Now, a full 14 days into 2021, we have officially hit round-up season. If you’re a fan of beautiful infographics then this offering from Steam is bound to tingle your brain.
Steam have just dropped all the info on what gamers did with the platform throughout 2020. We all knew that gaming spiked hard last year, but seeing the stats laid out before your very eyes really helps cement that knowledge inside your wrinkly wisdom sack.
Top of the pile of water cooler facts is that 2020 saw a whopping 50.7% increase in hours played over 2019. In addition to this, with people staying at home for much of the year, Steam saw new highs for monthly active users (120.4 million), daily active users (62.6 million), peak concurrent users (24.8 million), first-time purchasers (2.6 million per month), hours of playtime (31.3 billion hours), and the number of games purchased (21.4% increase over 2019).
On top of the flat numerical facts, which the Year in Review blog post brings in spades, I found it it interesting hearing how Steam has pushed out into working through the challenges of the year. Constant events, classic Steam sales, and the introduction of timed trials for games struck a chord within many players.
The ability to give a 10-hour play test for titles that grab your interest is such an excellent idea. I know I’ve been bamboozled by flashy ads and hollow promises before, and Steam seem pretty keen to stamp out that kind of behaviour, giving the impression they have the gamer right up at the top of their priorities.
There’s far more in their summation of 2020 to get stuck into, so go on! Have a gander.
