After peaking in June 2024, Banana on Steam has seen a significant drop in concurrent players. Let's explore the reasons behind its initial popularity and subsequent decline.
Banana Game Steam Charts Reveal a Dramatic Fall
A Clicker Game About…Bananas
Released on April 23, 2024, *Banana*, a deceptively simple clicker game, unexpectedly soared to fame, reaching a peak of 917,272 concurrent players in June 2024. However, this success proved short-lived. SteamDB data reveals a dramatic decline, particularly noticeable from November 2024 onwards.For the uninitiated, Banana is a free-to-play game where players…click a banana. Repeatedly. Its appeal isn't in complex gameplay, but in the potential to earn real money. Players collect virtual banana items, which can be sold on the Steam Community Market, with some rare items fetching surprisingly high prices—one "Special Golden Banana" reportedly sold for $1,378.58.
Several factors contributed to the game's initial explosion in popularity. The promise of easy Steam Wallet funds attracted a massive player base. Developer Hery even described it as a "legal ‘Infinite money glitch’" in a June 2024 interview with Polygon. This popularity, however, also attracted bot activity, artificially inflating player counts.
Hery explained to Polygon, "Unfortunately, we are currently facing some problems around botting, since the game takes basically 1% to no resources of your PC. People are abusing up to 1,000 alternative accounts in order to get rarer drops or at least drops in bulk."
Bot prevention measures were implemented in May 2024, leaving the authenticity of the 100,000+ player base uncertain. Regardless, a sharp decline followed the peak. By July 2024, the average player count dropped to 549,091. This downward trend continued, with a significant plunge from over 400,000 to just above 100,000 in November 2024. While a temporary surge occurred early in 2025, the game hasn't recovered to its previous heights.
Currently boasting 112,966 concurrent players and holding a respectable 7th place on Steam's Most Played Games list, Banana experienced a concerning drop to around 50,000 players on March 16th, between 17:00 and 23:00 UTC. The cause of this sudden dip remains unclear, but the overall declining trend likely reflects the waning novelty of the game's core mechanic.
The developers have consistently updated the game, adding trading cards, event drops, and quality-of-life improvements. They've also fostered community engagement through the Steam Workshop, allowing user-generated banana art and offering creators a share of sales. Whether these efforts will revive Banana to its former glory without the aid of bots remains to be seen.
