# Big Steam update - 100+ million ACTIVE users - new UI **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 23, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289 "2014-09-23T01:25:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/21 "2014-09-25T06:13:32Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > I don’t believe Steam has 100 million users, let alone 100 million unique users that have purchased a game in the last 30 days. It seems about right. Interestingly enough, Steam really kicked into high gear and started morphing into the platform it is today on [November 23, 2005](http://arstechnica.com/uncategorized/2005/11/5616-2/). That’s just a day after the launch of the Xbox 360. So 100 million users (and 200 million total accounts) for a free platform makes decent sense when compared with console sales figures across the same time period. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/22 "2014-09-25T06:27:07Z")
My **mom** is an “active Steam user”. I got her to get an account and buy both seasons of Telltale’s The Walking Dead when it was on sale. She’s super casual, she mostly plays match 3s and simpler P&C adventure/hidden object games, but even she’s started using Steam. Admittedly it was by my prodding, but I imagine there are more than a few casual gamers that get the odd casual game on sale now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/23 "2014-09-25T07:57:16Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > My **mom** is an “active Steam user”. I got her to get an account and buy both seasons of Telltale’s The Walking Dead when it was on sale. She’s super casual, she mostly plays match 3s and simpler P&C adventure/hidden object games, but even she’s started using Steam. Admittedly it was by my prodding, but I imagine there are more than a few casual gamers that get the odd casual game on sale now and then. I would love a look at Steam’s statistics on how many games the average player owns and how many only own 1 or 2. Honestly, it would be fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/24 "2014-09-25T09:46:32Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I would love a look at Steam’s statistics on how many games the average player owns and how many only own 1 or 2. Honestly, it would be fascinating. There’s probably a lot of accounts that are only used to play DOTA2. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/25 "2014-09-25T10:11:43Z")
It says one of the requirements of being considered an active account is that the account must have purchased games, so I doubt DOTA qualifies, except maybe if you’ve bought something in game. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/26 "2014-09-25T13:23:32Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > It says one of the requirements of being considered an active account is that the account must have purchased games, so I doubt DOTA qualifies, except maybe if you’ve bought something in game. Huh. Yeah. It’s an interesting question in this “Free to play games exist” world as to exactly what “purchasing a game” entails. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/27 "2014-09-25T14:01:55Z")
And another development: New Steam music player. Plays your mp3’s in the background, can be controlled from the overlay so you don’t have to leave your game. I little meh about it. With many games supporting borderless window mode, alt+tab is super quick. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/28 "2014-09-25T15:12:06Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > And another development: New Steam music player. Plays your mp3’s in the background, can be controlled from the overlay so you don’t have to leave your game. > > I little meh about it. With many games supporting borderless window mode, alt+tab is super quick. Yeah, I was going to say - are there REALLY that many games that work with shift+tab (Steam Overlay - I’ve had a few games choke weirdly on this stuff) that don’t work with alt+tab? I mean, FFS guys, at this point, “works with alt-tab” should be a bloody requirement. Sure, there might be some old games that don’t play nice, but those should be few and far between. Maybe this is a Big Picture enhancement, really, where they’re trying to match console functionality for people playing games on their TVs? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289/29 "2014-09-25T15:15:49Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Yeah, I was going to say - are there REALLY that many games that work with shift+tab (Steam Overlay - I’ve had a few games choke weirdly on this stuff) that don’t work with alt+tab? I mean, FFS guys, at this point, “works with alt-tab” should be a bloody requirement. Sure, there might be some old games that don’t play nice, but those should be few and far between. > > Maybe this is a Big Picture enhancement, really, where they’re trying to match console functionality for people playing games on their TVs? Yeah, that was first thought after I posted that. Seems a lot handier for the big screen types. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-steam-update-100-million-active-users-new-ui/699289.md?page=1)