Steam broke its concurrent player record after hitting nearly 37 million active players last week with the help of the ongoing Summer Sale event and other game releases.

Steam also attributes its record-breaking active player count to the release of Steam Deck, allowing more players to discover new games.

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Steam Maintains Popularity as Strong Gaming Platform

Steam has been evolving over the years as the gaming market widens. The platform is a known marketplace for nearly every possible game and has become the usual place for purchasing games.

According to SteamDB, the platform peaked at 36,928,521 active players last June 30. Earlier this year, Steam reported a huge spike in its player count starting with 34 million then 36 million afterward.

One of the contributors to the peak is Steam's Summer Sale. The annual discount event features a huge cutback on the prices of popular games. Some games are now selling with up to 90% discount until July 11.

Gamers Spend Too Much on Steam, Research Finds

A recent study by PCGamesN and SteamIDFinder revealed that Steam users have spent $19 billion on unplayed games. The public account data showed that around $1.9 billion worth of games were purchased but were never played even once.

Events like the Summer Sale often contribute to the pile of games that were never played. Several gamers have found to be attracted to low prices and would purchase a game even if they have no time to play it.

Another reason is the recent game releases that are usually hyped during their launch. Some players would take advantage of getting the game but would soon forget that they existed.

SteamFinder launched its "Pile of Shame" widget allowing gamers to see the worth of the disregarded games on their Steam library.

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