How many people are playing DEFCON right now?

5 people are playing DEFCON on Steam right now, making it the 9008th most played game on Steam. In the last 24 hours it peaked at 14 players. The number updates every few minutes.

What is DEFCON's all-time peak player count?

DEFCON's highest concurrent player count on Steam is 358, reached in December 2012.

Is DEFCON good? What do Steam reviews say?

87% of 3,510 Steam user reviews are positive (Very Positive).

How much does DEFCON cost on Steam?

DEFCON costs $11.99 on Steam (US).

Does DEFCON work on Steam Deck?

DEFCON is Playable on Steam Deck (with small issues), according to Valve's Steam Deck compatibility check.

DEFCON

by Introversion Software · Released Sep 29, 2006

Steam Deck PlayableLinux & Deck: Gold

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Players now

#9,008

▼ 37.5%vs 24h ago · updates every minute

Review score

87% positive

Very Positive3,510 reviews

Owners (est.)200K–500K

24h peak

Highest seen358

Dec 201213.9 years ago

Price on Steam

$11.99

Lowest ever $11.99 Nov 2026

RisingSteadyFalling

Players -37.5% in the last 24 hoursUpdated 17:33 UTC · tracking since 2012-07-01

Concurrent players

Last 7 days

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Players onlineSteam sale started

Media & details

Screenshots, achievements, specs and price history from Steam.

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Where to buy

Steam prices for United States (change the country in the top bar), and Steam keys from authorized stores.

Steam Official

Prices update every 6 hours

$11.99

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Other authorized stores

No authorized Steam key store lists this game right now.

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Editions and bundles on Steam

DEFCONEdition
$11.99
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DEFCON + SoundtrackEdition
$12.99
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Introversion Classics PackEdition
$29.99
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Bundles with this game (2), biggest discount first

Introversion Game BundleBundle
$41.20
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The Cold War BundleBundle
$61.15
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Reviews

87% positive of 3,510 · Very Positive · Live from Steam

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Steam Deck

Works, but may need extra effort. Results from Valve's own testing.

Steam Deck Playable

!Controller glyphs do not match deck device
!Text input does not automatically invokes keyboard
✓Default controller config fully functional
✓Interface text is legible
✓Default configuration is performant

Steam Deck

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Patches & builds

Every build released on Steam for this game since we started tracking it, with the developer's patch notes. Updated within minutes of each new build.

Sep 18, 2026, 2:40 PM UTC
Build 25390430the current build when we started tracking137 MB on Windows

Betas and other versions (1)

Sep 18, 2026, 2:38 PM UTC
beta · build 25390430
Public Beta

Patch notes

Sep 18, 2026
Patch1.70.3
Bug Fixes The renderer fallback now also covers the window being recreated, such as a resolution or renderer change, rather than only Defcon starting up. HDR for Metal (MacOS) and Vulkan (Windows, Linux) no longer creates corrupted and garbled screenshots. Wor…
Sep 11, 2026
PatchUpdate Notes for 1.70.2
1.70.2 Bug Fixes Fixed a crash on startup, and when pressing Apply in the Mods window, caused by mods whose gameoptions.txt leaves a blank line where a text settings default value belongs. Fixed a crash on startup for anyone with extracted main.dat files in th…
Aug 24, 2026
PatchDefcon Update in Beta Testing
Defcon Beta Update AnnouncementWe would like to announce that, thanks to the hard efforts of Defcon fan, volunteer and skilled developers, Keiron McPhee and Jasmin Brumme, we have a new build of Defcon to test! The core experience remains pure DEFCON, but unde…
Sep 8, 2024
PatchUpdate for Mac OS X 10.13 and later.
Make Mac OS X 10.13 build the default. Should resolve "damaged and can't be opened" issue on recent Mac OS X.

Other news (16)

Sep 30, 2026
Classic strategy game DEFCON from Introversion Software gets a free 20th Anniversary Edition upgrade
Introversion Software released a major upgrade for their 2006 classic DEFCON, a free 20th Anniversary Edition upgrade for all players. Read the full article here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/09/classic-strategy-game-defcon-from-introversion-software-get…
Sep 29, 2026
20th Anniversary Edition
Twenty years ago on this day, the 29th September 2006, Introversion Software released their third game DEFCON, and our lives were never the same again. What started as a 24 hour game jam (and love letter to WARGAMES) rapidly turned into our most successful gam…
Nov 6, 2020
The best strategy games on PC
Looking back at it now, 2020 doesn’t feel like a banner year for strategy games, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few gems. The list below – gathered by a panel of experts and regularly updated – contains games from as recently as 1…
Jan 29, 2020
The best strategy games on PC
For a time it looked as though strategy games had sunk into a kind of deathly malaise, unsure which territory to claim next and which ones it should leave well and truly alone. Fast forward to 2020, though, and strategy games have never looked healthier, which…
Nov 25, 2019
The best strategy games on PC
You’ll ocassionally find someone on the internet sounding off about how the strategy genre is dead. If you see such a person in the future, send them this list of the best strategy games ever made. (more…)
Jun 28, 2018
The 50 best strategy games on PC
An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now freshened up to include everything from 2017 and 2018. From intricate, global-scale wargames to the tight thrills of guerrilla squads, the broad expanse of the genre contains somethi…

Patches & builds

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History

What changed on Steam for this game since we started following it: prices and sales, builds, name, release date and review score.

Review score: 87% on 2026-11-01 → 87% today (3,510 reviews)

Nov 1, 2026Price$11.99

History

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Trading cards

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Demo

Free on Steam. The demo has its own app, so its players are counted separately.

Play demo on Steam

Demo players now: 0
24h peak: 1
Highest seen: 1
Demo : full game now: —

DEFCON player count and quick facts

How many people are playing DEFCON right now?: 5 people are playing DEFCON on Steam right now, making it the 9008th most played game on Steam. In the last 24 hours it peaked at 14 players. The number updates every few minutes.
What is DEFCON's all-time peak player count?: DEFCON's highest concurrent player count on Steam is 358, reached in December 2012.
Is DEFCON good? What do Steam reviews say?: 87% of 3,510 Steam user reviews are positive (Very Positive).
How much does DEFCON cost on Steam?: DEFCON costs $11.99 on Steam (US).
Does DEFCON work on Steam Deck?: DEFCON is Playable on Steam Deck (with small issues), according to Valve's Steam Deck compatibility check.

Live data from Steam, tracked by SteamPlayerBase.

Store info

Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare.

Developer: Introversion Software
Publisher: Introversion Software
Release date: Sep 29, 2006
Install size: —
Platforms: macOS · Linux · Windows
Genres: Indie, Strategy · All
Steam app ID: 1520

DEFCON

Key stats

Concurrent players

Media & details

Where to buy

Other authorized stores

Editions and bundles on Steam

Reviews

Steam Deck

Steam Deck

Patches & builds

Patch notes

Patches & builds

History

History

Trading cards

Demo

DEFCON player count and quick facts

Related games

More from Introversion Software

Related games

Store info

DEFCON player count and quick facts

History

Patches & builds

Patch notes

Steam Deck

Related games

More from Introversion Software