Is Asteroids on Steam?

No. Asteroids is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.

What platforms is Asteroids on?

Asteroids is available on Arcade, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 7800, Game Boy.

When did Asteroids release?

Asteroids was first released on November 17, 1979.

Asteroids

Nov 17, 1979ShooterArcadeArcadeApple IIAtari 2600Atari 8-bitAtari 7800

Asteroids — frequently asked questions

Is Asteroids on Steam?: No. Asteroids is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
What platforms is Asteroids on?: Asteroids is available on Arcade, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 7800, Game Boy.
When did Asteroids release?: Asteroids was first released on November 17, 1979.

About Asteroids

Asteroids is an arcade space shooter released in November 1979. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The objective of the game is to destroy both, asteroids and saucers. The triangular ship can rotate left and right, fire shots straight forward, and thrust forward. Once the ship begins moving in a direction, it will continue in that direction for a time without player intervention unless the player applies thrust in a different direction. The ship eventually comes to a stop when not thrusting. The player can also send the ship into hyperspace, causing it to disappear and reappear in a random location on the screen, at the risk of self-destructing or appearing on top of an asteroid.

Summary via IGDB.

Asteroids on Wikipedia

Asteroids is a 1979 multidirectional shooter video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for arcades. It was released by Taito and Sega in Japan. The player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers while avoiding colliding with either or being hit by the saucers' counterfire. The game becomes more difficult as the number of asteroids increases.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Game details

Platforms: Arcade, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 8-bit, Atari 7800, Game Boy
Developer: Atari
Publisher: Adventure International
Game modes: Single player, Multiplayer
Themes: Action, Science fiction

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

82/100

from 86 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Built by
Atari 2600	1981	$7	$15	$28	Atari (designed by Brad Stewart)

Also released on: Arcade · Apple II · Atari 8-bit · Atari 7800 · Game Boy. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Atari 2600 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-06

Loose

Complete

$15

Sealed

$28

Label variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
Tele-Games	$6	$20	—
Silver Label	$36	$91	$125

Release record

Territory	Label	Catalog #	Rarity
North America Atari	Silver	CX2649	Scarce
North America Atari	Picture	CX2649	Common
North America Sears	Text - "64 Games"	49-75163	Common+
North America Sears	Text - "66 Games"	49-75163	Common+
North America Sears	Picture	49-75163	Common+
Europe Atari	Red	CX2649	Rare
Asia Atari	—	—	—

Also released in South America by Polyvox.

Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 2600 software database

Region: NA+EU
Released: 1981
Controller: Atari Joystick
Players: 1 - 2
Authenticity: Low

On Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration since Nov 11, 2022 — the cartridge is now a collectibleLow counterfeit risk

Atari 2600 prices, all games & how to spot a fake

One of the 2600's biggest sellers and an essential, inexpensive cartridge, unless you want the silver label.

Asteroids was Atari's 1979 vector arcade hit. Brad Stewart designed the 2600 version, released in August 1981, and it sold over three million copies. That is why the standard cartridge turns up everywhere and costs little.

Sears sold it under its Tele-Games line too. It is on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration if you only want to play it.

How it was made

What the press said at the time

“Atari scientists have done a marvelous job translating the quadrascan original to the home screen, actually inventing a new process that "fools" the VCS console into reading a program twice as complex as any previous ROM cartridge. … The VCS version even adds color to the game”
— Electronic Games, March 1982

“Except for the uninspired VCS translation by Atari, home gamers had nothing to relieve symptoms of Asteroids withdrawal”
— Electronic Games, October 1984

“"Asteroids" for the VCS system is fantastic. It boasts the most distinctive sound effects since "Space Invaders," sharp graphics, and arcading action that never quits.”
— VIDEO (Arcade Alley), December 1981

“Even so, those who expect the home version to be as similar to its coin-op parent, as were Space Invaders or Missile Command, will be disappointed. Judged on its own merits, however, it is an astonishing success.”
— Electronic Games, March 1982

Cartridge & preservation record

Program size 8 KB, measured from the preserved dump.

Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.

How the Atari 2600 version differs

The game would not fit in a standard 4 KB cartridge, so the 2600 version became the first game for the console to use bank switching, doubling the ROM to 8 KB.

It became one of the console's biggest hits, selling over three million copies.

Also on other platforms

Arcade · Atari 8-bit · Atari 7800 · Game Boy

Atari 2600	Atari (designed by Brad Stewart)
Arcade	Atari, Inc.
Game Boy	The Code Monkeys

Atari 7800. The 7800 version launched with the console in 1986 and adds cooperative play.
Atari 8-bit. Readers of Softline voted the Atari 8-bit port sixth in the magazine's 1983 Dog of the Year awards for bad computer games.
Atari 5200. A 5200 port identical to the Atari 8-bit version was in development in 1982 but never published.

Worth knowing

World final, 1982. Atari Age reported that the Asteroids world final was won by a 15-year-old from Chicago, who "scored 142,910 points in two games to win first place and a $5,000 scholarship" playing "Game 6, skill level A".
1981 dealer price. Atari's confidential retailer price list for January 1 to June 1, 1981 lists Asteroids (CX2649) in its premium tier: dealers paid $18.50 against a suggested retail price of $31.95.
1982 Arkie Award. Asteroids won Videogame of the Year in the 1982 Arkie Awards. It also took an honorable mention for Most Innovative, for "getting a videogame system to run an 8,000-byte program".

Before you buy

Check which label you are looking at. The standard Atari cartridge and the Sears Tele-Games cartridge are common and inexpensive. The silver-label Atari cartridge is the one priced above them. Genuine silver labels contain a thin foil layer that is hard to reproduce accurately, so a flat-printed silver label is a warning sign. Ordinary copies carry little counterfeit concern.