By Sagar V. Mankar 
In 2024, Steam set a new milestone by releasing an impressive 18,897+ new games, surpassing its previous record of 14,311 titles in 2023. According to the Steam-monitoring platform SteamDB, these releases include 14,943 limited games and 3,954 standard titles. Limited games refer to titles with restricted profile customization options, as they haven’t met specific criteria like player base size or sales figures.
Despite debates over the quality of limited games, their sheer number marks a significant achievement for the platform. While some argue that many of these limited titles lack substance, others see their presence as a sign of Steam’s inclusive approach to game developers of all scales.
The year 2024 also witnessed the highest number of game sales since 2019. This growth trend continued steadily, even during the challenging times of the 2020 global pandemic. Additionally, Steam’s annual recap, Steam Replay 2024, revealed that the average user played four games this year—a figure unchanged from 2023 but slightly lower than the average of five games reported in 2022.
The holiday season also brought impressive activity numbers to the platform, with nearly 40 million concurrent users online—an increase of 8 million compared to the previous year.
However, not everything was smooth sailing for Steam in 2024. The platform had to address concerns about ownership rights, clarifying that users do not technically own the games they purchase but rather gain access to a license to play them. Furthermore, Steam officially ended support for outdated operating systems like Windows 7 and 8, urging users to upgrade to a newer version or switch to Linux distributions such as Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, which Steam also supports.
On the hardware front, Steam confirmed it would not be releasing a new version of its handheld console, the Steam Deck, on an annual basis. Valve stated that a successor would only be considered when significant advancements in computing power occur.
Sources: SteamDB, Valve Corporation, Steam Replay 2024