Yeah, that's true. I'm logged into Steam now but I'm not playing anything (or even looking at it), I'm just browsing these forums. It doesn't happen so much for PSN with me, because when I switch on my PS3 it's because I have a purpose in mind - usually playing a game. Then again, it can be to watch videos/netflix so I'm sure those numbers are skewed too.

and who didn't know that yet? it was always clear to me that 5 million people online means 5 million people have running steam right now and not that 50 million have running steam and 5 million are playing something. that's why they call it current users and not players for the total number. you say it by yourself, you say 350k people played bo and not that playstation said xy people used the ps3. and if playstation writes anywhere that 5 million people are online it will mean 5 million  people are online with the console, if they play or just downlaod something in the backround.

but you shouldn't forget that steam is only a very small part of pc gaming. xy amount of people playing something on steam doesn't mean that this amount is playing the game right now online, it's only the amount using this specific service to play the game.

and it would be interesting to see the amount of bo players right now. you used a very low time for steam right now. americans have early morning and europeans come from school or are at work. i would say bo numbers on ps3 are much lower right now than 350k but i can't say.

Poor chap doesn't know how to PC.

Instead of uninstalling Steam like a newbie, use this formula:

Start>Run> type msconfig, select Startup and uncheck Steam. Problem solved.

Steam's numbers it shows are people who are actively logged into Steam. That's why it goes up and down throughout the day. If you're inactive in Steam for like twenty minutes, you go into "inactive" mode and you aren't included in those numbers.

So are the PSN numbers fake too? Because when I turn on my PS3, it automatically signs me in to PSN.

Don't do that.

Go to the search bar, type in msconfig and press Enter, go to Startup tab and untick Steam. 

Why would you run an annoying shareware program at all times to do the same?

Did you jsut compare an open applicatipn along the lines of "i can have it run if i want to, I can have it not run," to a locked down, mandatory, universal, "you're stuck with this pile of shit no matter what, I have no choice" type of services? There are so many problems with your logic, that I would feel bad to point them all out.

Also do you know that you can play games in offline mode as well? As in, not connected to steam?

actually that graph correlates to the night/day times in NA+EU  -  it's peak is early afternoon NA + late evening EU, it's low is nighttime NA + early morning EU

I doubt "inactivity" is a factor for that graph as it says it tracks "Steam users logged in"(right above the graph), in other words everybody that is connected to steam (no matter the status) is counted for that number.

Hang on Steam logs in automatically like my PSN and Live account? And shows up in stats even if I'm not playing a game - like my PSN and Live account?

All three have the exact same scenario so there's no difference I can see. This just assumes people are turning on their console to game which plenty of statistics (for PS3 and 360) show they aren't.

Steam numbers are no more fake than PSN or Live.

The best part of the OP was his uninstalling of steam because it starts automatically, when it could easily just be set to not start with windows.

So my question would be this, if you uninstall Steam, how can you play any games you have on it, and if you don't have any games through Steam, why install Steam in the first place?