to the 360.

 

[wazoo]

90M for registered users would be an interesting numbers. i expect Steam to brag about the 100M registration anytime soon in that case.

It would also make Steam the biggest (non mobile) platform for gaming, also the more hardcore (because based on digital downloads).