Most Played Racing Titles on Steam in June 2023

BeamNG.drive Steam Most Played June 2023.jpg
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 June 2023.

Image credit: BeamNG

With June 2023 seeing the releases of titles like F1 23 and MotoGP 23, a few interesting newcomers to the list of most played racing games on Steam could be expected, and it is no surprise that one of them immediately shot up to the top five of the ranking, although compared to the May numbers, the top titles are still going strong without a change in order.

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.

New Challenger Can't Crack the Podium​

The biggest new release of June was F1 23: The latest instalment of the official Formula One series of games by EA Sports and Codemasters officially launched on June 16th and attracted a considerable number of players, as had to be expected. Yet, the new F1 title cannot quite make the podium.

Instead, it has to queue behind Forza Horizon 4 in fourth, Assetto Corsa in third, BeamNG.drive in second and Forza Horizon 5 at the very top. All four of these titles have seen gains in their player bases compared to May, with the ring leader boasting the biggest percentage in this regard among the top five. The Steam Summer Sale likely has not had much of an effect yet, as it only started on June 29th - its influence should show in the July numbers.

RaceRoom Gains Significantly​

Meanwhile, the effects of RaceRoom's Free Access Period followed by the Summer Sale (which is still ongoing at the time of writing this article) could be felt within the ranking as well: Compared to May, the sim saw an increase of almost 27% in players as the peak was up by almost 400 players.

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About author
Yannik Haustein
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

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Comments

D
Large Style said:
To those who disagreed with my comment / opinion of thinking that AMS2 & Raceroom should be higher in the list...

1) My point still stands but I'd never actually expect niche titles to be popular than mainstream as that obviously would be logically / statistically impossible.
2) That said, I still would like to have seen the charts reversed, just as I'd like mainstream music to be less popular than more extreme genres, and also have mainstream movies be less popular than more artsy / independent films.
3) Before anyone calls out my terminology, I get the fact that there will always be mainstream vs niche, even if mainstream became niche & vice versa.
4) While I again understand the logic of how & why everything is where it is, I think the world is more often than not completely backwards and the complete opposite of what it should be.
Click to expand...
You missed the point that it's the last on the list after ALL sims, not only after all that other junk editor threw in, so not sure what are you arguing about. Yes, it could fare better, esp. after recent changes, but it's not, and your or my opinion is unlikely going to change it, users vote with their feet.
 
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K
peppepino said:
yes, point taken here
I also genuinely think that the aversion to mods is penalizing AMS2. But it s a (stupid) studio call
AMS was great because of the mods back then
Click to expand...

I believe the difficulty to add mods is caused by the Madness engine. Reiza is supposed to make it more mod-friendly eventually. There are some excellent mods available and it is not that difficult to add them, once you know how. It's just a few more mouse clicks. But it's not Assetto Corsa, for sure.

As per me, mods are not the main reason I'll play a sim. The absence of mods for ACC doesn't bother me one bit.
 
Large Style
Andrew_WOT said:
You missed the point that it's the last on the list after ALL sims, not only after all that other junk editor threw in, so not sure what are you arguing about. Yes, it could fare better, esp. after recent changes, but it's not, and your or my opinion is unlikely going to change it, users vote with their feet.
Click to expand...
1) What exactly did I "miss"? Are you trying to say that my opinion is mute as AMS2 has the lowest sim numbers? How does that devalue my opinion?

2) "All that other junk" belongs on RD's list as not only is it their website and they can do what they want, but they've also been clear that they're RaceDepartment not SimDepartment.

3) I'm not arguing anything. All my comments are simply my own opinion, and anyone with half a brain should know that you can't argue opinions, only facts.

4) Of course my opinion isn't going to change anything and I never even hinted that it could / should. People can just share their opinions without expectations placed, and if anyone reads it that way then that's their problem not mine.

Respectfully, do you not see the irony in calling out for someone for being argumentative when they were simply sharing their opinions? Note how many times I used the word opinion in this post - it's as if I had an emphasis on that for some reason.
 
D
Not arguing anything just pointing out that AMS2 at the bottom not because of the "casual" titles on the same list like you suggest, it's just at the bottom, that's it.
 
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S
John B. Ellis said:
Copernicus and Darwin aside, I would rather think that opinions are typically much more susceptible to debate than facts ... at least it used to be that way.
Click to expand...
People nowadays claim that opinions are not supposed to be put under scrutiny, because it gives them freedom to voice the most ridiculous stuff and not be challenged about it.
 
DB_1973
Premium
Durge Driven said:
The difference I see is they just enjoy them, they don't sit in judgement of each other arguing over shooting physics and bullet dynamics or yours is better then mine.
Click to expand...
This is not true, as I work with a dude into first person shooters and that is exactly what he talks about with why he plays one game and not an other. How realistic is the recoil rise, and the bullet physics ect.

Durge Driven said:
2) lol turn your multiplier down by each car, I used a Black Momo for years which is way lighter then the G series and still got most amazing feelings. I could take air out of one tyre and feel it. Yes I did wreck about 4 black Momos ( all replaced free) but that was only cause I cranked it up too far. lol
Click to expand...
I have not played rf2 in a while, but have they added a FFB meter to show when you are clipping your wheel yet? I always thought that for a hardcore sim that was a big miss. It would be way easier to tune a wheel if that was available.
 
Large Style
John B. Ellis said:
Copernicus and Darwin aside, I would rather think that opinions are typically much more susceptible to debate than facts ... at least it used to be that way.
Click to expand...
They are.

Facts are objective and typically can't be argued with being an essentially closed black & white topic, while opinions are subjective and can be reasonably and unreasonably argued with all day long being an open topic with an almost endless amount of grey.

I'm personally just not keen when people confuse the two, as in state opinion as if it were fact or vice versa. Debate over opinions can obviously hold merit and be healthy discussion, but when opinion is misinterpreted as an argument then that's clearly not quite as healthy.

Anyhoo - no worries & no offence taken and hopefully not given :)
 
Mikke73
Premium
Stelcio said:
AC and BeamNG are great car sandboxes, but not too many people use them for actual racing.

And Forza Horizon series are currently the best open-world racing games, and those were very popular ever since they were first made.

Conclusions? If you want to have a big playerbase, make a good, engaging, fun game, not just good physics.
Click to expand...
There are also plenty of people like me who use AC for practically nothing else but actual racing. That includes practicing for the next race, of course.

AC with its idiotic AI is not a good game (not much of a game at all), but it's always easy to find a good online race when you feel like it.
 
Metla
Premium
AC would be a more complete Sim if after getting punted off track by the AI you could attack their car in a rage and smash your helmet through their windscreen.
 
Durge Driven
DB_1973 said:
This is not true, as I work with a dude into first person shooters and that is exactly what he talks about with why he plays one game and not an other. How realistic is the recoil rise, and the bullet physics ect.


I have not played rf2 in a while, but have they added a FFB meter to show when you are clipping your wheel yet? I always thought that for a hardcore sim that was a big miss. It would be way easier to tune a wheel if that was available.
Click to expand...


rF2 is different from other sims.

The FFB multiplier must be tweaked for each and every car you drive
The most I use with a CSL DD is around 75% down to 50%
Usually the more nimble lighter the car the less multiplier but there are exceptions.

Not to confuse that is not FFB strength ( that stays at 100% for me )


I was talking specifically about the shooter reviews in Steam. ;)
Yes they talk about positives of the shooter they use but I never saw people bag a shooter in another shooter review.
Sim people do it all the time in Steam and here.
 
Durge Driven
Badwheels said:
Why would anyone care what game is the most played ? If you play and you like it, end of story. This article baits the numbskulls into defending whatever it is they worship.
Click to expand...

Numbskulls ? Worship ? :x3:
Sounds like you having a bad day to me.
 
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D
Durge Driven said:
Yes they talk about positives of the shooter they use but I never saw people bag a shooter in another shooter review.
Click to expand...
You are kidding, right, FPS people are the worst?
BF vs COD used to be a meme, when BF was half decent.
 
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wolftree
Kingkoenig said:
Regarding the numbers for AMS2: no surprise there. I think AMS2 is really great, but a sim that features tracks like Cascavel or Snetterton and cars like Brazilian Stock Cars or Formula Inter simply won't appeal to the vast majority of gamers who prefer Gran Turismo or Forza. AMS2 is a niche sim, simple as that.
Click to expand...
I think iRacing is really great, but a sim that features tracks like Concord Speedway or Tsukuba and cars like Brazilian Stock Cars or Formula Vee simply won't appeal to the vast majority of gamers who prefer Gran Turismo or Forza. iRacing is a niche sim, simple as that.
 
Metla
Premium
Of course iRacing is great, as is AC, ACC, AMS 2,Dirt Rally 2, WRC, Beamng ,even the F1 series is great.

All the titles we get to play in this era are great .........apart from rF2.

rFactor2 is pants.
 
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Durge Driven
Andrew_WOT said:
You are kidding, right, FPS people are the worst?
BF vs COD used to be a meme, when BF was half decent.
Click to expand...

So you have 100's, 1,000's of shooters and all these people rag on the same as they do here ?
Like every title 10 years later ????

I call bs.
 
P
Lukasz Milewski said:
There's no SIM with good career mode. Unless you take pleasure in the simulated driving experience there's nothing there. What's the point of winning a race if it doesn't get you anything?
Click to expand...
You sum up the situation well. We are on two different planets. Since the merger of Racedepartment with the other site whose name I forgot, we find ourselves with more people who are more with a spirit like yours, very respectable I specify, and guys like me who are looking before the most realistic driving experience possible.
I regret the spirit that reigned over Racedepartment before this merger, but that's how it is, the money above all. Damage.
On the other hand, know that simulation does not mean racing alone.
You can take pleasure in just driving, it's true, and what a pleasure!
But the races between real people on the net are incredibly more interesting than on a Forza for example, and I know what I'm talking about, I competed at a high level on Forza 2, 3 and 4 and it was very fun too, but nothing to do with real simulations.
 
P
There are fewer people who listen to Mozart than Justin Bieber, who is the best? Two different worlds, that's all.
(we will see in two hundred years if we will still listen to Bieber, personally I listen to Led Zeppelin.)
 

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