Most Played Racing Games On Steam In February 2024

Most-Played-Racing-Games-Steam-February-2024-1024x576.jpg
The real racing season is picking up the pace, and it shows in the most played racing games on Steam in February 2024 as well. Here are the numbers!

Image credit: KT Racing

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.

As winter slowly makes way for spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and the real racing season is starting up with more and more events, the most played racing games on Steam in February 2024 show interesting trends - and quite a surprise as well.

Up front, BeamNG.drive has once again passed Forza Horizon 5, although the diffrrence in average players is miniscule. Further back, however, it is obvious that the Formula One season started in early March. In anticipation of the Bahrain Grand Prix, F1 23, the newly-delisted F1 22, F1 2021 and even F1 2020 have seen increases in player numbers, although the latter two did not crack the 250 mark of our list.

Meanwhile, both F1 Manager 2023 and 2022 have also seen renewed interest. The crown for the highest percentage of players gained goes to WRC 7, however. In fact, the game posted a higher peak than even Assetto Corsa - despite there being no less than four sequels. And it even outranks EA Sports WRC. Its relatively tame hardware requirements and often low price when on sale might play a part in this.


Le Mans Ultimate: Strong Debut​

Of course, February was also the debut month for Le Mans Ultimate. The game was released to Early Access on February 20 and almost cracked the top 10 immediately. Interestingly, the big interest in LMU did not seem to have a noticeable effect on rFactor 2, on which it is based. rF2's numbers virtually stayed the same, with only a small loss of average players.

TitleAvg. Players
Peak
Gain %
BeamNG.drive12,272.2
21,916​
-6.01
Forza Horizon 512,118.4
27,629
-9.23
Assetto Corsa9,034.6
17,355​
-6.66
Need for Speed Heat
5879​
15,159​
36.31
Forza Horizon 45,466.3
13,617​
-8.77
F1 233,033.7
6,886​
15.99
Assetto Corsa Competizione2,719.1
7,183​
-0.6
CarX Drift Racing Online2,149.0
3,849​
-14.01
MX Bikes2,064.4
3,594​
1.97
Need for Speed Unbound1,723.3
3,924​
-1.84
My Summer Car1,642.6
3,818​
-20.4
Le Mans Ultimate
1548.4​
4691​
0​
Dirt Rally 2.0
1092.4​
2,266​
6.58
F1 Manager 2023870.8
2,162​
13.54
WRC 7
819.6​
10,755​
151.81
EA Sports WRC765.9
1,734​
-5.33
Need For Speed Payback
753.3​
1,930​
17.78
Asphalt 9 Legends751.7
1,172​
-4.29
Trackmania725.4
1,983​
-17.78
Automobilista 2
585.3​
1,477​
-30.98
Forza Motorsport556.3
1,081​
-5.43
rFactor 2497.5
1,166​
-1.95
The Crew 2474.0
713​
-7.62
Wreckfest418.8
1,092​
-21.47
Disney Speedstorm416.0
939​
-14.84
F1 22414.9
965​
8.87
RaceRoom400.3
929​
-1.88
Need For Speed
333.1​
907​
14.82​
Motorsport Manager
325.6​
656​
23.6​
Mon Bazou
293.3​
619​
-44.56​
Need For Speed Most Wanted
285.8​
691​
-5.59​
Most Played Racing Games on Steam in February 2024 (cap at 250 avg. players; top values in bold)

What do you make of the most played racing games on Steam in February 2024? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
About author
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

Comments

Wtf is AMS2 doing

More YT videos than players
Besides Mon Bazou (whatever that is) it had the biggest decrease in players too, -30%.
Perhaps Le Mans Ultimate had something to do with it and the fact that the AMS2 dev are taking some time off I dunno.
 
Premium
Looks like AMS2 endurance racers moved to LMU last month. AMS2 should focus on its strengths. Endurance racing on Le Mans with just about 30 other cars is not one of them, when LMU does that with more than 60 cars. I hope AMS2, which I like and play a lot, will focus on other things and leave endurance racing to LMU.

Looks like AMS2 endurance racers moved to LMU last month. AMS2 should focus on its strengths. Endurance racing on Le Mans with just about 30 other cars is not one of them, when LMU does that with more than 60 cars. I hope AMS2, which I like and play a lot, will focus on other things and leave endurance racing to LMU.
And what did the "endurance racers" did about the 1fps menu lag bug? Did i miss something?
I mean i would like to give LMu more playtime but at the moment it´s completly unplayable as soo i enter the menus while in a raceweekend.
 
And what did the "endurance racers" did about the 1fps menu lag bug? Did i miss something?
I mean i would like to give LMu more playtime but at the moment it´s completly unplayable as soo i enter the menus while in a raceweekend.
I don’t think this is the topic to discuss LMU bugs. AMS2 had a boost when the endurance content was released, but numbers have decreased now LMU has been released, even with its bugs in EA release. That can be no coincidence. And yes, the LMU UI gets sluggish for me as well at some times, but unplayable… not at all. Sorry to hear it is that bad for you, but I think this week a new version of LMU will be released (not the smaller hotfixes we have seen so far) which hopefully solves the UI bugs.
 
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Premium
When a new racing game is released, it is the most played at that time, so it is not relevant. Now that Formula 1 has started, more people are playing the game again. Do I think Le Man Ultimate is better than Ams2, no, do I think Ams2 is better than Leman Ultimate, no. Play both with a lot of fun with a slight advantage for ams2.
Not really sure how what you posted here has any relevance to the popcorn pic. This tread every month normally turns into a, lord of the flies, my sim is better than your sim :poop: show.
 
As an AC enjoyer I feel like the king of the thread watching peasants fighting over leftover bits of turnip. Nice thing to look forward to every month. :coffee:

For the one guy that always exists. This is intended as humour.
 
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I do see sim racing is losing its edge as so many have lost users, or is it ppl are just sick of old sims or just buy more sims to feed their addiction ? Lets hope a new sim comes out in the next few yrs and wipes the floor of most developers / sims with a new game engine ect... @ Marcel Offerman he might just be the person / developer to do it with his new sim he is building "The last garage". Only time will tell but from what i have read he is going in the right direction. https://thelastgarage.com/ check it out if not already.
 
Not really sure how what you posted here has any relevance to the popcorn pic. This tread every month normally turns into a, lord of the flies, my sim is better than your sim :poop: show.
I think the OP's comment of the relevancy of timings is actually accurate and one of the reasons I believe RD does these articles every month - to view such trends. It's not about bragging, attacking or defending, and it's just accurate observation to point out that new titles and / or correlation to real life events influence the trends for that month.

What'll be interesting now is the longevity of those trends in terms of who sticks with a title and who moves on, which RD will no doubt publish the figures for next month.
 
A lot of "X title is better than Y title" is tedious and silly. If you personally rate a title, then that's all that really matters.

Nevertheless, if we are being served up dogshit then little wonder there are few takers.

I've recently got VR and it transforms some sims, notably AC and Flightsim. It really adds something though even VR can't improve the often dreadful AI in AC.

But I've tried DR1 and 2in VR now and I have to say, they are utter dogshit. I was never a big fan of DR1 though I played it quite a bit, and DR2 was always the same old balls - just more of the same and I barely touched it.

In VR they are laughably bad - not because of VR implementation, which is good. But because of the complete dogshit handling, which is so bad it made me ill (and I'm pretty immune to VR nausea now). There is something so obviously wrong with the driving model - the central pivot type crap, I suspect. Instant uninstall for both titles. Complete crap. Can't even tell if car is RWD, doesn't steer from front wheels properly, stupid weird 'slides', no sense of it being a real car at all. Just WRONG and CRAP.

And these are often considered "the best" on offer. Well, no wonder there is a lack of excitement in the scene. How can folks be expected to get excited when this is the junk on offer?

A single car with brilliant physics would be enough to sell a title. I'm not surprised BEamNG is leading the way. Good for them. BeamNG and Mudrunner combo would be something. No, we get WRC 2028 for £70. No chance is that crap selling big.
 
Ah the monthly dose of my sim is better than yours because an arbitrary number shows it...

They've all got many flaws, but for me the worst flaws are the ones that screw with the competition on track... Bad track cuts, bugged out set ups, pit stop errors, weather inconsistencies or a good old dose of extra grip for those whose set ups like that particular sim more than others...

2024 is definitely the year to get your fill of the old guard of AC, rF2 and Raceroom... Because the dawn of the golden age of sim racing will be upon us in 2025...
 
Premium
RD does these articles every month as they require very little effort and drive a great deal of engagement.

The algorithm rejoices.
 
WRC 5 & 6 were one of the worst games I've ever seen.
WRC5 is one of the best racing games. I thought the same as you while I wanted a simulator from it, but as soon as I realized that it was just NFS on gravel, everything changed. You don't need a steering wheel, you need a gamepad, a sofa and a TV. Don't demand anything from her and then you will like her.
 
Premium
I think the OP's comment of the relevancy of timings is actually accurate and one of the reasons I believe RD does these articles every month - to view such trends. It's not about bragging, attacking or defending, and it's just accurate observation to point out that new titles and / or correlation to real life events influence the trends for that month.

What'll be interesting now is the longevity of those trends in terms of who sticks with a title and who moves on, which RD will no doubt publish the figures for next month.
I don't disagree with what you or the OP said, but his and your post has no relevancy to making a joke because this thread usually turns in to... "bragging, attacking or defending". His post seemed to be more relevant to me saying LMU pushed AMS2 off a cliff. That was no slight toward AMS2, it was just accurate observation. AMS2 had a nice bump the last few months and now its back down to where it was prior to the big patch update and dlc release. Unless NFS Heat was a factor... which I doubt, LMU was probably the culprit. Like you said, how long will it last.
 

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