Most Played Racing Games on Steam in September 2023

BeamNG.drive Most Played on Steam September 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 played racing games on Steam in September 2023.

Image credit: BeamNG

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.

September 2023 shook things up quite a bit in the world of the most played racing games on Steam. The effect of upcoming releases could already be felt in some cases, and a substantial update catapulted a new title onto the throne.

BeamNG.drive Tops List​

After months of reigning supreme, Forza Horizon 5 is no longer running up front. Instead, BeamNG.drive has taken the lead after its most recent update. The game has added experimental VR support with v0.30 – as a result, player counts increased enough to snatch P1 from FH5.

Meanwhile, DiRT Rally 2.0 has seen a considerable influx of players again. This is likely due to the in-depth looks at its successor EA Sports WRC presented over the last few weeks. While the title will only release in early November, racers seem to be keen to get back on the stages.

Interestingly, Need for Speed Heat has jumped up the list with a remarkable increase of over 200% in average players. Its successor Need for Speed Unbound, on the other hand, took a marginal hit. That is while having nowhere near the average player count of the older game, though.

Check out the numbers of the most played racing games on Steam in September 2023 below!

Most Played Racing Games on Steam September 2023​

TitleAvg. PlayersPeakGain %
BeamNG.drive10997,2232104,12
Forza Horizon 51078824051-16,85
Assetto Corsa8263,2158463,95
Forza Horizon 44822,412346-14
Need for Speed Heat4187,210651213,68
F1 233257,981280,56
SnowRunner32106746-4,63
CarX Drift Racing Online2397,64400-0,01
Assetto Corsa Competizione2283,7640314,17
MX Bikes1703,333516,05
F1 Manager 202313802937-41,61
F1 2211342558-9,96
Need for Speed Unbound1034,52198-5,99
Dirt Rally 2.01031,3227524,09
My Summer Car998,12214-20,02
The Crew 2877,11558-23,09
Trackmania802,11807-4,48
Asphalt 9 Legends686,31383-0,82
F1 Manager 2022469928-33,38
RaceRoom449,81205-1,39
Wreckfest4291035-10,61
rFactor 24049796,26
Automobilista 2379,8847-22,97
MudRunner379,4102139,28
Disney Speedstorm376,76759350,75
F1 2021309,5674-12,63

What are your thoughts on the most played racing games on Steam in September 2023? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
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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

T
fatal said:
Poor AMS2...the game we all waited for, but nobody plays it
Click to expand...
we all tried it here, but we all have found better. The rallycross content is not enough I have hoped all the 11 Project cars 2 tracks, but even for rallycross I still play project cars 2. I really like rally and rallycross and if there were rallycross tracks modded I will play it.

About the next game, Forza 8 or Motorsport, whatever, I wil play it and enjoy it, like the millions of players
 
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Durge Driven
fatal said:
Poor AMS2...the game we all waited for, but nobody plays it
Click to expand...

I never understood this reasoning ?
These are online numbers right ?
They don't reflect the actual player base.
At least I hope not !

edit:
More people downloaded rF2 F3 mod that I commissioned then are online in rF2 and AMS2 and I guarantee you won't find a room running it and it would be about least popular car you could think of. :coffee:

Well I don't know about the rest but when I race offline I don't use Steam., why would you have it running ?

So I say these numbers mean absolutely zilch and anyone holds them up as some sort of validation are deluded.
 
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B
Cote Dazur said:
This should put to rest the argument that VR is not an important aspect of any SIM, that it is marginal because not so many people use it.
As we are getting to the of 2023, VR is now a must, any developer not on that page yet, as some reading to do. :D
Click to expand...
It doesn't do anything to support your argument of it being some critical feature for a sim's success either. The numbers are in line with BeamNG's normal growth and player numbers after a major update. People say AMS2 has fantastic VR and ACC does not, yet ACC pulls significantly higher numbers.
 
W
Premium
Durge Driven said:
I never understood this reasoning ?
These are online numbers right ?
They don't reflect the actual player base.
At least I hope not !

edit:
More people downloaded rF2 F3 mod that I commissioned then are online in rF2 and AMS2 and I guarantee you won't find a room running it and it would be about least popular car you could think of. :coffee:

Well I don't know about the rest but when I race offline I don't use Steam., why would you have it running ?

So I say these numbers mean absolutely zilch and anyone holds them up as some sort of validation are deluded.
Click to expand...
The number is concurrent player count, you can have many more people playing just they aren’t playing at the same time.

Something with a multiplayer focus will always have a higher concurrent count because people are online at the same time as it makes sense when trying to find a full lobby.

These figures are useless as far as reflecting how many individual people are playing.
 
P
Shannon Flynn said:
I think it let myself and many other people down. For now at least. Currently in dev, so we'll see.
I also think AMS2 numbers aren't entirely accurate because a LOT of people play the notformedia beta. Everyone I know plays that exclusively.
I'm guessing the beta isn't included in the player count?
Bet it's actually like triple those numbers
Click to expand...
Good point.
 
Metla
Premium
Beamng with VR is an incredible experience, I don't bother with the crashing nonsense, For me its the time trials, scenarios and offroad crawling.

Since VR was released its almost all I have played.
 
D
Shannon Flynn said:
I also think AMS2 numbers aren't entirely accurate because a LOT of people play the notformedia beta. Everyone I know plays that exclusively.
I'm guessing the beta isn't included in the player count?
Bet it's actually like triple those numbers
Click to expand...
Isn't that just another private build from Steam you download with the code?
If it's like other titles, sure, it is included in the stats.
 
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D
Durge Driven said:
I never understood this reasoning ?
These are online numbers right ?
They don't reflect the actual player base.
At least I hope not !
Click to expand...
Not how Steam stats work, you don't have to play MP to get counted.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
T
Andrew_WOT said:
ACC did nothing and gained more percentage wise 14.17% vs 4.12% BeamNG.
Let's not forget that besides VR support BeamNG had new content drop which also helped.
How do you people play it, I've tried it few times, my kids tried, it's bloody boring and shallow, car damage simulation?

Next month it will be Forza Motorsport at the top.
Click to expand...

I mean, damage simulation for a game that focuses on clean racing? Yeah it could be "more detailed and better", but driving damaged is not the point of the game. ACC is not NFS, Wreckfest or FH5, the fun lies with being competetive multiplayer with car physics that are (supposed to be) realistic. Getting faster compared to others and difficult battles with someone of similar pace is the core fun here, not the crashes.

And yeah, Forza Motorsport will be on the top, im gonna try it as well.
 
S
It says a lot about the state of the world when counting together the immense overweight of human beings playing arcade console games on gameboy pads compared to core simracers like us.

It's all about the nasty word "branding" to lure the lemmings.

The Covid-19 home confinement otherwise gave hopes of a bright simracing future.
But that was not to be.

The only hope we have now is the promising development taking place with BeamNG. But it will probably be a few decades before it comes up with a version 1.0 release that is ripe for an actual racing format as we know it.

Until then, the world will be taken over by an electrified hord that just points fingers and laughs mockingly at ancient finds like us.

Now I have written in as positive terms as it has even been possible for me.

I can only hope that a giant astroid of core sim goodness hits the arcade players on earth and suddenly sees the bright light of Tibetans in real simracing.

May peace be with us.
 
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M
Premium
fatal said:
Poor AMS2...the game we all waited for, but nobody plays it
Click to expand...
There are plenty of people playing it, but clearly not all at the same time. I'm part of 2 communities that play it regularly and that hasn't stopped. But there are a number of factors...
1.Summer - this should affect everyone, but when the user base is small anyway its more obvious.
2.Not much has been happening in the public release version, Reiza are working hard on the end of October update, but most people don't see that.
3.There are a LOT of other titles to try, and not just racing games, its been a crazy couple of months for gaming, I know a lot of racers who have dived into BG3 or Starfield, and now Forza.
4.New iRacing season. I'm sure I can't be the only one who gets hyped for a new iRacing season, plays for a few weeks and then realises it's still the same crap graphics and FFB and goes back to games that are actually fun:)
 
jlnprssnr
Andrew_WOT said:
How do you people play it, I've tried it few times, my kids tried, it's bloody boring and shallow, car damage simulation?
Click to expand...
I think it's a great open world driving sim. But I understand that not everyone likes that. Have you tried the scenarios and more recently the career preview? Has a lot of gameplay content.
I also like to mod cars, as it's surprisingly easy to get Blender creations ingame (new bumpers, wings etc).
 
A
What's about all those people playing Beam NG? Don't get me wrong, it's a quite amazing physics engine but there's nothing to do in game aside keep destroying your car to a bag size. Pointless.
 
A
Cote Dazur said:
This should put to rest the argument that VR is not an important aspect of any SIM, that it is marginal because not so many people use it.
As we are getting to the of 2023, VR is now a must, any developer not on that page yet, as some reading to do. :D
Click to expand...
VR is crap at current state. A heavy and hot sprawl keeping my head wired at low FPS and blocking me to see the environment. Tried MSFS2020 in a 4090 RTX and the HP Reverb G2 and the level of detail is ripped to the half and horrible FPS on the ground. Maybe someday with new technologies, nowadays is unbearable.
 
B
tpeter said:
Surprisingly Rennsport didn't make the list.
I wonder Why Rennsport does not interest many sim racers right now
Click to expand...
Rennsport signed an exclusive with Epic Games Store, so they are not in Steam numbers, obviously.

I still do not understand what Mudrunner, Snowrunner and My Summer Car are doing in this list.
 

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