PC gaming has come a long way from the early 2000s and no platform has better facilitated that growth than Valve’s Steam. Since its inception in 2003, Steam as a platform has granted the video game community access to an ever-expanding library of games, and it seems that its growth isn’t slowing down. Recently, Steam broke a new record, reporting an active user base of 30,024,670 online active users online on Sunday, according to Steam’s charts.

30 million active users is a massive jump from the reported 27 million users last November. While it took 14 years for Steam to grow to a 15 million user base, considering how widespread and accessible PC gaming has recently become, it is more than likely to expand its user base to new heights in the following years.

PC Gamer had been one of the many that predicted the enormous milestone, noting that Steam’s exponential growth has grown from possibility to eventuality. The likelihood that Steam could gain another 10 million users before or at the end of 2023 is not as much of a stretch as it may seem. As noted by Dot Esports, the climb toward 30 million could be caused by the success of Valve’s Steam Deck. However, considering that Logitech has come out with its very own portable console, another surge in users would almost be expected.

Steam has reminded the video game community how essential online game platforms have become. Physical games will always have a place within the community they are essential in the preservation and ownership of games in general. That being said platforms like Steam allow players who don’t have access to modern consoles to enjoy many mainstream titles. It is impossible to see the future of gaming without services like Steam existing alongside it.

Check out the recent Steam client update on the blog site.