Portal 2 Player Count Skyrockets

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Summary

  • Portal 2’s player count on Steam significantly increased, nearing 10,000 users.
  • The surge in players may be due to the game being available for $0.99 during a sale.

Although Portal 2 from Valve is about to celebrate its 14th anniversary, it’s seeing a notable surge in player numbers on Steam right now. The reason for this sudden increase in Portal 2 players isn’t clear yet, but there could be several possible explanations.

In 2011, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2007 game, Portal 2, was released. Continuing Valve’s string of successful games, it garnered widespread praise from both fans and critics. With its clever humor and captivating narrative combined with challenging puzzles, Portal 2 is often ranked as one of the greatest puzzle games ever produced. It stands tall among Valve’s top-tier games, a testament to their reputation for creating hit titles such as the Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike series.

Based on the latest statistics from SteamDB, Portal 2 has experienced a peak of 9,862 players in the last 24 hours as I write this. This figure is similar to what it achieved back in January 2024 when the fan-made mod, Portal Revolution, was launched, and it even surpassed that number in March 2023. Prior to these spikes, the game hadn’t seen significant player count increases since 2020. In the past month alone, Portal 2 has been consistently played by around 2,000 to 3,000 players, with a noticeable rise in players starting from February 11 and continuing ever since.

Portal 2’s Steam Player Count Approaches 10,000

One likely explanation for the significant increase in players on Portal 2 is that it has been heavily discounted. Since February 10th, Portal 2 has been selling for only $0.99 on Steam during the Couch Co-Op Fest sale. At this price, it offers exceptional value compared to other games on the platform currently. Additionally, timing might be a contributing factor. Although Portal 2 is renowned for its single-player story, it’s also one of the top co-op games ever made, making it an ideal choice for couples seeking an affordable and entertaining activity over Valentine’s Day. It’s possible that a mix of these factors has led to the game’s current player surge, and it may continue to grow in popularity over the next few days.

It’s astonishing to think that over 14 years have passed since the launch of Portal 2. Similar to other Valve series, Portal has suffered from Valve’s tendency to avoid creating third installments in their successful franchises. A few years ago, Portal scribe Erik Wolpaw shed light on why Valve might be hesitant about making a third game, and since then, there have been no signs of progress. Valve is usually tight-lipped about rumors, so if Portal 3 ever materializes, it will likely catch us off guard.

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2025-02-16 00:24