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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 substantial player decrease from November 2024 onward.For the uninitiated, Banana is a free-to-play clicker game with minimalist gameplay: click a banana, repeat. Its appeal wasn't the gameplay itself, but the potential for real-world profit. Players could acquire and sell virtual banana items on the Steam Community Market, with some rare items fetching surprisingly high prices—a "Special Golden Banana" once sold for $1,378.58.
The game's rapid rise was fueled by the promise of easy Steam Wallet funds, described by developer Hery in a June 2024 Polygon interview as a "legal ‘Infinite money glitch.’" This popularity, however, attracted an influx of bots designed to exploit the system, artificially inflating player counts.
"Unfortunately, we're battling botting issues," Hery told Polygon. "The game uses minimal PC resources, leading to abuse with thousands of accounts farming rare items."
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 dropped to 549,091, continuing its downward trajectory through November 2024, plummeting from 400,000 to just over 100,000. While a temporary surge occurred early in 2025, the game hasn't recovered 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 sudden drop to approximately 50,000 players on March 16th, between 17:00 and 23:00 UTC. The cause of this dip remains unclear, but the overall decline likely reflects the game's initial novelty wearing off.
The developers continue to update the game, adding trading cards, event drops, and quality-of-life improvements. They've also embraced community participation through the Steam Workshop, allowing user-generated banana art and sharing a percentage of sales. Whether these efforts can revive Banana to its former glory without the aid of bots remains to be seen.
