Image credit: Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
The popularity of racing games and simulations is hard to gauge, especially since they seem to vary considerably around the releases of new content, big updates or even influences of real-world events. What can be gauged, however, is cold, hard numbers - so we did just that for the most important racing titles on Steam in May 2023.
The warm weather in most of the northern hemisphere as summer is approaching was noticeable in May: Almost every title on our list has seen a dip in average player numbers, such as both F1 22 and F1 Manager 2022. Not much has happened in the pecking order compared to the April numbers, but there is a surprising resurgence.
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.
Meanwhile, F1 23 has been announced in early May, and F1 22's numbers have decreased since - a whopping 25,87% loss of average players is still not enough to make it tumble down the order, however. It is F1 Manager 2022 that took the biggest hit of the month, however, at a loss of 27,63%.
Full Article
The popularity of racing games and simulations is hard to gauge, especially since they seem to vary considerably around the releases of new content, big updates or even influences of real-world events. What can be gauged, however, is cold, hard numbers - so we did just that for the most important racing titles on Steam in May 2023.
The warm weather in most of the northern hemisphere as summer is approaching was noticeable in May: Almost every title on our list has seen a dip in average player numbers, such as both F1 22 and F1 Manager 2022. Not much has happened in the pecking order compared to the April numbers, but there is a surprising resurgence.
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.
No Changes Up Front
Even though BeamNG.drive is the only title of the top three that has seen an increase in player numbers, the podium remained unchanged in May: Forza Horizon 5 is still going strong, followed by BeamnNG.drive and Assetto Corsa. Behind the top three, Forza Horizon 4 holds station.Meanwhile, F1 23 has been announced in early May, and F1 22's numbers have decreased since - a whopping 25,87% loss of average players is still not enough to make it tumble down the order, however. It is F1 Manager 2022 that took the biggest hit of the month, however, at a loss of 27,63%.
Unexpected Resurgence
While Need For Speed Unbound was ranking behind its predecessor in April, the title has seen an enormous increase in players in May: A 136,19% gain means more average players than NFS Heat and even F1 Manager 2022. Interestingly, the numbers had dropped when the big Vol. 2 Update was released in March - only to take off again now.Continue Reading
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