Steam hits new record with almost 19,000 games launched in 2024

Steam has had a monumental year, shattering its previous record for new game releases and welcoming a surge of new players. But while the platform continues to thrive, Valve has poured cold water on hopes for a Steam Deck 2 anytime soon.

A staggering 18,825 new games landed on Steam in 2024, eclipsing the previous year's record of 14,311. However, SteamDB (via Tom's Hardware) categorises 14,888 of these as “restricted games,” meaning they have limited profile customisation options due to low player counts or sales figures. This raises questions about the quality and value of a significant portion of Steam's new releases, with some people arguing that many of these titles are “shovelware”. Still, the number of non-limited games released has increased over the past year, even if just a mere 2%.

Moreover, this year saw the highest number of games sold on Steam since 2019, with steady growth year over year, even during the 2020 pandemic. Steam also saw a surge in active users, with around 40 million concurrent players during the Christmas season, an 8 million increase compared to the previous year. However, the average Steam user played only four games this year, matching 2023's figure and slightly lower than 2022's average.

While Steam has enjoyed a successful year, it hasn't been without its hiccups. The platform faced criticism for clarifying its stance on game ownership, reminding users that they don't truly “own” the games they purchase on Steam. Additionally, Steam ended support for Windows 7 and 8, urging users to upgrade to newer operating systems.

KitGuru says: Are you an avid Steam user? What games have you played the most in 2024 on the platform?

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