We all know that the PC is the home of (commercial) simulators, which is why this platform has the most variety, from old simulators that have been forgotten to the most recent and innovative ones.
That is why we have compiled a list of the top ten PC simulators/simcades with the most active players. To obtain these figures, we used the steamdb.info page, which provides detailed statistics on prices, the number of players currently online, a history of activity in recent months, and so on. In the case of iRacing, the simulator itself has a real-time counter of active players at the bottom of the web page. However, games such as Forza Motorsport, which are in another store or do not have their own counter, have not been included in the list due to a lack of data.
It should be noted that this list refers to all players; it does not distinguish between players who are in the menus, races against the AI, tests, or multiplayer. So these numbers do not indicate how active the multiplayer is in order to find races easily, but obviously, the more people who play the game, the more multiplayer races are available.
10: AUTOMOBILISTA 2
The latest simulator from the Brazilians at Reiza Studios does not have a large market gap, with a low average of 333 concurrent players (previously 212). Although it has increased in recent months as a result of its support and new content, it is still a very small number that does not allow for many multiplayer races. Fortunately, even during off-peak hours, the number of concurrent players has increased.
9: F1 2018
The F1 franchise’s popularity is undeniable; as the official game of the world’s most important and popular category, it has a huge fan base that constantly enters to race in the various versions that have been released over the years. So much so that the franchise has four titles on this list, with the 2018 version averaging 422 concurrent players (previously 477). A not insignificant sum for a game that will soon be 4 years old, but that, thanks to mods or its low price during sales, provides guaranteed fun for Formula 1 fans. It is curious that F1 2018 has more participants than the 2019 version, which does not even make the top ten this time.
8: RFACTOR 2
Many consider the best simulator on the market due to its physics and handling, but it is far from the most popular in terms of participation. Despite being a great reference in the mod community for many years, it is surprising to see that they only have an average of 614 concurrent players (previously 447). The good news is that with all of their recent support for the game, both in terms of improvements and content, more and more people are joining on a regular basis.
7: RACEROOM
In the case of Raceroom, it has experienced a similar effect to that of rFactor 2 with the implementation of official scheduled races and a ranking within the simulator, where it has seen its community grow; however, a downward trend has been observed in recent weeks, with it currently having an average of 515 simultaneous players (631 previously). Something that places it even behind Project Cars 2, which lacks a serious competition system.
6: PROJECT CARS 2
The latest serious release from Slightly Mad Studios outperforms many of the purest and most difficult simulators, thanks to its wide variety of cars and circuits, easy adaptation to handling, and the ability to race with a controller without much difficulty. All of this adds up to an average of 540 concurrent players (623 previously). Not bad for a game despised by many purists, though participation is declining gradually over time.
5: F1 2020
Without a doubt, the name “Formula 1” on the covers of any game instantly attracts thousands of players, and when we combine that with a fairly complete, fun, and accessible simcade, with many game modes and a very active multiplayer, it is not surprising that it has an average of 1256 simultaneous players (5228 previously). It’s still puzzling how participation has dropped so dramatically in a single year. You can read our review to find out what we think of this Codemasters release.
4: ASSETTO CORSA COMPETIZIONE
The official GT World Challenge game is expanding due to the constant improvements and new content that it is acquiring, even though it is not the simulator with the most categories, circuits, or mods support. However, the simulator’s handling and sensations, combined with its graphics, make it a great experience to compete. Furthermore, it has official races scheduled both by the game and by external organizers, resulting in an average of 2571 simultaneous players (1799 previously). This is undeniably a significant improvement on the part of the community.
3: ASSETTO CORSA
In fourth place, we have the simulator that dethroned rFactor 2 years ago in the section of mods and driving sensations, which, combined with its current very low price and large amount of official content, is widely regarded as the first simulator to try if you want to get into the world of simracing. Furthermore, it has multiplayer races scheduled every hour thanks to external organizers, making its community one of the most active in simracing and growing with an average of 6921 simultaneous players (4742 previously).
2: F1 2021
The most recent version of the official F1 videogame takes one of the top spots on this list, as expected. However, the average number of active players has fallen significantly in recent months. Perhaps this is because it has been almost a year since its release and the new edition of F1 22 is just around the corner. In particular, it has an average of 7547 concurrent players (12550 previously). On the other hand, we anticipate that when F1 22 is released, the franchise will rise to the top once more.
1: IRACING
Think about it before you come and tell us for the umpteenth time that we were purchased by iRacing. What advantage does iRacing have over other simulators? Clearly, it is its competition system, which allows you to race against people from all over the world at any time. This ensures that there are always people competing in iRacing with competitors of their level, with a high average of 8458 simultaneous players (6581 previously). The good news (and something we honestly did not expect) is that the average number of players is growing even after the pandemic is over.
In these two images, you can see how many active people there are in one of the hours with less concurrency and how many active people there are in the other during peak hours of simulator participation, which can be easily checked by visiting the iRacing home page at any time of day.
PARTICIPATION BY FRANCHISE
As we can see, the Assetto Corsa franchise has dethroned the F1 franchise as the one with the highest active participation, with 32.5 percent of the total participation. Although the differences between the Assetto Corsa, F1 and iRacing franchises are minor, this creates a lot of competition among them, which will undoubtedly benefit us consumers. Following these franchises, we have rFactor, Project Cars, and a company with very little participation that will have to step up if they want a piece of the cake from the three giants.
See you on the track!
This website uses affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Without including the Forza group, these numbers are meaningless.
Noted, we will include next time… when new Forza is published
Forza is not a simulator lol
Forza isn’t a simulator. It’s a game. These were the comparisons I was looking for.
Saying forza should be on the list is like saying gt7 should be on the list. While each game does exactly what they set out to do they are not simulators despite gt7 claiming to be the real driving simulator.