At the time of publishing, SteamDB reports that there are more than 36 million users online on the platform right now.

When taking a longer view of Steam’s user numbers, growth on the platform has been gradual and consistent, especially following the COVID-19-induced lockdowns from back in 2020. While the platform would still manage to get consistent users that almost hit 20 million on some occasions, the lockdowns truly seemed to have started the trend of month-over-month growth.

While the early days of 2020 saw an all-time peak of over 24 million users for the year, this would eventually get dwarfed, and by early 2021, Steam had managed to get more than 26 million users online at the same time. The trajectory has consistently moved upwards since then, with the 40 million barrier first getting broken in March 2025.

Since then, Steam has managed to garner a consistent user base that, however, has been between 35 million and 42 million, with this weekend marking the first time that the platform broke previous records.

While there are likely a number of factors that have contributed to this consistent user base growth for Steam, Valve’s own efforts in bringing in continuous improvements have likely helped as well. This, along with the company’s hardware efforts like Steam Deck and Steam Machine, may have also played a role. However, the latter likely suffered quite a bit due to its high price tag owing to a global memory shortage that has affected prices for just about every computer in the world.

As for what kinds of games these Steam users are spending their time with, much of the top 10 list is dominated by free-to-play multiplayer titles like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and Apex Legends. Interestingly, Deadlock – a game that Valve has neither officially unveiled nor made available to play outside of invite codes – is also sitting in the top 10, with more than 104,000 concurrent players at the time of publishing, and an all-time peak of 262,145 players.

There are also plenty of indie games being played on Steam right now, with the chart featuring titles like WARDOGS, Slay the Spire 2, Valheim, and Stardew Valley. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered is also present, with its player base likely being bolstered by the recent release of the Remastered update.

As for premium games, ARC Raiders, The Outlast Trials, Grand Theft Auto 5 Enhanced, and EA Sports FC 27 are all on the charts. While there is a mix of older and newer titles throughout the list, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Street Fighter 6 are all showing impressive player numbers, likely thanks to Capcom’s continuous support of these games. Dragon’s Dogma 2 just got its major expansion – Dark Arisen – which has been received quite positively by players and critics alike.

In a turn of events that shouldn’t be surprising to anyone paying attention to the games industry, Fortnite has taken the number one spot across PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. On the PlayStation side of things, the top 5 aside from Fortnite include NBA 2K26, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Roblox, and Grand Theft Auto 5 Remastered. Xbox, on the other hand, features Roblox, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto 5 Remastered, and Minecraft in its top 5.

“Each list had exactly one new game reach the top 20. The rest were mostly long-running live service or annualized sports titles,” acknowledged Piscatella. “This is just the PS/XBX market right now.” In another post, he noted that the current market leads to “thousands of other games that come out every year fighting for the attention of a relatively small enthusiast portion of the total player base.”

As we get deeper in both lists, we continue to see the trend of older live-service titles, like Apex Legends and Rocket League. There are a few exceptions to be seen, however. Palworld’s recent 1.0 release likely played a large role in letting it breach the top 20 list, for instance. Similarly, on Xbox, Destiny 2 has managed to climb up to number 19. Curiously, the Xbox list also included Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which is entirely missing from the PS5 side. Shift at Midnight’s absence from PlayStation’s list, on the other hand, is more understandable due to it simply not getting released on the platform.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls‘ presence on the PS5 list also represents an interesting data point, since the game hasn’t yet been released, and was only available for a single weekend.

It looks like Steam is the only one of the three platforms to offer a more diverse list of the most-played games. Palworld currently sits at the top of the list, followed by Counter-Strike 2, Battlefield 6, Slay the Spire 2, and Marvel Rivals rounding up the top 5. Further in, we also get to see titles like the indie hit Meccha Chameleon before more live-service games like Helldivers 2, Destiny 2, and Rocket League come in. The presence of Valve’s Deadlock is also noteworthy, since it is still an invite-only game that hasn’t yet been officially released to the public.

Seeing lists like this that are broadly dominated by live-service games goes a long way in explaining the reasoning behind companies chasing similar trends, even if they happen to fail. We last saw this with Sony’s push towards live-service games, which ultimately culminated in a lack of new game releases, the cancelation of several projects, and even some studios being shuttered.

"Surely expanding the list to 20 would show plenty of new games"Well. Sure. Each list had exactly one new game reach the top 20. The rest were mostly long running live service or annualized sports titles.This is just the PS/XBX market right now.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-08-03T15:44:17.812Z

Circana Player Engagement Tracker – US Top 10 Titles by Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) – W/E Jul 25, 2026- Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls debuted 17th on PlayStation- Shift at Midnight ranked 17th on Xbox in launch week- Path of Exile jumped to 19th on Steam from 119th a week ago

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2026-08-03T14:30:28.614Z

Taking a long-term look at Xbox’s business strategy going forward, the company seems to be banking quite heavily on PC gaming. Even Project Helix has been described by various people in the company as being a more open platform than one would expect from a console. According to Corden, the company likely doesn’t expect to sell too many units of its hardware, at least for now, due to component shortages hiking up the price. This means that Microsoft as a whole is more likely to weather the storm by keeping its PC games available on the largest marketplaces it can.

However, Steam doesn’t seem to be the company’s only strategy for PC gaming. Game Pass is also noted as being quite important. Corden describes the subscription service as being “designed to capture a separate audience from Steam, targeting users who are perhaps more inclined to otherwise stick to free-to-play titles or seek savings in as many ways as possible.”

Further down the line, there is seemingly also the possibility for Microsoft and Blizzard to open up the latter’s Battle.net launcher to third-party developers and publishers. While details about this are scarce, according to Corden, there is no evidence that the plan is being canceled.

Battle.net already comes with a massive player base thanks to it being the only way to access World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft Classic, and the StarCraft games. Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, we’ve seen the launcher slowly being opened up to include other games by developers under the Xbox Game Studios banner, including titles like DOOM: The Dark Ages, The Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, and even Call of Duty. The fact that users can link their Battle.net accounts to their Xbox accounts further bridges the two services, opening up the potential for even more games coming to Blizzard’s storefront.

Corden also brought up Xbox’s “Positron” system through which users can convert their game discs into digital licenses. Since many of Microsoft’s games tend to be Xbox Play Anywhere releases, this opens up yet another door for the company to bring more PC gamers into its own ecosystem. Details about Positron are still scarce, however, with more expected to be revealed later this month. It could be easy to imagine pairing Positron with the company’s backwards compatibility emulators to help it grow its PC player base.

As for short-term business, however, Corden has noted that Xbox PC still faces several hurdles, including the fact that it is disliked by indie developers due to issues like long certification processes and policies that add complexity to the general process of releasing a game. It is also worth noting that Steam continues to dominate the PC market, and even Epic Games’ Fortnite-fueled deep pockets haven’t been able to keep up.

First on the list is guest checkout, which allows you to buy games without a Steam account, with its previous iterations limited to hardware and gift cards. Well, picking up a copy of a game from your friend’s wishlist is now seamless, with the option to share lists now on the table. If it’s meant to be a surprise, all you need is the recipient’s email, and the resulting email will have all they need to log into their account and redeem the present. You need to ensure that their account is in the same country of purchase, and that they redeem it within 30 days before it automatically gets refunded to you.

Interestingly, you can now gift games directly to your friends across regions, with Steam calculating the final cost at checkout and saving you the hassle of calculating how many gift cards you needed to cover the price of a game. The recipient needs to be on your friends list, though, so keep that in mind. The announcement rounds out the new additions with expanded wishlist functionality that’s removed the requirement for you to be friends with a recipient to gift someone a game, and the ability to create specific, filtered wishlists that link to share with your family and friends. Anyone sending you a gift gets your details auto-populated in the checkout cart.

All in all, gifting games is definitely going to be more seamless if Steam is your go-to digital storefront. It’s interesting that these changes have come about at a time when there are a lot of conversations around games ownership, but that’s a subject for another conversation.

“Restricting where people can play a game I don’t think is a great model, at least for us,” he said. “We’re much more interested in having the whole PC catalog as our ‘launch exclusive.’”

Keeping in line with Griffais’ statement, neither Half-Life: Alyx nor Aperture Desk Job were exclusive to their respective hardware releases. The former can be played with just about any PC-compatible VR headset, and while the latter makes note of some interesting features of the Steam Deck, it can be played using just about any compatible controller.

In the same interview, another engineer, Yazan Aldehayyat, said that Valve has no intention to muscle out other hardware manufacturers with the Steam Machine. On the subject of potentially subsidizing hardware costs of the Steam Machine to make it more enticing to a wider audience, Aldehayyat said, “We want it to still be viable for other hardware manufacturers to offer things like the Steam Machine either with higher performance or a different feature set.”

Griffais added: “We look at it from a long-term perspective. Someone that is creating one of those PCs might actually create some meaningful innovation that is really important for things to come on PC that becomes so universal and brings the experience forward by that much that now the experience is better for everyone and then people might buy more games.”

The Steam Machine was launched earlier this month, and despite its high price tag – starting at $1,049 for the 512 GB version – has been considered by Valve to be a success. As for the future of the platform, however, Aldehayyat has warned consumers that the memory situation is “still getting worse”.

“Just in case people are not aware. What people are seeing on retail shelves right now, from our observations, is lagging what we’re seeing from a bulk supply by at least three to six months.” Griffais has said that Valve is “basically building everything we can. We’re limited by memory capacity, for sure.”

On the subject of potential launch titles for the Steam Machine, the highly anticipated Half-Life 3 was rumored to be coming alongside the Linux-based gaming PC. While Valve hasn’t made any official announcement regarding the title, rumors have indicated that the company was previously aiming for a Spring 2026 launch for both the Steam Machine and the game.

However, despite the Steam Machine having finally launched, there hasn’t yet been any sign of Half-Life 3. Reports from last year have also indicated that updates have been made to the Source engine to help its development, which might indicate that it might still be on track for release at some point.

Speaking to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, he said, “Honestly, it’s still getting worse. Just in case people are not aware. What people are seeing on retail shelves right now, from our observations, is lagging what we’re seeing from a bulk supply by at least three to six months.”

Regarding available supply, engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais noted, “We’re basically building everything we can. We’re limited by memory capacity, for sure.”

From that perspective, you have to wonder how successful the platform really is. But with how long the process has been, Aldehayyat believes it’s a strong option in today’s market. “We suspect that the Steam Machine is a really good way to solve a very real problem that people have. If that’s borne out to be true, from our opinion, it’s a success.”

While the memory crisis could continue well into 2027, affecting Project Helix and potentially the next generation of PlayStation, Valve isn’t slowing down. “Users are getting their machines. For a lot of the experience, the work starts. We’ll be doing that for years to come,” said Griffais.

The Steam Machine is currently available in two options – 512 GB for $1,049 and 2 TB for $1,349 (with an additional $79 required for the Steam Controller). However, you need to sign up to reserve one, and after the initial spree last month, new additions are relegated to the very end and will need to wait longer.

This method is in place to prevent botting and to allow those who can’t make time for pre-orders to open to become eligible to receive their own Steam Machine. They’re only doled out once per household as well to combat scalping.

A problem was indicated on the Steam Machine itself with a red light on the LED line in the chassis. It is currently unknown whether this is simply a software problem that can be fixed by flashing the system with a fresh install of SteamOS, or if it’s a hardware failure that would require the user to send it back to Valve. It is also currently unknown whether this is a widespread problem or if it is isolated to just a few users.

The Steam Machine makes use of its LED line to reveal to the user whenever it faces problems. The entire bar being red, for example, means that the system is overheating. According to Steam’s support website, the error seen by the Reddit user – a red LED on the second half of the line – indicates a GPU failure. The support website also notes other possible fault codes: a blinking red LED in the fourth quadrant means that the system isn’t detecting RAM, and a blinking LED in the second quadrant indicates that it isn’t detecting an SSD.

The user was apparently playing No Man’s Sky for a bit on their Steam Machine. After playing, they noted that a firmware update was available. The issue has seemingly persisted since then, with the Steam Machine being entirely unusable.

Users on Reddit have begun referring to the indicator as the “red line of death”. The title is a reference to the infamous red ring of death suffered by early Xbox 360 consoles. The name came about due to the console’s use of four blinking lights around the power button that would indicate hardware problems if they started blinking red. When three of the four red lights were blinking, the console was essentially reporting a “general hardware failure”. The name itself was, in turn, a reference to Windows’ “Blue Screen of Death”.

In the meantime, the Steam Machine has been faced with plenty of criticism concerning its price. Valve revealed just last month that the base model, which comes with only 512 GB of storage, is priced at $1,049. The best model available costs $1,349 and comes with 2 TB of storage.

While some industry insiders had noted that the prices are too high even with the current state of the market, with component shortages going around. Valve has since confirmed that it lacked any real bargaining power when it came to making deals with memory companies.

“Look, there’s no contract; there’s nothing,” explained engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais. “Like, those guys… they give us a price every month, or something, and they say, ‘You can buy that many, and it’s yes or no.’ And if we say no, then they never talk to us again.”

However, its price tag puts it at a premium over even the PS5 Pro, and that’s a cause for concern. At $1049 for a 512GB variant that functions on par with the base PS5 and Xbox Series X, it’s made our thoughts wander to what the next generation of gaming hardware could bring to the table and has us wondering what such offerings could cost. As always, there’s more to the issue than meets the eye, and we’re going to come at this from multiple angles. Let’s get started.

Leaving Traditions Behind

The old console model is the first thing that comes to mind, as it’s what the Steam Machine aimed to tackle before component shortages and the subsequent increase in prices forced Valve to pass on additional costs to its players. When you put that against how consoles have often absorbed losses they take on expensive hardware only to earn that back via game sales, subscriptions, peripherals, and platform fees, the Steam Machine’s disruptive potential becomes a little clearer.

However, that isn’t the only variable to consider. The PlayStation and Xbox have traditionally been closed-off ecosystems, with both Sony and Microsoft using all the factors we’ve mentioned above to try to surge ahead of their rivals. Throw in other gaming systems like the Switch into the mix, and the pattern becomes clearer. Big brands have used exclusivity and their unique USPs to ensure consumer loyalty and recoup the losses from discounted entry points over the duration of a console generation.

That means it can be hard for gamers to switch over to a rival, considering that they’ve had around seven years to build a library of games that would then become redundant if they were to give another system a try. Valve’s arguing against that route with the Steam Machine, bringing a PC/console hybrid that’s about as open-ended as they come thanks to a Linux-based operating system with a SteamOS overlay.

Yes, you’re paying a premium, but you also get the flexibility of a PC in a machine that gels pretty well with your living room setup thanks to its compact size and an approach to heat management that we must tip our hat to. That’s a more open-ended alternative to the PS5 or Xbox that could also run as a reasonably powerful PC if the need arises, since you could even run Windows on it and plug in a keyboard and mouse to get some work done from the comfort of your couch.

There’s value in both approaches, no arguments there, but there is the pressing concern that both Sony and Microsoft must now think long and hard about what they’re going to do about pricing their next-gen offerings. Absorbing hardware costs heavily in the interest of subsidization, both companies risk losing out on profit margins. Not doing so could raise prices, which isn’t going to make a lot of console gamers happy. It’s a frying pan and fire kind of situation that needs careful navigation if the next generation of consoles is to sustain the value that they offer to gamers.

The Rising Tide Of Prices

It’s probably a good idea to think about the price hikes on Sony’s PS5 lineup at this point. As of March 2026, the PS5 Disc Edition now sits at $649.99, while the PS5 Digital is at $599.99, and the PS5 Pro is pushing dangerously close to the thousand-dollar mark, with its retail price at $899.99. While it’s all well and good to support Sony, a manufacturer known for its quality gaming hardware over many years, and say that there was no choice but to hike up prices, that still doesn’t address worries about what the PS6’s price could be when it comes out.

Things are equally troubling with the Xbox Series. The Xbox Series S is now $100 dearer if you’re looking at a 512GB model, while the 1TB versions of both the S and X are now $150 more expensive. What’s worse, the 2TB models are now discontinued. Heck, even Lenovo has stated that memory prices may never return to normalcy.

Microsoft might be facing a tricky situation, all things considered, as Project Helix seems to be shaping up quite well, although it’s deep in development. However, as it’s being built to play both Xbox and PC games, that could put its value proposition quite close to what the Steam Machine is currently offering, and that’s without considering the promise of “leading performance” from the brand’s upcoming next-gen powerhouse.

With plans to ship out alpha hardware to developers in early 2027, it’s clearly getting closer to its final launch, as is the PS6. In the case of Project Helix, the PC/console hybrid angle could likely be a very justifiable reason for a higher price, especially for enthusiasts, but we’re concerned that such a situation could affect the mass-market relevance that it so clearly needs if it’s to take on the PS6. Exclusive games are a great way to get that going, but are they going to be enough to justify paying a high price for them? That’s something that remains to be seen. Either way, it’s a possibility that Project Helix’s goals may come into conflict with each other and be an obstacle to its success.

We’re aware that all of this is a tad speculative at this stage, but the Steam Machine has given us valid reasons for our concerns thanks to its price. But what could be done about them?

A Smart Way Forward

Well, you might not like what’s on our mind, but allow us to explain. We think delaying both the PS6 and Project Helix could be a smart choice for Sony and Microsoft. It isn’t because we think none of us are ready for a generational leap that could make modern gaming even better than it is today, not in the slightest. But at this point, with hardware prices and supply being what they are, it’s going to be a tall order to match retail prices with the value that’s on offer.

Both the PS6 and Project Helix need to come in at a time when a higher price tag is justified by an undeniable value proposition. Without it, we don’t see too many people looking to buy new consoles since their PS5s and Series X consoles, along with handhelds, the Switch 2, cloud gaming and other libraries, let them enjoy the best of whatever gaming is offering, albeit at a slightly lower performance that still works just fine since it’s what they’re already used to.

It’s going to be very easy to just wait out an upgrade, forcing Sony and Microsoft to either lower prices or weather low demand for new consoles. For the past few generations of consoles, upgrading to whatever next-gen offerings were available was a matter of better graphics, improved loading times, better frame rates, ray tracing in the case of the PS5 and Xbox Series, and bigger, more ambitious worlds that pushed the boundaries of what a modern gaming experience could achieve.

That’s the way it should be if you ask us, with each iteration of the PlayStation and Xbox working to give gamers a solid reason for an upgrade that goes past being an enthusiast, for whom a new console is a must-have, day-one purchase. Nothing wrong with that per se, but there’s a risk of alienating gamers who would like nothing more than a shiny new console but are priced out of joining in on the fun when the PS6 and Project Helix come along.

The Steam Machine has shed light on a facet of gaming hardware that console owners aren’t fully aware of yet, but the current situation has shown us all what those hidden bills look like. It brought the question of price and affordability to next-gen consoles, and we worry that launching either or both models too soon runs the risk of turning console gaming into a luxury purchase instead of a convenient, mass-market solution. It isn’t going to be entirely on the manufacturers, given the current cost-component environment, but it’s sure as hell going to be a factor if the prices are too high for the average gamer to make the leap to next-gen consoles.

We’re hoping to tell you that we were wrong to worry at some point, but all the evidence now points to a late 2027 to early 2028 launch for the PS6 and Project Helix. And while it’s certainly going to be interesting to see how Sony and Microsoft try to offset price increases, it’s going to be pretty saddening to know that so many of us won’t be playing the best games of the next few years in the best possible ways that they’re meant to be enjoyed.

And that would definitely be a disappointment all around.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organizati

However, Hiegl’s use of the word “never” during a talk at ISC 2026 has been reported as being an exaggeration, and the executive was apparently talking about the state of the hardware industry for the next five years.

Recent surges in memory pricing largely come down to the fact that the major companies that make memory, like SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, have signed large deals with AI companies to fabricate components and sell directly to them. This has left the rest of the world that relies on computer hardware in the lurch, with even Apple recently having announced a price hike for several of its devices.

Interestingly, just as the memory shortages had started ramping up, Micron had announced that it was pulling out of the consumer market entirely, and essentially shuttered its consumer line-up of storage and memory components sold under the Crucial brand. More recently, Micron’s chief business officer, Sumit Sadana, blamed companies like Apple for the current situation due to their aggressive pricing practices when sourcing components. “A lot of the industry investments got shut down in 2023 because of really poor pricing and really poor margins,” said Sadana.

In the meantime, Microsoft recently announced that its Xbox Series X/S consoles will be getting another price hike. Kicking on from August 1st onwards, the Xbox Series S 512 GB model will be priced at $499.99, compared to its previous $399.99 price tag. The digital version of the Xbox Series X is going up from $599.99 to $749.99, while the disc drive version of the console is going up from $649.99 to $799.99. The Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Black is being discontinued entirely.

“The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles,” said the company when it announced these latest price hikes. “Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make.”

In an effort to soften the blow for potential customers, Microsoft is also introducing a “Buy Now, Pay Later” option that gives buyers the ability to purchase an Xbox console and pay it off in interest-free monthly instalments.

Valve recently also admitted to not quite having the bargaining power it needed to negotiate better prices for the Steam Machine’s components. Engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat spoke about how they “would love to be able to make the Steam Machine more affordable and reach more people.” However, they noted that a price drop isn’t likely to happen soon.

Nintendo isn’t immune to these market conditions either, with price hikes hitting the Switch 2 in August.

But Valve engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat seem to disagree, expressing regret over the studio being forced to price its latest offering as high as it is, with the bargaining power to do so being out of its hands, while the Steam Machine’s very purpose has also been a contributing factor. Speaking to Digital Foundry, the duo have now revealed that there is definitely an intent to bring the company’s console-PC hybrid to a lower price point, but that’s dependent on the lowering of hardware and storage prices, which might take a while.

Griffais pointed out that the high price is, in fact, counterproductive to the Steam Machine’s intended goal, arguing that a cheaper price point would work in its favor. Aldehayyat has also expressed similar sentiments, though that comes with a warning that things aren’t likely to improve in the near future.

“Obviously, we would love to be able to make the Steam Machine more affordable and reach more people, but I don’t want to promise to people that it’s coming soon. I wouldn’t say that this is something that’s going to resolve very soon. It’s obviously hard for us to predict the future, but we’re not optimistic it’s going to happen any time soon.”

Well, all we can do is try and hold out hope that the Steam Machine manages to weather this storm and become what it was meant to be at some point. In the meantime, reservations ended on June 25th, with Valve shipping the first batch out on June 29th.