Battle Royale-inspired multiplayer shooter PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds became the most played game on Steam over the weekend, with more concurrent players than DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The achievement is a very significant one for the game, which is not yet even finished.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' Beats 'DOTA 2' and 'CS: GO'
Earlier this month, it was reported that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds broke the Steam record for the most number of players at a time for a non-Valve game.
The PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds peak player count went over 480,000 players, breaking the record previously set by Bethesda's open-world post-apocalyptic adventure Fallout 4. It was unclear, however, whether the multiplayer shooter had what it takes to overtake DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on the Steam charts, considering these two games are made and marketed by Valve, the creator of the Steam platform.
It turns out that it was actually only a matter of time before PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds achieved the feat. Over the weekend, the multiplayer shooter reached a peak player count of nearly 880,000 users, beating DOTA 2 with over 840,000 users and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with about 560,000 users.
The nearly 880,000 peak player count for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was also the second-highest player count in the history of Steam, beating the peak player count of 850,485 users set by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is still far off from the highest-ever peak player count set by DOTA 2 back in March of nearly 1.3 million users, but given the multiplayer's shooter meteoric rise in popularity, breaking that record could also be just a matter of time.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' Continues To Soar
DOTA 2 is a free-to-play MOBA, while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a team-based shooter that costs $15, and both games are heavily promoted on Steam by Valve. However, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has stood toe-to-toe with these giants and has carved out a massive following on the PC gaming platforms.
Making its achievements even more impressive is the fact that the game, with a price tag of $30, is not yet even finished. It is still on Steam's Early Access program, and the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds full release date has been pushed back from September to the end of the year.
The delayed launch has apparently not made a dent in the game's popularity, as developer Bluehole Games has rolled out features such as the first-person-only server. The first PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds major tournament was actually just held at the recently concluded Gamescom 2017.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has sold more than 8 million copies, and upon its expected launch at the end of the year, we can expect more copies sold and perhaps a new Steam record for highest peak player count.
