What are your most-played games on Steam, and why have you spent so many hours on them?
You possibly can kind your Steam library in numerous methods. Through launch date, or measurement on disk, or share of accomplished achievements. One possibility appears to exist simply to provide you an existential disaster: Type By Hours Performed.
Whereas it isn’t going to report all of the hours you set into MMOs with their very own launchers or video games you performed GOG or Epic or no matter, there’s nonetheless more likely to be one thing in your record that makes you consider methods these hours may have been higher spent, whether or not on a extra enriching exercise, or simply on a extra fulfilling recreation.
Nick Evanson, {Hardware} Author: 1,1780 hours in Hearts of Iron 4. It is a love-hate factor and it is all concerning the ridiculous achievements. I have been attempting for years to get 100% however each time I get to across the 75% mark, a brand new DLC comes out and I am again to sq. one. Someday Paradox will cease updating it and I am going to lastly be in with an opportunity of getting all of them. Till then, it is simply an infinite slog of working via methods to get a sure achievement and hating myself for doing it.
Chris Livingston, Senior Editor: In line with Steam my most-played recreation is Crew Fortress 2 (417 hours), which I performed just about each night time for a few couple years after its launch after which primarily by no means touched once more. It was a hangout recreation that I ultimately ditched as a result of, frankly, I used to be bored with getting stomped by individuals who really get higher at a recreation over 400+ hours, not like myself who by no means improves irrespective of what number of instances I POOSH CART.
My runners-up are DayZ (370 hours), No Man’s Sky (266 hours), Skyrim (239 hours, although add one other 40 for Particular Version), Elite Harmful (226), and Crops Vs. Zombies (216).
However throw all that nonsense out. My most-played recreation is definitely The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, however I did not play it on Steam, I performed it on the disc video games used to return on. I’ve two important character saves that mix to 500 hours, plus a number of aspect characters that most likely make up one other 100. Why? Cuz Oblivion guidelines and all the things else drools, clearly.
Robin Valentine, Senior Editor: I feel I am most likely the odd one out right here, in that I do not are likely to spend a ton of time in anyone recreation. To seek out my 1000+ hours examples you’d should look to different launchers for video games like Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, Legends of Runeterra, or League of Legends, however even then these are all in my ever extra distant previous.
I’ve a minimum of received the near-200 hours in TF2, which looks like virtually a profession requirement on this web site, and with comparable chunks of time in each XCOM video games, Slay the Spire, and Crusader Kings 2, I definitely match a specific PC gaming stereotype.
I am stunned Borderlands 2 is in there. I should have performed plenty of it in co-op, despite the fact that now I may barely summon a mote of enthusiasm for the sequence. Balatro is a extra feelgood inclusion—an actual testomony to the hooks it received into me this 12 months that it is already my eighth most-played Steam recreation ever. I feel if LocalThunk ever releases an enlargement it will most likely find yourself at primary.
Mollie Taylor, Options Producer: I’ve put my fingers up on a number of events at this level and admitted that I spent a very good chunk of my life as a console gamer—pay attention, I used to be a toddler of divorce, I travelled between homes loads, it was simpler and cheaper to cart one PlayStation round as and once I happy than it was a whole desktop or costly gaming laptop computer—so my Steam numbers are slightly missing.
I am additionally responsible of spending plenty of time with different non-Steam launchers. I’ve racked up a wholesome triple-digit playtime on The Sims 4 over within the EA app, and I might reasonably not try to guesstimate what number of hours I’ve sunk into quite a few gacha video games through the years.
Truthfully, my largest shock right here is that I put over 30 hours into Halo Infinite. I imply, I barely even bear in mind enjoying that recreation for an hour, not to mention a whole day’s price of hours after which some. I swear I am going to try to play extra issues that are not Remaining Fantasy 14 sooner or later, too. Possibly.
Jake Tucker, Editorial Director, PC Gaming Present: This omits the 5,000 hours (and counting) I’ve put into Escape From Tarkov, however probably the most baffling factor is I do not even suppose Dota 2 is a very good recreation, I simply preserve enjoying it anyway. Every thing else feels prefer it’s tied to a zeitgeist. I received into PUBG when everybody else did, Soccer Supervisor 2020 as a lockdown interest, and Rainbow Six Siege when it was a very good recreation.
The newest explosion is Area Station 14, which I like to placed on whereas I work, connecting to a server in observe mode and watching different gamers going about their lives like my very own private terrarium.
Joshua Wolens, Information Author: I may be distinctive at PCG in not having a multiplayer recreation in my most-played. It’s because I don’t have any mates have wonderful style in singleplayer RPGs and map-painting video games. A few of them are straightforward to clarify: I’ve replayed just about all of those video games, and issues like New Vegas, Mass Impact, Spelunky, and MGS5 are there particularly as a result of I additionally went out of my technique to get each achievement in them even after pouring a whole lot of hours in. CK2, EU4, and Stellaris are self-explanatory—Paradox video games eat time.
The one outlier, actually, is Skyrim, which I do not notably like. Blame my youthful brother, who put a complete bunch of time into the sport on my account when he was a wee’un.
Sean Martin, Senior Guides Author: What can I say? I like making little males run round and stab one another. Whole Battle is without doubt one of the sequence that received me into PC gaming and there aren’t many examples of a format which has been so efficiently iterated upon through the years. The worrying half is that this does not take into consideration something I performed earlier than 2016, resembling my numerous hours in Rome and Medieval Whole Battle, my obsession with Fallout and Elder Scrolls, or my console gaming.
I’ve additionally been enjoying Future 2 since Shadowkeep, so not all that lengthy, however new dungeons, raids, and enjoyable construct stuff retains me coming again.
Phil Savage, World Editor-in-Chief: Clearly the large quantity right here is Future 2, a recreation that—for all of Bungie’s many missteps—stays a enjoyable shooter stuffed with cool weapons. That 3,000+ hours accounts for lots of various experiences, from main mates via their first raids, to tense solo flawless dungeon makes an attempt, to only kicking again with some TV on the second display and farming for a particular function of regardless of the scorching new gun is. I think about there’s a number of hundred hours in there that have been purely devoted to serving to mates clear their vaults.
I feel the extra shocking factor for me is how most of the video games on the prime of my record have been ones I began enjoying this 12 months. The relative lack of main, apparent blockbusters has made it a good time for exploring niches, and the result’s video games like Balatro, Passable, and In opposition to the Storm—all video games I performed for the primary time this 12 months—capturing as much as the highest of my most-played record.
Lauren Morton, Affiliate Editor: I am like Mollie in that my Steam hours do not actually inform the total image by an extended shot as a result of I spend a lot time in different launchers. The actual highest-hour-count video games not pictured listed here are years of Minecraft, Sims 4, Purple Lifeless On-line, and Guild Wars 2. I’ve additionally positively received double that Elder Scrolls On-line hour rely in its personal launcher earlier than I obtain it on Steam and simply one other 200 hours of Stardew Valley on my Nintendo Change.
Truthfully I am form of pleased with how assorted my style is right here although. I at one level performed plenty of H1Z1 and PUBG after they kicked off however I am additionally a girl of style with the unique Baldur’s Gate and my area of interest indie darling Ebook of Travels. I am slightly appalled that I managed to place 130 hours into Thatgamecompany’s cozy dwell service recreation Sky: Kids of the Mild since its PC launch this spring. I actually nonetheless am an MMO sicko at coronary heart.
Natanael Albuquerque, Social Media Editor: Licensed GOG person right here. Except for rating Soccer Managers from finest to worst, my Steam is split between an account for normal play, and an account for single participant video games. Like Robin, my LoL + GOG hours trumps my Steam web page, and I am unable to precisely say how a lot time I’ve received on emulation.
Truthfully, now that I do know I’ve most likely received extra lifetime hours in League than our hardcore Future vets, I am pleased I’ve stop.
Harvey Randall, Workers Author: I reasonably like Remaining Fantasy 14 to this present day, which is why it is so far up on that record (I spend plenty of time roleplaying in it, as nicely, which makes me really feel slightly higher. At the least it is a artistic and social interest). The remainder of these, although, are video games I spent enjoying in my misspent youth; I left my Dota 2 section behind me years in the past, and I solely touched Champions On-line on this decade as a result of I used to be writing an article about it. Baldur’s Gate 3 is an apparent inclusion, as a result of I’ve accomplished 2.8 playthroughs (I gave up on my evil one in Act 3), and it is more likely to see one other 100 hours when Patch 8 comes out and I’ve all these yummy subclasses to muck about with.
Exterior of that and, say, Elden Ring? That is principally a historic report of a time the place I received to play much more videogames, and spent loads much less time writing about them. Particular shout out to Mount & Blade: Warband, which had shockingly advanced and reflex-based PvP fight with a talent ceiling larger than the Sistine Chapel.
Lincoln Carpenter, Information Author: Taking a look at my most-played Steam video games all the time entails an quantity of mourning for me, and never as a result of I’ve apparently clocked over 1,400 hours in Warframe (having dependable entry to a free-to-play recreation for over a decade can do horrible issues). Fairly, it is as a result of I am compelled to relive the lack of Marvel Heroes, Gazillion’s Diablo-like superhero ARPG that launched in 2013, by which I spent greater than 1,000 hours clicking round as numerous Marvel guys whereas listening to podcasts. Looks like a bizarre combo on paper, but it surely seems isometric ARPG fight is an ideal match for enjoying as superhumans who can sleepwalk their approach via throwdowns with roomfuls of thugs. The sport had a lackluster begin, however Gazillion finally constructed an actual expertise for designing talents and animations that embodied every hero’s schtick; thundering via Dr. Doom’s fort as Thor or somersaulting throughout the chaos of Midtown Mayhem as Spider-Man felt precisely as like think about you’d think about it could from seeing it in a comic book web page.
My Wolverine bleed builds and Dr. Doom sorcery setups have been immaculate. The injury numbers from my Captain America’s torqued protect throws have been a factor of magnificence. Even because the MCU began to change into exhausting to endure, my love for Marvel Heroes held—till Gazillion abruptly shuttered in 2017 when Disney pulled their license amidst harassment allegations leveraged in opposition to the studio’s CEO. From time to time, I am going to look on the Steam dialogue boards, the place former gamers are nonetheless leaving including replies to a 275-page thread titled, merely, “Carry the sport again :(“
Some wounds by no means heal.
Unlucky that I am unable to see the sum whole of Dwarf Fortress hours I’ve amassed throughout completely different installs and PCs since I used to be 16, although. Time to spice up my numbers with the Steam model, I assume.
Andy Chalk, Information Lead: I like singleplayer video games.
(I am nonetheless enjoying Cyberpunk, I doubt there’s sufficient left to surpass Elden Ring however one by no means is aware of.)
Morgan Park, Workers Author: Holy crap, Andy.
My most-played record is led by three multiplayer FPSes which have carved out a everlasting residence in my mind—Siege, Day of Defeat: Supply, and Hunt: Showdown. These Siege hours do not think about my PS4 or Xbox One playtime, so the true quantity is nicely over 2,000 nowadays. Day of Defeat was the primary PC shooter I ever received into, partially as a result of I joined a role-playing military unit led by a 70-year-old vet from Canada.
It is actually humorous to see Mount & Blade up there as a result of I’ve by no means performed the bottom recreation—all that playtime is within the Napoleonic Wars multiplayer enlargement.
Good to see one 2024 recreation break onto the record: Helldivers 2 is my private GOTY and it is so good even my accomplice, who could be fairly choosy about shooters, adores it.
Ted Litchfield, Affiliate Editor: I am principally pleased with my most-playeds, with the notable exception of Future 2. I am nowhere close to Phil, Tim, or Sean’s hours, but it surely was my “early pandemic distress” recreation, and it is gonna take an extended rattling time to knock it from the highest spot with a weight loss program of principally singleplayer stuff.
I additionally gotta say that the messed-up, depreciated, and delisted unique Steam launch of Dragon Age 2 being up there looks like an honor. Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk are notable omissions for me since I personal each of these on GOG as an alternative.
