Hello to my favorite Steamville residents! Yes, even you, my little snowman thieves. It’s Mayor Carol, here to remind you that the 13th annual Steam Winter Sale will be coming to a close at 10am Pacific on January 2nd.

And unlike what happened at the end of our Town Council’s karaoke performance of Jingle Bell Rock, the people of Steamville are enthusiastically chanting “Encore, Encore!” for the Winter Sale. So featured for these final two days of the sale, check out our Top Sellers from the event.

Now’s also a great time to check your Festivity Token balance. Hoarding will get you nowhere, my dears! You must spend them in our Holiday Market before they expire at the end of the sale!

Speaking of hoarding: In case anyone was so wrapped up in the Market they missed it, we announced earlier that Animated Stickers and Consumable Chat Effects no longer expire, so save away and use them whenever you like!

Cheers to you all, and thank you for joining me in yet another festive celebration in Steamville!

Happy New Year,
Mayor Carol

P.S. While I appreciate the return of the snowman to the grounds of Town Hall, the carrot was in a rather… questionable place. Steamville is always home to a good time, but please, let's keep it family-friendly.

Today is the last day to cast your vote in The 2019 Steam Awards! Be sure to cast your votes by December 31st, 9am Pacific, then check back at 10am Pacific for the winners' reveal!

Since the holidays can be stressful, with your family driving you crazy to love them even more, think of this as one final way to show your loved ones some appreciation! Although in this case, by “loved ones,” we mean the top new or updated Steam games you loved the most in 2019.

Vote now in all eight categories! Then sit back, relax, and await the big reveal of the winners of The 2019 Steam Awards tomorrow at 10am Pacific. Then, go take that long winter’s nap you’ve clearly earned, and we’ll see you for more Steam fun in 2020!

From now ‘til January 2nd @ 10am PST, snap up great deals on hundreds of popular VR titles.

From now ‘til January 2nd @ 10am PST, snap up deals on hundreds of your favorite local multiplayer titles - now available for sharing with friends online via Remote Play Together!

Yesterday we revealed the Selling and Top Played games of 2019 across all of Steam, and today we're continuing the look back at 2019 by highlighting some of the best games that you can play with a controller.

Whether you like to play from your couch or lean way back in your chair, there are a lot of great games on Steam that can be played with any one of hundreds of different controller models, including Xbox or Playstation controllers you might have laying around. Nearly any kind of input device with a USB plug at the end (and many without) can be used to play some of the best games on Steam. Here's a guide for where to start.

To come up with this list, we generated a list of the top 100 games with the highest peak number of concurrent players using a controller. Then we divided that list up into various common controller-friendly genres so you can more easily find the kind of game you might be looking for.



https://store.steampowered.com/sale/controller_games_2019

With the year almost at an end, we're unveiling our Best of 2019 lists. In keeping with tradition, we've built lists with the same themes as last year - Top Sellers, Top New Releases, Top Selling VR Titles, Top Early Access Grads and Most Played Games.



This list is as self-explanatory as it sounds - a look at games earning the most revenue in 2019. When measuring revenue, we look at game sales, in-game transactions and DLC associated with the game in question.

You'll probably notice some familiar games that were in previous year's lists, along with newcomers that have climbed their way to the top. Where did your favorite game end up this year?

Here's the Top Selling Games of 2019


This list a compilation of our monthly top release lists that were created over the course of 2019. We've also listed the overall top 12 game releases of 2019. We measure top releases by looking at a game's total revenue generated during the first two weeks after its release.

Every single month includes a surprising amount of representation from different genres, gameplay mechanisms and themes. Which month was your favorite?

Here's the Top New Releases of 2019


VR continued to grow in 2019, with over 600 new VR-only titles released over the course of the year. Many other games added VR support, along with unique VR-only experiences built for several fan-favorite franchises. This list showcases the best selling VR-only titles of 2019.

To focus on the growth of VR this year, we've also listed the top 20 VR-only games released in 2019. These products are measured by the revenue they generated during the first two weeks after release.

Here's the Top Selling VR Games of 2019


Early Access represents a unique model of development that incorporates player feedback throughout the course of the game's development to its launch.

This list recognizes games that have built strong Early Access communities and transitioned into commercially successful releases during 2019. These are measured by revenue earned during 2019 (during Early Access and after full release).

Here's the Top Early Access Grads of 2019


While the other lists are based on commercial success, our Most Played list highlights games based solely on player count. The Most Played Games list includes any game that had more than 15,000 simultaneous players at some point during 2019. In order to highlight games that have built large player bases, we've excluded brief spikes in player counts due to things like giveaways and free weekends.

Here's the Most Played Games of 2019


We don't disclose specific revenue information for these lists, but top sellers are broken into four categories in order to give you an idea of how they placed. The games within each band are sorted randomly:

Platinum: 1st - 12th Top Seller
Gold: 13th - 24th Top Seller
Silver: 25th - 40th Top Seller
Bronze: 41st - 100th Top Seller

Thanks for checking out these lists. After all, they were built by everyone who plays games on Steam!

Also, don't forget to check out the Steam Winter Sale, on now until January 2nd. Many of the titles in the lists above are discounted, and these lists are a great way to browse games that players loved in 2019.

-The Steam Team

Hello Steamville citizens, Mayor Carol here! The 2019 Winter Sale and Steamville Event are now in full swing, with amazing savings to be had by all! Thank you for your civic engagement and enthusiasm.

The people of Steamville have spoken, and we hear you loud and clear! The power of our Holiday Cheer is greater than silly rules! The members of Town Council have gathered ‘round the yule log and unanimously voted to reverse course on a few Steamville bylaws. Effective immediately, yule be happy to hear, they are amended as follows:

Any funds added to your Steam Wallet or purchases made with non-Steam Wallet payment methods in the week before the sale* will earn you Festivity Tokens. If you’ve purchased items during the sale using Wallet funds added in this timeframe, check your Festivity Token balance: you have already received these Tokens! Read our Event Details for additional ways you can earn Festivity Tokens.

Animated Stickers are far too much fun and will no longer expire. Hooray!! The people of Steamville have voted with their Festivity Points, and we're thrilled to report Happy Yule Log, Angry Yule Log, Bulb Dance, and Snowman Goodbye are your favorites so far... Be sure to check out all the good Stickers in our Holiday Market.



Consumable Chat Effects are now also free from expiration dates! Now you can hoard those snowballs in your freezer all year long. Or throw them now.


Merry Merry,
Mayor Carol


P.S. Whoever stole the snowman from the grounds of Town Hall, please return it immediately, no questions asked. Thank you. Now where in the name of tinsel did I leave my eggnog?

*Any time after Dec 12 2019 @ 10am PST

Welcome to Steamville, where the holidays are in full swing! From now ‘til January 2nd*, snap up deals on thousands of your favorite games, while earning festivity tokens and completing holiday quests along the way.

We know shopping this time of year is all about the spirit of giving, but don’t you deserve a little something too? While you’re here, explore our Holiday Market, and use the festivity tokens you earned from your purchases to get a little something for yourself. Which brings us to:

Earn Festivity Tokens when you shop on Steam, and use them in the Holiday Market to grab some shiny new items for yourself! Inside the market you’ll find festive goods, like:

• The Winter Sale Coupon
  
• New Chat Stickers
  
• New Chat Room Effects
  
• Lots of Egg Nog

OK, just kidding about the Egg Nog—Steamville Mayor Carol likes to keep that to herself. But you will find the rest of that list, and more, in our Holiday Market! Oh, and there’s one more way you can earn Festivity Tokens to use in the Market:

Complete Holiday Quests and earn more Festivity Tokens! A handful of quests will be available on Day 1 of the Winter Sale; check back throughout the duration of the sale to discover a new Quest each day.

Happy Holidays and Happy Gaming from all your friends in Steamville! Now, if you’ll excuse us, we must light the Yule Log in preparation for all the fun- and pry Mayor Carol away from her Nog before she has too much of it.

*Discounts end January 2nd at 10am PST, unless otherwise noted.

As we near the end of 2019, we're continuing our look at popular monthly releases on Steam. With this post, we'll be looking back at the top 20 products released in November, measured by revenue generated during the first two weeks following release. We've also gathered the top 5 free-to-play releases, measured by peak concurrent player count in the two weeks following release.

With each month's list, we often highlight similarities between some of the month's top products. But this month, we noticed an exciting contrast between established franchises from well-known developers and fresh entries from newly created teams. Seeing franchises like Age of Empires, Sniper Ghost Warrior and Football Manager alongside newcomers like FrenzyRetribution, Ratropolis, and Lost Ember is really a testament to the variety of tastes present in the Steam community. Players certainly enjoy familiar content, but there is always room for unexpected surprises.

Another theme that stands out this month is the significant representation of prominent fan-favorite universes. These are names that need no introduction, as they are popular all over the world, not only in games - Gundam, Game of Thrones, Terminator, Warhammer and Star Wars. The success of these titles shows just how much excitement can be generated by huge universes that span across artistic mediums. Whether its comics, music, film or TV, we are definitely looking forward to seeing more universes make their way to games. Who knows, the franchise from your favorite book or movie just might end up on a future top release list.

Finally, we'd like to congratulate the teams that are releasing their very first product on Steam. Some of these teams have been making games for a while on other platforms, while some are recent college grads making their first commercial product. We're happy to welcome these 10 development teams that are new to Steam: Blueside, FrenzyZoneGameworkshop, YOUZU (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., Mobile Technologies LLC, ALLM Co., Ltd., 2x2 Games, UMEO Studios, Respawn Entertainment, Cassel Games and Mooneye Studios.

Here is the full list of November's top releases ordered by release date (we've organized this list on a handy sale page too):


Ratropolis - Cassel Games


Planet Zoo - Frontier Developments


Pistol Whip - Cloudhead Games


ROMANCING SAGA 3™ - Square Enix & ArtePiazza


Kritika:REBOOT - ALLM Co., Ltd.


Unity of Command II - 2x2 Games & Croteam


The Legend of Bum-Bo - Edmund McMillen, James Interactive & Ridiculon


Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Forgotten Empires & Tantalus Media


Command: Modern Operations - Warfare Sims


Terminator: Resistance - Teyon


STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ - Respawn Entertainment


Kingdom Under Fire 2 - Blueside


Football Manager 2020 - Sports Interactive


Automation Empire - DOG HOGGLER


BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle - Arc System Works


This Land Is My Land - Game-Labs


Farmer's Dynasty - Toplitz Productions & UMEO Studios


Lost Ember - Mooneye Studios


Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts - CI Games


SD GUNDAM G GENERATION CROSS RAYS - TOM CREATE - 株式会社トムクリエイト

--



Kritika:REBOOT - ALLM Co., Ltd.


Stay Out - Mobile Technologies LLC


Game of Thrones Winter is Coming - YOUZU (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.


Warhammer: Chaos and Conquest - Hunted Cow Studios


罪業狂襲FrenzyRetribution - FrenzyZoneGameworkshop

--

If you're curious about previous months, here are more Top Release links:

• The Top Releases of May
  
• The Top Releases of June
  
• The Top Releases of July
  
• The Top Releases of August
  
• The Top Releases of September
  
• The Top Releases of October

One more little reminder - The Steam Winter Sale begins on Thursday the 19th.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

The nomination phase of the 2019 Steam Awards is complete, and the final nominees will be revealed over the coming eight days (one per category). Beginning today with the nominees for Outstanding Visual Style, the award nominees will be featured in a daily video reveal until the finalists for Game of the Year are revealed next Wednesday, December 18 (PST).

The Awards feature a total of eight categories, four of which are new this year. Community voting opens Thursday, December 19 (PST) when the annual Steam Holiday Sale begins. And the Winners are planned to be announced on New Year’s Eve.

This is the fourth year of the Steam Awards, with all nominees and winners decided by community voting.

To check out the nominee video reveals, please visit store.steampowered.com/steamawards/2019/

About this year’s Award Categories:

Maybe it was its immersive gameplay, or its gripping story... its well-crafted characters, immaculate design, or addictive multiplayer. Whatever the reason, the winner of 2019's Game of the Year Award is an instant classic.

When it comes to breaking new ground in games, there is no greater pace of advancement than in VR. If we had our way, all VR devs would get an award for building the future of immersive games and experiences unparalleled by any other medium. But since there’s only one trophy, it’s up to you, Steam Awards Selection Committee member, to crown just one as the best of 2019.

This game has been out for a while. The team is well past the first unveiling of their creative baby, but being the good parents they are, these devs continue to nurture and support their creation. This game, to this day, is still getting new content after all these years.

There are some games out there that just aren't the same when you play by yourself. Maybe you need to have a friend to watch your back. Maybe you need to have a friend that you can stab in their back. Either way, mirth is awaiting those who gather friends to play these games.

This game is at the front lines of experimentation, pushing the boundaries of the medium with exciting, novel interactions and brain-breaking surprises. This game thinks outside the box, and pulls you out with it!

Some days, only a narrative-heavy game will hit the spot, and this one packs a wallop. It's as gripping as any soap opera, and as well-tuned as a prestige-TV screenplay. Bravissimo -- for making us feel things!

Games have a way of pushing us past any limits we thought we had. Like a montage sequence, we put in work, training our fingers to be quick and nimble, mastering timing and placement over weeks and weeks. At the end of the gauntlet, we're rewarded with profound beauty and a deep sense of personal growth. Unless you hurled your monitor through a plate-glass window on the first day.


These devs are the Willy Wonka of eye candy. Visual style doesn't aspire to real-world graphical fidelity (though a noble goal in itself)… it describes a distinctive look and feel that suffuses an entire game. This game displays visual cohesion and expression that not only fit the game's world, but make our world look paltry by comparison.