Task Bar Hero, a task‑bar‑based idle RPG, has surged to become Steam's second‑most‑played title, hitting a new all‑time high of 526,596 concurrent players over the weekend. The figure places it just below Counter‑Strike 2 but ahead of heavyweight multiplayer staples such as Dota 2, PUBG and Path of Exile 2.
The game's appeal lies in the passive items it generates, which players can list on the Steam marketplace. While most listings are cheap, a handful of weapons and armor fetch between £50 and £150, and a legendary bow is listed for over £1,100. Analysts suspect a bot farm is inflating these prices, distorting the in‑game economy and echoing the bot‑related controversy that surrounded the earlier Banana idle title.
Compounding the issue, Task Bar Hero's anti‑cheat system can mistakenly flag users who switch to other programs while the game runs in the background, resulting in false‑flag bans that appear on Steam profiles. Developers have announced expanded data collection as the game moves to private servers, tracking IDs, version numbers and device details. With a mixed 48 % positive rating and reports of disappearing items, the community remains wary of the potential cost of chasing marketplace profits.
