Over the past couple of days, sites like Game Rant, which we first saw surface these stats, have been keeping an eye on how Steam users are spending their time by comparing two disparate but new titles from the month of November. One is a humble farming sim, while the other is a blockbuster multiplayer shooter. Which would you guess more people are playing on the platform just weeks after launch? As of 6:30 p.m. on November 30, Farming Simulator 22 was beating Battlefield 2042 in concurrent Steam users. That's a bit of a surprise, yeah?
In the image above (captured from Steam's own data you can see here), the numbers on the left represent current active players for each game, while the numbers on the right are total players for the day. As of the time of this snapshot, Farming Simulator 22 had over 3,000 more current players than Battlefield 2042.
However, time of day does matter when collecting this data. A scant 45 minutes later, at 7:15 p.m., the tables had turned in favor of Battlefield with 27,685 active players compared to the 26,782 playing Farming Simulator, which you can see below.
Active player counts will jump around throughout the day, but the important numbers to take away from this are the total daily numbers which shows almost double the daily users focused on agriculture versus those partaking in virtual war, 79,410 vs. 34,599, respectively. That's a big difference in mindshare for Steam users this week.
Now, there are quite a few factors to consider when looking at these numbers. First, we aren't seeing the whole picture. Battlefield on PC is available in other storefronts like Origin and wouldn't be included in these stats, and it doesn't account at all for console players. Second, we're looking at numbers late on a Tuesday afternoon/early evening. Not exactly the red-hot hours for gaming. Although, we can factor in Game Rant's data from this weekend which had Farm Sim with 30,000 more active players. And third, while maybe not a huge factor, Farming Simulator is the newer game, releasing a whole three days after Battlefield, though a little longer if you consider 2042's early access period.
Whether these numbers are concerning or not is entirely up to EA and Dice, the ones who can see the whole picture. But perception is what it is when the public can see whether a big, exciting AAA release looks to be less popular than planting crops.
If you want to know more about Battlefield 2042, we have a review you can read right here from our very own Alex Van Aken.
What are you playing right now? Are you one of the many Farm Sim fans, or are you squading up in Battlefield? Is your Steam time going towards something else entirely like Inscryption? Let us know in the comments below!
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