Live Steam player count comparison, updated every 10 minutes. Both are Action games.
Counter-Strike 2 is currently the more played game: 1,152,729 concurrent players on Steam right now vs 29,111 for PAYDAY 2, about 40× more players. PAYDAY 2 counters with better Steam reviews: 89% positive vs 86%. Counter-Strike 2 is free to play, while PAYDAY 2 costs $9.99. Across all tracked metrics, Counter-Strike 2 leads 7 of 10.
Coilr tracks charts like this for every game, plus playtime history for your own library.
Tracked by Coilr since April 2026 · Steam polled every 10 minutes · methodology
Counter-Strike 2 has had the higher daily player count for the last 107 days, every day since Coilr began tracking both games.
Days tracked
107
Current streak
107 days
Counter-Strike 2
Lead changes
0
Closest gap
95%
May 26, 2026
How this works: each game's daily average concurrent players (from Coilr's 10-minute Steam polls), compared on the 107 days where both games have data. Whichever averages higher leads that day. methodology
| Metric | Counter-Strike 2 | PAYDAY 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Players right now | 1,152,729 | 29,111 |
| 24-hour peak | 1,183,965 | 33,957 |
| 7-day average | 831,665 | 27,110 |
| 30-day average | 849,512 | 29,714 |
| 30-day trend | −7% | +1% |
| Peak (tracked) | 1,552,731 | 36,219 |
| Steam reviews | 86% positive | 89% positive |
| Recent reviews (3 mo) | 79% positive | 90% positive |
| Total reviews | 9,758,408 | 673,792 |
| Owners (SteamSpy est.) | ~100,000,000 | ~20,000,000 |
| Release date | Aug 21, 2012 | Aug 13, 2013 |
| Price | Free to play | $9.99 |
Full stats: Counter-Strike 2 · PAYDAY 2 · add more games to this comparison →
| Month | Counter-Strike 2 | PAYDAY 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg | Peak | Avg | Peak | |
| Apr 2026 | 733,188 | 1,347,914 | 16,764 | 26,468 |
| May 2026 | 842,402 | 1,484,941 | 25,803 | 33,915 |
| Jun 2026 | 917,771 | 1,552,731 | 28,999 | 35,496 |
| Jul 2026 | 853,615 | 1,415,398 | 30,124 | 36,219 |
| Aug 2026 (so far) | 821,110 | 1,226,343 | 25,427 | 33,957 |
Monthly average and peak concurrent players on Steam, from Coilr's own tracking (10-minute polls, hourly beyond 30 days).
Counter-Strike 2 currently has more players: 1,152,729 concurrent players on Steam vs 29,111 for PAYDAY 2, about 40× more players.
Over the last 30 days Counter-Strike 2 averaged 849,512 concurrent players and PAYDAY 2 averaged 29,714. By that measure Counter-Strike 2 is currently the bigger game.
Not in Coilr's head-to-head tracking: Counter-Strike 2 has had the higher daily average concurrent player count on Steam on every one of the 107 days both games have been tracked.
By Steam review score, PAYDAY 2 rates higher: 89% positive across 673,792 reviews vs 86% across 9,758,408 for Counter-Strike 2. Counter-Strike 2 has the larger player base right now (1,152,729 vs 29,111 concurrent). Player counts, ratings, price and trend are compared side by side above.
Counter-Strike 2 averaged 849,512 concurrent players over the last 30 days, down 7% vs the previous 30 days. Its highest tracked player count is 1,552,731.
PAYDAY 2 averaged 29,714 concurrent players over the last 30 days, roughly flat vs the previous 30 days. Its highest tracked player count is 36,219.