Most Popular Games in the World by Monthly Active Users (MAU) to Play on PC

Also known as computer games, PC games are the games commonly played on a Personal Computer. They have become very popular in recent years, owing to the advantages ranging from flexibility with User-Generated Content (UGC), customizable experience and upgrades.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and most recently, X (Twitter), is an avid video gamer. In a podcast with Lex Fridman, he said, “I’ve played many video games because it’s my main recreational activity.”

This article discusses the most played games in the world and how they stack up by the number of persons playing them.

What is the Most Popular Game in the World to Play?

Though it is very mainstream and has both PC and mobile support, Call of Duty is not the leading game in the world. As of May 2023, Minecraft led the market, followed by Fortnite, a battle royale heavyweight game. Other top games trending on PCs are:

• ROBLOX
• Counter-Strike 2 & GO
• Minecraft
• The Sims 4
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Call of Duty

Here’s a detailed breakdown of these games by the Monthly Active Users (MAU).

Minecraft

Launched in May 2009 and published by Mojang Studios, Minecraft cemented its place as one of the games that remained trending many years after its launch. As of 2023, the daily active users were 25 million, a figure which would peak at Monthly Active Users of 166 million in 2024.

Roblox

Roblox gained traction among the younger gaming population, with most of them between the ages of 17 and 24. As of the first quarter of 2024, it had 77.7 million Daily Active Users (DAU) and a Monthly Active User (MUA) base of 216 million gamers.

Fortnite

Fortnite, a Battle Royale game, which dominated the PC gaming market in 2023, still has a huge base.

At the end of 2023, it had amassed over 650 million registered users and stood at over 230 million MAUs in 2024.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

As one of the highest and fastest-selling gaming franchises, Call of Duty also proves its mettle in the market with a decent player base.

Fact: According to the data pulled from Steam Charts, the game had a Monthly Active User (MAU) base of 129,0056 players in May 2024, representing a 14.83% decline from the 165,756 users recorded in April 2024.

Counter-Strike 2 & GO

This upgraded version of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive came into the market in September 2023 and gained traction to amass up to 1.556 million peak players. However, it appears to be on a steady decline in the following months, with 1.36 million MAUs in October 2023 and 1.16 million players in November 2023.

Things are, however, looking up in 2024, with the data as of May 2024 showing a peak player base of 1.614 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs).

League of Legends

Released in 2009, League of Legends is one of the most-played games in the world. ActivePlayer ranks it the third most-played game in the last 30 days, with a Monthly Active User (MAU) base of 133.466 million as of May 2024.

The Sims 4

This is a social simulation PC game released in 2014. A decade later, The Sims 4 continues to dominate the market and is ranked among the top 10 PC games based on Monthly Active Users (MAUs). According to ActivePlayer, the game had a MAU of 520,500 players in May, which is a 2% gain from the 510,544 in April 2024. This latest installment in The Sims series is expecting more players before the end of the year.

Grand Theft Auto V

This action video game surged to over 30 million monthly players in December, 2023, Statista reports. First released in 2013, this game series has gained popularity into 2024, with Steam Charts indicating 152,030 peak players in May 2024 on the streaming platform.

PC Gaming by Countries

Justin Kan, an American internet entrepreneur and co-founder of live video platform, Twitch has this to say about the gaming market, “I feel like a lot of the technology that happens in gaming starts in gaming, and it goes broader than gaming.”

To answer the question of what the most famous game in the world is, one needs to look at what the games trending say. So far, Grand Theft Auto V, The Sims 4, Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Counter-Strike: 2 & GO are leading.

The demographic is also important. While most of these games target the younger population, a good number of the players come from certain locations. If you’re asking for what country gambles the most, a 2020 report indicates that Britain has the most attractive gambling market, closely followed by the city of Las Vegas in the U.S. ranking for the same in North America.

In terms of PC game adoption, China led the market in 2021, and the global valuation of the PC gaming market is $80.27 billion.

Conclusion

The global Personal Computer (PC) gaming market is projected to hit a valuation of $114.92 billion, and within this timeframe, millions of players are expected to stream and play these games as new versions are released. In the coming months, we should anticipate the release of more action games, which are the most popular genre, at least in the United States.