With the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November, many gamers have focused on the new consoles rather than existing platforms. One notable exception is Steam users, who set a new record for concurrent users on Dec. 1, an indication that the upcoming Steam Machines should have a sizable user base whenever they are released.

According to the Steam Statistics page, over seven million Steam users were logged on and playing games at once on the digital distribution platform. With around 65 million registered users for Steam, that means around ten percent of total users were on Steam during the record breaking time period.

Several popular games helped spur the spike in Steam users. Defense of the Ancients 2, better known as DotA 2, had more than half a million users playing the game when the record was set. Counter Strike: Global Offensive also contributed 100,000 users. Football Manager 2014 also had close to 60,000 players playing that game when the record was set.

It will be interesting to see if Steam is able to surpass the new record of 7.19 million users in the near future. The previous record was set in January 2013, when 6.6 million users used Steam at once. Before that, the previous record was set in November 2012 was an even six million users.

This is fantastic news for PC and Steam users, who felt as though the new home console release hype could reduce the number of Steam users. However, that appears to be not the case, and, if anything, the attention the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One has received might have caused a boost in gaming's popularity overall.

With Steam on a surge of popularity, Valve could be in position to make an impact when Steam Machines become available beginning in 2014. Interestingly enough, even though Valve has created the Steam OS to be the operating system for the home consoles and the company developed a special Steam Controller for the Steam machines, Valve is not making their own Steam machines. Instead, they are letting other manufacturers create several different Steam Machines, each unique in some way. However, details are still scarce concerning the upcoming Steam Machines, so it unclear what sort of specs the new home consoles will have. However, most existing games on Steam will work on the new consoles, so users can take advantage of Steam while receiving the benefits of a home console.