Massively popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has reached another milestone, claiming the record of highest peak player count on Steam by a non-Valve game.
The milestone continues the ascent of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds in the video game industry and signals great things ahead for the Battle Royale-inspired shooter.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Breaks Peak Players Record
In a tweet by PlayerUnknown himself, Brendan Greene, he revealed that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds reached a peak player count of 481,291 players. This is the highest number ever achieved on Steam by a game not created by the platform's creator, Valve, breaking the record of 471,955 players previously held by Bethesda's open-world adventure Fallout 4 that was set back in November 2015.
For comparison, the peak player counts of other popular titles are 360,761 players for Grand Theft Auto V, 247,628 players for Payday 2, and 212,321 players for No Man's Sky. Valve's DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive remain on top of the list, with 1,291,328 players and 850,485 players, respectively, as their peak player counts.
Why Is This A Big Deal For 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'?
The milestone may not appear to be extremely impressive for some, but it holds great significance in measuring the performance of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Steam is the world's biggest gaming platform with 200 million active users, and holding the third-highest peak player count figure on it shows just how popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has become.
Perhaps more telling is the fact that the game is not yet even finished. The full release of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which already sold 2 million copies just five weeks after being added to Steam's Early Access program, will not arrive until the end of the year. In the meantime, developer Bluehole Games has been working hard on updates and improvements for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and has even set up its first big eSports tournament next month at Gamescom.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds will likely not catch up with the peak player counts set by DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive any time soon. DOTA 2 is free, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is only $15, and both games receive unparalleled promotions on Steam, as they are made by Valve.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds reached the milestone simply by being a very good game with a unique Hunger Games-esque concept, and that will propel the shooter into greater heights in the future. It remains to be seen whether it will remain as such in the months to come, but PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds definitely has potential to become one of the most popular online games of all time.
