Only 15% of Steam users have played games released in 2024, but what is the reason?
It seems that Steam users have been catching up on the games they had pending.
The end-of-year Steam review has highlighted interesting trends in the world of PC gaming. According to the 2024 statistics, only 15% of Steam users' gaming time was spent on titles released in the same year. A deeper analysis of the data reveals that 47% of total time was spent on games launched in the last seven years, while 37% corresponds to titles that have been on the market for more than eight years.
This phenomenon can be explained by various reasons. One possibility is that players are taking the opportunity to play games they had put off rather than focusing on recent releases. Although the proportion of time dedicated to new releases has increased this year from 9% to 15%, indicating that players are purchasing new titles.
Another explanation may lie in the fact that older games are more accessible due to their reduced prices, especially during Steam sales. Additionally, the impact of the Steam Deck plays an important role, as many recent AAA games may be too demanding for this handheld console.
Older live service games, such as Counter-Strike, Dota 2, and PUBG, continue to dominate the lists of the most-played games on Steam, making it difficult for new titles to build a solid player base.
Furthermore, Steam boasts over 200,000 titles released over the years, in stark contrast to just 18,000 games released in 2024 according to SteamDB. This naturally leads to a larger proportion of users dedicating time to playing older titles.
Despite this context, the fact that 15% of gaming time has been allocated to new releases is notable, especially when compared to the 17% recorded in 2022. This suggests that the figures are improving after a significant drop in 2023, generating anticipation for a possible increase in interest in new titles next year.