While there’s been no shortage of games released over the past few years, you might be surprised to learn that majority of the most played games in 2021 are actually much older. Here we’re recapping the top 10, which we’ve based on data provided by publishers/developers, as well as various analytics sites.
Editor’s note: Valheim has been dropped from this list despite its record concurrent being higher than Apex Legends, simply because the Apex numbers do not include console and Valheim has since slipped to less than 100,000 concurrent players.
Update 12/22/2021: Added two new games, switched order accordingly.
10. Apex Legends – 228,439 (Steam)
Most Played Games in 2021
Respawn’s Apex Legends stealth dropped out of nowhere and then proceeded to take the battle royale genre by storm. It proved the perfect recipe of compelling gameplay, AAA production quality, and a free-to-play business model that saw it succeed in temporarily dethroning Fortnite and PUBG as most-played and most-watched multiplayer games.
The numbers have definitely dipped since its opening month saw a record 2 million concurrent players, but despite the occasional bump along the way, its community has remained pretty sizeable. It’s safe to say that Apex has muscled its way into the genre and secured its place for the foreseeable future.
So far, Apex Legends has peaked at 228,439 on Steam alone in 2021. With console numbers added in there, we wouldn’t be surprised if the total was edging a million on a good day.
9. PUBG – 458,778
Most Played Games in 2021
The game that kicked off a frenzy that saw the entire multiplayer gaming landscape reshaped over the past few years, PUBG still commands a huge audience despite the battle royale genre becoming flooded with copycat titles.
Most notably, of course, it was copied by and then superseded by Epic Games’ Fortnite. PUBG’s premium model and its tardiness in arriving on consoles saw it fall behind rather quickly once Fortnite began gathering steam.
But while PUBG may no longer rule the battle royale roost, it still offers a tactical military-sim experience that isn’t matched by other games in the genre. This, and the fact that its mobile version is also extremely popular (numbers not included in above stat), should see PUBG’s community soldier on throughout 2021.
Peak concurrent player numbers for PUBG in 2021 have so far hit 458,778.
8. Dota 2 – 648,875
Most Played Games in 2021
A sentiment that’s long been taken for granted is that the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre is dying. But while it’s true that MOBA games aren’t seeing growth like they once were, don’t for a second think that they aren’t still incredibly popular.
DOTA 2, the sequel to the genre’s founding father, still eclipses most of the competition. Over the past 12 months, it’s regularly nearing a million concurrent players, and sometimes exceeding that total, despite having been around for nearly a decade.
The 801, 121 number quoted above for this ranking was taken from April 2020.
Like CS: GO, it’s esports presence has nurtured a passionate community of players that aren’t in any hurry to move onto a new IP. DOTA 2 is also a big noise in the east, particularly in China, which accounts for a substantial percentage of its player base.
7. New World – 913,634
Most Played Games in 2021
Amazon’s first foray into AAA MMORPGs has been a resounding success with the launch of New World back in September. With tremendous production values and a solid combat system that feels very Souls-inspired, New World very much looks and plays like a ‘next-gen’ MMORPG, even if its design doesn’t boast any especially innovative features.
It certainly proved popular, with a player base that swelled to enormous proportions in the days immediately following its launch — well, as much as the servers could handle, anyway! At its peak, New World was being played by nearly 1 million concurrently, seeing it fly up to number 4 on our list.
6. Counter-Strike: GO – 1.2 Million
Most Played Games in 2021
Counter-Strike: GO is the FPS that just won’t quit. April 2020 saw its highest-ever concurrent player numbers, topping 1.3 million. Not only is that a hugely impressive figure on its own, but the game been cranking out this sort of performance for eight years.
As for this year so far, CS:GO has peaked at 1,198,581.
A strong esports presence and the brand power of a franchise that’s been around since the late 1990s has kept CS: GO ahead of newer releases. The game remains especially in Europe, with countries like Russia contributing massively to the overall size of the active community.
5. Minecraft – 1.4 Million+
Most Played Games in 2021
Minecraft is a juggernaut that just keeps on steamrolling, but we’ll acknowledge that we’re slightly cheating with our listed stat here.
Technically, our data should place Minecraft below Apex Legends. The thing is, while we only have data from 2015, we know for certain that Minecraft has only increased its player base exponentially over the past four years. You only have to look at its monthly active users (MAU) for proof.
For comparison and to provide some context as to we’ve bumped Minecraft up without a more recent concurrent stat, DOTA 2 had an estimated MAU of 11.9 million at the start of 2019. Minecraft has ten times that number.
Our 1.4 million concurrent stat is taken from a Polygon article back in 2015 when Minecraft’s MAU was estimated at below 40 million. It wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility that Minecraft now sees over three times that concurrent number on occasion.
4. Roblox – ‘Nearly 4 Million
Roblox has skyrocketed in popularity since its launch back in 2006, especially over the past five or so years. Back in 2016 CEO David Baszuski was proudly touting 700,000 concurrent players and declaring the 1 million milestone wasn’t far around the corner. Fast forward to 2020 and Roblox’s 7th Annual Bloxy Awards saw incredibly 4 million players watching in-game concurrently.
While the novelty of the event slightly warps the concurrent tally for the purposes of this list, we’re still confident Roblox earns its spot at number 4 on this list. Indeed, our understanding is that Roblox frequently sees over 1 million players concurrently throughout the year even outside of special events.
3. Crossfire – 8 Million
Most Played Games in 2021
It’s likely that up until only fairly recently the majority of our readers wouldn’t have heard of one of the world’s most-played video games. Crossfire, a Counter-Strike clone, is an absolute beast over in Korea, and it’s set to make its mark over in the west soon.
Korean developer Smilegate Entertainment has recently struck a deal with Microsoft that’ll see a new version of the game called Crossfire X come to Microsoft platforms exclusively in 2021.
Quite whether that sequel will see the same concurrent figures, though, we’re not sure. It really would depend on whether the next iteration of the game sees a worldwide launch or whether it’s something being prepared specifically for the western market.
It’s certainly got a lot to live up to if it’s going to match Smilegate’s claims of 8 million concurrent players. That’s a stat that we should note has been touted for a number of years, though, so it’s actually slightly unclear as to the game’s current community size.
2. League of Legends – 8 Million
Most Played Games in 2021
Earlier in this list, we cited DOTA 2’s continued popularity as proof that the MOBA genre is far from dead, but League of Legends’ numbers completely blow those out of the water. According to Riot Games, almost each and every single day, League of Legends is played by around 8 million people.
That is totally bonkers, and probably should see it top this list based purely on consistency, but we’ve set the metric as peak concurrent so we’ll resist the temptation…
Once again, a strong esports scene has helped League of Legends to hold onto its community, which routinely turn up in the millions to watch competitive tournaments online. The League of Legends World Championships 2019 broke Twitch’s concurrent viewership records with 1.7 million watching FunPlus Phoenix crush G2 Esports.
1. Fortnite – 12.3 Million
Most Played Games in 2021
Love or hate Fortnite, it surely has to go down as among the most important video games ever made. Epic Games’ battle royale game has totally recalibrated what it means to build and support a successful “live” service-style video game.
Fortnite is a constantly shifting entity, remolding itself with different features and gimmicks as new trends emerge. It’s essentially a new game every month thanks to its battle pass content, and it’s also managed to embed itself into pop culture by collaborating with musicians and celebrity figureheads to stay relevant.
In fact, it was during the Astronomical Concert back in 2020 that Fortnite set a 12.3 million concurrent player peak, as players flocked to watch Travis Scott debut a new single.
