Analytics: a quarter of Steam's daily audience is concentrated in the top 5 most popular games. On PlayStation and Xbox, the numbers are even higher
A significant portion of the daily active user base (DAU) on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox is concentrated around a relatively small number of games. Analyst Simon Carless examined how users are distributed.
Carless provided all DAU platform data as of February 28, 2025.
PlayStation
- The most popular game on PlayStation is Fortnite. It is played daily by 14.3% of active Sony console owners.
- The top five most popular games account for 43% of PlayStation's DAU. As of February 28, apart from Fortnite, the top five titles included EA Sports FC, Call Of Duty HQ, Roblox, and Rocket League.
- On PlayStation, the top 10 popular games account for 55.8% DAU, the top 50 for 76.7% DAU, and the top 100 for 84.2% DAU.
- The only new game in the top 10 that is not another installment of a regularly updated franchise like EA Sports FC or Call Of Duty is Marvel Rivals.
DAU Distribution on PlayStation
Xbox
- Here, Fortnite also attracts more daily active users than any other game, accounting for 9.8% of the platform's DAU.
- On the top five popular games, 35.5% of active Xbox owners log in daily. At the time of data collection, the top five titles included Fortnite, EA Sports FC, Call Of Duty HQ, Roblox, and Minecraft.
- On Xbox, the top 10 popular games account for 45.2% DAU, the top 50 for 67.3% DAU, and the top 100 for 78% DAU.
DAU Distribution on Xbox
Steam
- In Steam, the most popular game remains Counter-Strike 2, accounting for 10.7% of the platform's entire DAU.
- The top five popular games account for 26.7% of Steam's DAU. Carless did not list which games users were particularly active in playing on Steam on February 28. However, according to data from the web archive (via SteamDB), besides Counter-Strike 2, the list included Monster Hunter Wilds, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Dota 2, and Marvel Rivals.
- In Steam, the top 10 popular games account for 31.2% DAU, the top 50 for 50% DAU, and the top 100 for 59.9% DAU.
DAU Distribution on Steam
"In conclusion, I’d like to remind you: if you have a small or medium-sized studio, your console or PC game does not need huge DAU figures years after release to be successful. You simply need to keep attracting new players who will purchase the game itself and/or DLC, play it, and get what they perceive as 'good value for money.' Those who still want to reach the top ranks in console DAU charts will be challenged by older hits," added Carless.