Banana Game Has Sudden Dip in Steam's Concurrent Player Count

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 Show a Massive Decline

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 onward.

Banana's appeal lies not in complex gameplay—it's essentially repetitive banana clicking—but in its unique monetization. Players collect virtual banana items, some incredibly rare, and sell them on the Steam Community Market for significant profits. One "Special Golden Banana" reportedly sold for $1,378.58.

The game's rapid rise can be attributed to its potential for easy Steam Wallet earnings. Developer Hery even described it as a "legal ‘Infinite money glitch’" in a June 2024 Polygon interview. This attracted an influx of players, but unfortunately, also automated bots designed to exploit the system and farm valuable items, artificially inflating the player count.

Hery acknowledged the botting problem to Polygon, stating, "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 remaining 100,000+ players uncertain. Regardless, a sharp decline followed the peak. By July 2024, the average player count had fallen to 549,091. This downward trend continued, with November 2024 showing a drastic drop from 400,000 to just over 100,000. While a temporary surge occurred at the start of 2025, the game hasn't recovered its previous heights.

Currently, Banana maintains a respectable 112,966 concurrent players, ranking 7th on Steam's Most Played Games list. However, a sudden drop to approximately 50,000 players was observed on March 16th, between 17:00 and 23:00 UTC. The cause of this sudden dip remains unclear, although bot activity can't be ruled out. The overall declining player base likely reflects the game's initial novelty wearing off.

Ongoing updates, including trading cards, event drops, and quality-of-life improvements, along with community engagement through Steam Workshop user-generated content (with creators earning a percentage of sales), are ongoing efforts to revitalize the game. However, regaining its former glory without the assistance of bots seems unlikely.