Most Played Racing Games On Steam In July 2024

Most-Played-Racing-Games-Steam-July-2024-Forza-Horizon-4.jpg
Image: Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
The 2024 Steam Summer Sale has had a big impact on the most played racing games on Steam in July 2024 - including a new leader on our list. Here are the numbers.

Note: While iRacing is available on Steam as well, its numbers are not representative as most players acces the sim through its own UI. As a result, its statistics are not included in this article.

For months, it was usually BeamNG.drive and Forza Horizon 5 who took turns at the top of the list of most played racing games on Steam. July 2024 was a bit different, however, as Forza Horizon 4 shot past both titles with an enormous margin. Both the Steam Summer Sale and the announcement that the title would be delisted in December 2024 probably played their part in this increase in player numbers.

Meanwhile, F1 Manager 2024 piqued the interest of players once it released in late July, even beating F1 24 as the most played game in the F1 cosmos that month. The latter even lost ground again, with its player average decreasing by roughly 13%.

Another official title that lost players is Le Mans Ultimate. Despite the release of its first DLC pack - which many are critical of as the game is officially still in early access - it fell behind rFactor 2, its quasi-predecessor in July. EA Sports WRC, on the other hand, posted a slight gain, but is still trailing older rally titles in DiRT Rally 2.0 and WRC 7.

Steam: Most Played Racing Games In July 2024​

TitleAvg. PlayersPeakGain %
Forza Horizon 421,101.4
71,882​
127.44
BeamNG.drive12,982.8
20,279​
-1.54
Forza Horizon 512,648.6
25,600​
-1.11
Assetto Corsa10,141.8
18,094​
-5.21
F1 Manager 2024
5286.1​
8,092​
-
Assetto Corsa Competizione2,498.7
5,738​
-11.08
MX Bikes2,220.0
3,371​
0.42
Need for Speed Heat2,198.7
4,027​
21.38
F1 242,186.9
5,114​
-12.98
CarX Drift Racing Online1,894.9
3,075​
-2.12
F1 231,432.8
2,904​
-22.18
My Summer Car1,289.9
2,278​
-7.70
Need for Speed Unbound1,252.8
2,451​
3.57
Trackmania1,064.2
3,116​
4.18
Asphalt Legends Unite953.7
1,848​
43.80
DiRT Rally 2.0
758.4​
1,377​
8.70
F1 Manager 2023621.1
1,215​
-20.16
Forza Motorsport
599.2​
1,095​
-1.95
The Crew 2571.5
1,042​
9.50
Need For Speed Payback
490.2​
1,091​
62.40
Automobilista 2
471.0​
1,119​
-2.97
Wreckfest446.8
1,069​
5.88
RaceRoom422.5
991​
-8.98
WRC 7
421.7​
1,412​
-15.36
The Crew Motorfest
407.1​
851​
97.89
EA Sports WRC394.1
786​
8.97
Disney Speedstorm390.7
675​
10.33
rFactor 2386.1
852​
-9.46
Motorsport Manager380.1
684​
10.30
F1 22369.6
683​
-16.81
Le Mans Ultimate
322.5​
1,160​
-30.61
Mon Bazou
257.8​
485​
14.35
Uncrashed: FPV Drone Simulator
256.5​
473​
-11.56
Most Played Racing Games on Steam in July 2024 (cap at 250 avg. players; top values in bold). Source: steamcharts.com

What do you make of the most played racing games on Steam in July 2024? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
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About author
Yannik Haustein
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

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Comments

Cote Dazur
+ 124 % for FH 4, that is quite the jump, just because of the sale, I am surprised.
It goes against the belief that cost of software is not a big factor, as Hardware, is a much more expensive part of what we spend on the hobby.
I believe than past a certain time, the one who are really interested in a title, have made a decision, after that time, giving a big discount is what is needed, if interested in expanding the player base. I know that is how I am reacting. A few ( very few) titles, I purchase on day one, others ( a lot of others) I wait for a substantial sale ( more than 50%) to decide.
 
Last edited:
J
Premium
Some thoughts on the monthly numbers:

Steam apparently has 132 million average users per month.
Right now there are about one million people playing CS2.
The total (average) number playing all the driving games on this list is ~78,000.
That's about 0.06% of gamers on Steam (I think).
If you include BeanNG as a sim then only about 1/3 of driving gamers play 'real' sims.
Or, there are twice as many people playing arcade / manager games as play sims, with half of the simmers playing BeamNG.
Not including BeamNG, twice as many simmers play AC as every other sim combined.
The most popular sim and the least popular sim are both Early Access, so LMU's relative unpopularity isn't that.
Turn 10 must be hating these numbers - Forza (motorsport) games used to be a thing.

Q: How many players does a modern sim need to be sustainable? And is it actually possible to make a niche, series-specific sim like LMU profitably in this day and age?

Unlike almost every other type of video game I can think of where you can license a ready-to-go game engine off the shelf, what makes a good sim is the physics / FFB, and the fact that no-one has yet made a game that everyone likes in that regard shows just how hard building that system is.

Some dev teams for the old sims are still pushing out engine improvements years after the game's release - but a new game would be expected to be the same quality from launch. If AC EVO feels worse than, (or even different to) AC then they'll be busy comment threads when it finally launches.

Just food for thought :)
 
M
Premium
justageezer said:
Some thoughts on the monthly numbers:

Steam apparently has 132 million average users per month.
Right now there are about one million people playing CS2.
The total (average) number playing all the driving games on this list is ~78,000.
That's about 0.06% of gamers on Steam (I think).
If you include BeanNG as a sim then only about 1/3 of driving gamers play 'real' sims.
Or, there are twice as many people playing arcade / manager games as play sims, with half of the simmers playing BeamNG.
Not including BeamNG, twice as many simmers play AC as every other sim combined.
The most popular sim and the least popular sim are both Early Access, so LMU's relative unpopularity isn't that.
Turn 10 must be hating these numbers - Forza (motorsport) games used to be a thing.

Q: How many players does a modern sim need to be sustainable? And is it actually possible to make a niche, series-specific sim like LMU profitably in this day and age?

Unlike almost every other type of video game I can think of where you can license a ready-to-go game engine off the shelf, what makes a good sim is the physics / FFB, and the fact that no-one has yet made a game that everyone likes in that regard shows just how hard building that system is.

Some dev teams for the old sims are still pushing out engine improvements years after the game's release - but a new game would be expected to be the same quality from launch. If AC EVO feels worse than, (or even different to) AC then they'll be busy comment threads when it finally launches.

Just food for thought :)
Click to expand...
These numbers are really only relevant to MP though. AMS2 is a good example, must be getting close to 400k sales now, which is more than enough to keep Reiza going along quite happily. Yet people will look at those steam figures and say its a failure.

LMU - well, I bought it but I'm not actively playing it until there is more content and they get VR added, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I suspect the sales totals are reasonably good.
 
Cote Dazur
mcroshaw said:
These numbers are really only relevant to MP though
Click to expand...
No, they represent who is playing a Steam game, offline or online. As long as your steam account is online, you are counted.
Antonio Castagna said:
LMU is a success
Click to expand...
Yes it is, when comparing his numbers to any other SIM title, it is very well positioned.
mcroshaw said:
Yet people will look at those steam figures and say its a failure
Click to expand...
By SIM standards, AMS2 is far from a failure, not outstanding, but way up there with the best and most appreciated titles.
Expecting a specialized title like LMU or AMS2 to perform on par with title like FH4, FH5 or BeamNG, is unrealistic. When comparing apple to apple, they both do very well, particularly LMU within the constrain of its ultra specialization.
 
Last edited:
P
justageezer said:
Steam apparently has 132 million average users per month.
Right now there are about one million people playing CS2.
The total (average) number playing all the driving games on this list is ~78,000.
That's about 0.06% of gamers on Steam (I think).
Click to expand...
Sadly racing games are not popular anymore, they were in the late 90's/early 2000's, but not anymore.
justageezer said:
If you include BeanNG as a sim then only about 1/3 of driving gamers play 'real' sims.
Click to expand...
It's a lot less than 1/3, I wouldn't be surprised if it was less than 1/30 or even 1/50, the vast majority of arcade games players are on console, and some are on EGS or Windows Store while sims are mostly Steam exclusives, and there's plenty of niche arcade games not on this list. Plus, sims players are mostly wheel users, while wheel users are a small minority of gamers, and of arcade games players.

For example with Forza Horizon 4, the vast majority of players are on Xbox, and there's probably a lot more players on Windows Store than on Steam (it has been released very late on Steam, after it has been on big sale on Windows Store).
 
Last edited:
Badwheels
They are really going to put this report out every month ? Seriously?
Again, the most played game on Steam is Car Mechanic 2021. Get it right.
 
T
pcraenme said:
Bought the LMU season pass just to support Studio 397 and further development of the game, but are rarely playing it anymore. The lack of VR support makes me play other racing sims more. We need VR support asap!
Click to expand...
Ageed 100%. Studio 397 should be ashamed of themselves. How on earth in 2024 can they bring out a sim racing title with the global appeal of Le Mans and not support VR out of the box?

SORT IT OUT STUDIO 397!
 
MJQT
I'm fascinated that RaceRoom had nearly as many average players as AMS 2, and had more average players than EA WRC, LMU, and rF2. Probably because of their long free period last month, but even so, it goes to show RaceRoom is still fairly relevant. :)

I'm also fascinated DIRT Rally 2.0 has more players than all of those games listed above (by double or more!). Also, WRC 7 (yes, 7!) has more average players on Steam than EA WRC. Ouch. I hope this is because a significant portion of EA WRC players play through the EA app.
 
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K
Someone earlier mentioned 'real sims' so IMO Assetto Corsa can't be called a real anymore as so many play it for reasons away from 'sim', its popularity is that its like BeamNG or GarrysMod, people drving around on mario kart mod tracks and roller coaster track mods and drivable CROCS etc, it can no longer be called a 'real sim'.

So away from that those figures are very very sad for 'real sims', whatever that actually means in the grand scheme of things.
AMS2 is Project Cars basically, certainly same graphics, Raceroom well old, ok ACC is up there which i'm surprised about, but is not looking good is it.
Having said that i don't really care as i just play what i want to play and not what is popular. But if i was dev i'd be making mess about mod games like BeamNG and modded AC...
 
Slapped
When WRC 7, a not brilliant rally game released almost 7 years ago, is beating EA WRC in player numbers it really does show what an absolute cluster(insert preferred copulation profanity) of a game that EA made.
 
Jugulador
justageezer said:
Some thoughts on the monthly numbers:

Steam apparently has 132 million average users per month.
Right now there are about one million people playing CS2.
The total (average) number playing all the driving games on this list is ~78,000.
That's about 0.06% of gamers on Steam (I think).
If you include BeanNG as a sim then only about 1/3 of driving gamers play 'real' sims.
Or, there are twice as many people playing arcade / manager games as play sims, with half of the simmers playing BeamNG.
Not including BeamNG, twice as many simmers play AC as every other sim combined.
The most popular sim and the least popular sim are both Early Access, so LMU's relative unpopularity isn't that.
Turn 10 must be hating these numbers - Forza (motorsport) games used to be a thing.

Q: How many players does a modern sim need to be sustainable? And is it actually possible to make a niche, series-specific sim like LMU profitably in this day and age?

Unlike almost every other type of video game I can think of where you can license a ready-to-go game engine off the shelf, what makes a good sim is the physics / FFB, and the fact that no-one has yet made a game that everyone likes in that regard shows just how hard building that system is.

Some dev teams for the old sims are still pushing out engine improvements years after the game's release - but a new game would be expected to be the same quality from launch. If AC EVO feels worse than, (or even different to) AC then they'll be busy comment threads when it finally launches.

Just food for thought :)
Click to expand...
I agree with @pinkimo, but you still are right.

We became the niche of a niche because a lot of reasons that aren't anyone blame. But there are some issues about modern racing simulators, as the selling model (too much paid DLC, subscriptions or too focused on a niche category) and disguised beta test time that usually is over three years (some got even eight or ten) after the official release (or the forever state of Early Access). Other stuff that are detail, as the fact that these sims are completely unfriendly to gamepad and keyboard (I even seen some players complaining when a dev try to make things better to folks with more humble equipment).

And I can't even say that it's a "small dev's problem" because some big hitters, as Polyphony, took at least one or two years (until a Gran Turismo reach it's 2.0 update) to really deliver the full game. This sht became the development culture in a degree that a large portion of the players stand beside it.

Also, there is the issue of how the overall players are facing gaming nowadays. Forza Horizon franchise totally brainless and skillet with colossal hand holding and abusively cheap attention retention techniques. I know that there is a lot of hardcore sim racers that love FH and I can understand why (still a game with a lot of good things), but then we have an industry that don't conform around a single formula (as happens with other more popular genres) because there isn't that much that you can do about a racing game, as history proved, and have a good feedback. Sim racing became something completely alien in it's own market. From Polyphony to Reiza, it's all about devs that love real racing making games for players that feel the same way. Things can improve, but I can't say how much... maybe it's the same thing as happen with real cars industry where everything is being turned into SUVs. Good for those who like it, but maybe, in the not so far future, people like us here may have to be content with retro gaming or maybe be luck enough for some charitable souls to put on an open source sim that don't cares about profits.
 
Last edited:
M
Premium
kamov22 said:
Someone earlier mentioned 'real sims' so IMO Assetto Corsa can't be called a real anymore as so many play it for reasons away from 'sim', its popularity is that its like BeamNG or GarrysMod, people drving around on mario kart mod tracks and roller coaster track mods and drivable CROCS etc, it can no longer be called a 'real sim'.

So away from that those figures are very very sad for 'real sims', whatever that actually means in the grand scheme of things.
AMS2 is Project Cars basically, certainly same graphics, Raceroom well old, ok ACC is up there which i'm surprised about, but is not looking good is it.
Having said that i don't really care as i just play what i want to play and not what is popular. But if i was dev i'd be making mess about mod games like BeamNG and modded AC...
Click to expand...
AMS2 is far beyond project cars now, that's just a lazy assumption. AC Evo is around the corner, and ACC still has good numbers. I think its a great time to be a sim racer.
 
K
mcroshaw said:
AMS2 is far beyond project cars now, that's just a lazy assumption. AC Evo is around the corner, and ACC still has good numbers. I think its a great time to be a sim racer.
Click to expand...
It very well might be, but it does, for obvious reasons, look like PCars. There is no getting away from that and part of the attraction of a new game by a different dev is what it looks like and what new it brings to the table. And AMS2 is in that respect, PCars.
It's always been a god time to be a sim racer, its all relative, when GTR2 came out it was the best time to be a sim racer.
My point is that in a world where people look at how to make money and keep studios going and food on the table, you go where the money is and it clearly is closer to Forza Horizon than rfactor LeMans, if you want to stay alive.... that IMO is sad for sim racing, look at the state of modding in AC, utter cesspit.
 

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