On Steam there are numerous shooters that offer either PvE, PvP, or a mix of both. But which shooters are the most popular?
How was the list compiled? To determine the 5 most popular shooters on Steam, we took a look at the player numbers of each game. In particular, the number of average active players over the past 30 days was significant (as of August 18, 2023).
Rank 5: Call of Duty
Genre: Arena shooter, Battle Royale | Developer: Activision | Steam Release: October 28, 2022 |
Steam Player Count: 65,119 | Model: MW2: Buy-to-play, Warzone: Free-to-play |
Perspective: First-Person
What kind of game is this? Call of Duty has a slight advantage over other games on the list. The renowned shooter franchise combines several titles under one common umbrella.
Both the 2022 released Modern Warfare 2 and the “Battle Royale” offshoot Warzone share player numbers on Steam.
Moreover, it is quite possible that the numbers for Modern Warfare 3, which will be released on November 10, will also fall into the same category, as Activision states players can seamlessly continue their journey, progress, and story for a year for the first time (via callofduty.com).
How popular is it? If the player numbers for MW2 and Warzone were shown separately, a place in the top 5 for the shooter series would have been fiercely contested. In the past 30 days, the CoD combination averaged 65,119.9 players.
With the upcoming release of Modern Warfare 3, player numbers are expected to rise again – at least temporarily. CoD veterans from 2009 can at least look forward to the return of all maps from the original MW2:
Rank 4: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Hero shooter | Developer: Valve | Steam Release: October 10, 2007 |
Steam Player Count: 96,601 | Model: Free-to-play | Perspective: First-Person
What kind of game is this? Team Fortress 2 is a hero shooter released in 2007 by Valve, where you play with unique characters in various PvP modes to achieve victory. Each hero has special abilities, weapons, and roles within the team.
Classic modes like Payload and Capture the Flag are played. Team Fortress has also inspired games like Overwatch, which, however, has had a rather modest start on Steam and is even one of the mostpoorly rated games of all time.
Otherwise, Team Fortress 2 is particularly characterized by its rather comic-like style as well as its quirky humor.
How popular is it? Team Fortress 2 averaged 96,601.6 players over the past 30 days. This is a bit weaker than in July 2023 but stronger than in the previous months of May and June.
However, Team Fortress seems not to be popular with everyone – developer Valve avoids providing the hero shooter with regular updates or even a remaster despite its success. This has led to Team Fortress 2 players being envious of another shooter.
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