Minecraft boasts nearly one million concurrent users; is likely the most popular game on PC

While Dota 2 is widely accepted as the most played PC game thanks to Steam's stats page, it probably comes as no surprise that Minecraft is more popular. Mojang's Nathan Adams Tweeted last week that the company has gained access to concurrent player statistics, and the results are staggering: over 998,000 people were playing Minecraft when Adams Tweeted on January 9, and it wasn't even peak hour.

I could have waited 5 minutes to say 1 million, but nobody would believe that. :DJanuary 9, 2015

Keep in mind that this figure accounts for the Windows, Mac and Linux versions of the game. Minecraft is also available for most consoles and smart devices, while older and pirated versions of the game aren't included in the figure. That means there's probably a lot more than a million people playing Minecraft at any given moment. It makes Dota 2's Steam stats look fairly casual by comparison.

Adams added that the popularity of single and multiplayer is usually split an even 50/50. I wonder how many of those are working on their own redstone word processor.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.