Feb 28, 2022

Steam News - andrewl ******

With 2022 well underway, we're happy to announce Steam's Top Releases for the month of January. As with previous lists, we look at every release for the month, highlighting the Top 20 games and Top 5 DLC releases based on the first two weeks of revenue. We also highlight the top 5 free-to-play games, ranked by the number of unique players they acquired after launch.

The Top Releases of January 2022

Expansion Packed

While our monthly lists tend to highlight the success of standalone game releases, players also gravitate toward DLC that brings new life into their Steam libraries. January included some great examples of this, with the popular Cities Skylines making two appearances on the Top DLC list. Airports was created in-house by the developer, whereas the Content Creator - Map Pack represents the latest entry in a series of DLCs where popular and talented members of the game's workshop community collaborate with the developer to create official DLC packs. With such an active community of workshop creators supported by a dedicated developer, it’s no surprise that Cities Skylines and its Steam Workshop are still thriving nearly seven years since their debuts.

Multi-Dimensional

It’s hard not to be wowed each month as Top Releases showcase the latest 3D animations and effects from studios around the world. January was certainly no exception, with players absorbed by Capcom’s latest adventure, MONSTER HUNTER RISE, alongside Sony’s critically-acclaimed PC arrival of God of War. But not to be outdone by its extra-dimensional counterpart, the 2D genre showed strong representation in January with nearly half of the month's Top Releases. What 2D might lack in stunning visual effects and realistic environments, it more than makes up with unique mechanics, creative aesthetics, and more often than not, less demanding hardware requirements. January's 2D titles boast great variety as well, including a politics simulator - Democracy 4, an occult puzzler - Strange Horticulture, and an incredibly original linguistic adventure - Word Game.

New Devs

As with previous months, we'd also like to congratulate the teams that are releasing their first Steam game. Some of these teams have been making games for a while on other platforms, while others are making their very first commercial game. A big welcome and congrats go out to these development teams on their successful Steam debuts.

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

Feb 28, 2022

The Remote Play Together Sale & Livestream is On Now

Steam News - Christen

Save All Week Long

Explore the thousands of games you can share with friends and family online in our Remote Play Together Sale & Livestream Event. Save now through Monday March 7th at 10am Pacific. Grab a game, fire it up, then send a link to your game session to anyone. They don't even need a Steam account!

Tune in Thursday 3/3 for Our Livestream with Hosts Slacks & Flax

Join hosts SirActionSlacks and Pyrion Flax for an 8-hour livestreaming marathon to witness Remote Play Together in action, and even join the games in progress when we share invite links in chat on Steam, YouTube, and Twitch. Anything could happen! Join us for the action March 3rd, 7am - 3pm Pacific.

Invite Anyone to Play Online!

With Steam's Remote Play Together titles, you can invite anyone to join your game session with just a web link! Up to four players can instantly join in the fun. Only the host needs to own and install the game, while additional players can connect through Steam Remote Play streaming technology using Steam or the lightweight Steam Link app. No account is needed to join your game from Windows, Mac OS, Linux, iOS or Android devices.

Jump into any of [url]your own Remote Play Together games[/url], or shop for new ones featuring hundreds of discounts all week long. Then, grab a link to your game session from the Friends list and send it to anyone however you like.

Once your friend receives your link, they'll be invited to install and run the Steam Link app, if they don't already have it or the Steam desktop app installed. A USB gaming controller will be handy for those joining on a computer. No controller? You can grant your friend access to share control of your keyboard and/or mouse. On a phone or tablet, the touch screen can be used.

Learn More

Yes, there's more. Read on for a full run down on all the ways you can make use of Remote Play in your own collection of games.

#RemotePlayTogether

Jan 26, 2022

Top Releases of December 2021

Steam News - andrewl ***

With 2021 in the history books, we're happy to announce Steam's Top Releases for the month of December. As with previous lists, we look at every release for the month, highlighting the Top 20 games and Top 5 DLC releases based on their first two weeks of revenue. We also highlight the top 5 free-to-play games, ranked by the number of unique players they acquired after launch.

The Top Releases of December 2021

Happy New Year(s)

Between the Steam Awards reveal and the culmination of the Steam Winter Sale, there was certainly no shortage of exciting moments to cap off the year. In much the same way that we welcomed the New Year and bid farewell to 2021, about half of the games on December's Top Release list either made their debuts into Early Access or graduated from it. The open-world RPG Sands of Salzaar and the cooperative shooter GTFO both launched out of Early Access after much development during 2021. And as if sensing an Early Access void in those genres, Wartales and Ready or Not launched into their own Early Access journeys for 2022. If one New Year transition wasn't exciting enough, we're already preparing for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebration. Make sure to check back for a ferocious amount of discounts across the Steam catalog.

Next Best Thing

While browsing December’s Top Releases, we were more than happy to see several games that participated in one of Steam's 2021 Next Fests. For those unfamiliar, Steam Next Fests are multi-day celebrations of unreleased games, where hundreds of free demos can be enjoyed alongside a full schedule of developer livestreams and Q&A sessions. For devs, these events provide an opportunity to test a wide range of features and ideas, while simultaneously generating increased wishlist activity. For players, Next Fests can be as simple as a few minutes of enjoyment with a singleplayer demo, or as immersive as a weekend with friends, sampling everything the festival has to offer. So after checking out December’s Top Releases, make sure you set a reminder for the upcoming February Next Fest.

New Devs

Dec 27, 2021

The Best of 2021

Steam News - andrewl

With just a handful of days left until The New Year, we’re excited to look back at some of 2021’s top sellers, most-played games, new releases, and more! As with previous years, we've organized several Best Of lists that each showcase how great 2021 was for players, developers, and all of the games in between. Before we see what 2022 has in store, let's look back at the Best of Steam - 2021.

As you've probably noticed by now, the Steam Winter Sale is in full swing, with 1000s of discounts across the store. So if you're looking for a sale on the best games of the year, we recommend browsing some of these lists!

For anyone jumping straight into the lists, we recommend reading the notes at the bottom of this page, which explain some of the technical criteria for how the lists are generated.

Top Sellers

The Top Sellers list is exactly what it sounds like - a look at the 100 games earning the most revenue on Steam during 2021. To get the total revenue, we look at game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales for every app on Steam from January 1st, 2021 through December 15th, 2021.

Being the sixth time we've organized the yearly Top Sellers list, it's quite interesting to look back and see which games have become perennial champs, while also perusing the brand new hits that smashed their way to the top.

In terms of titles new to this list, 2021 was a good year for games making their debut in both the Platinum category as well as the list overall. Six games made their debuts in the Platinum category this year (New World, Valheim, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, Apex Legends, Battlefield™ 2042, and Dead by Daylight), with more than a third of the entire list being comprised of first-time Top Seller appearances. Many of these debuts are new releases for 2021, but a handful of older titles also cracked into the top 100, thanks to continued passion from their developers and dedicated community support from players.

Meanwhile, many of the perennial leaders continued to enjoy success on Steam. Dota 2, CS:GO, and Grand Theft Auto V all remain in the Platinum category for the sixth-straight year, which comes as no surprise to the passionate fans that launched these games throughout 2021. Five-time appearances in the Platinum category include PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.
A special shoutout to Destiny 2 as well, which has made the Platinum three years running since its Steam release in 2019.

Top Sellers of 2021

Top New Releases

If you follow Steam posts throughout the year, you may have seen monthly lists highlighting the Top 20 games released each month throughout 2021. We've assembled those lists in one handy spot, but have also generated a top 25 list of new releases looking at the entire year. The list is created by looking at the thousands of game releases of 2021 and showcasing the Top 25 based on the revenue they generated during the first two weeks following their launch.

For last year's New Release list, we looked at which months were the most represented in the yearly Top 25. We thought it would be interesting to do that again and see how they compare. Similarly to last year, the autumn season includes a concentration of hugely successful top releases, with a bit of a lull in games during the winter months. We are also pleased to see that every month made the cut in 2021:

Top 25 new releases by month (congrats November!)

Month

2020

2021

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Top New Releases of 2021

Most Played Games

Unlike the lists that are based on commercial success, the Most Played list showcases games that achieved the highest numbers of players through December 15th, 2021. We've included every game that reached more than 30,000 players for the year, grouping them into buckets based on the number of players they reached. Like in previous years, we exclude player spikes caused by free weekends, giveaways, and other anomalous events.

It's already a massive challenge to create a product with enough interest and support to become a Most Played game. If a game achieves that, managing thousands of players presents a whole new set of challenges for developers. We noticed that many of the Most Played games this year took full advantage of two newer features on Steam that help overcome those challenges: Steam Playtests and Steam Next Fests. Both allow developers to get their products into the hands of thousands of players, testing server loads and adjusting matchmaking features, all while generating excitement and wishlist growth in the community. For the players who make this Most Played list come to life, Steam Playtests and Next Fests give exciting peeks into development, as well as more confidence to make informed purchasing decisions.

Most Played Games of 2021

Top Early Access Graduates

The Early Access list represents the top selling games that launched out of Early Access in 2021. We create this list based on all the revenue earned through December 15th, 2021 by any app that exited out of Early Access during that time.

Early Access continued to be a popular development model on Steam throughout 2021, with well over 1000 games launching with it during the year. But this list is about the graduates, who have all come a long way from their debuts. Some of them made quick progressions through their Early Access milestones, while others steadily progressed through years of development. Although each has a unique path and story, they all stand as shining examples of the amazing games that Early Access can produce.

Top Early Access Graduates of 2021

Top Selling VR Games

The Top Selling VR list represents the 100 best-selling VR-only experiences of 2021. Like the Top Sellers list, these are based on revenue. While many games on Steam offer supplemental VR modes and experiences, we limit this list to VR-only to showcase games that are designed solely for the virtual realm.

The VR catalogue continued to grow in 2021 with over 500 new VR-only games released throughout the year. Many of these releases made their way onto this year's Top Selling list, which features dozens of titles making their debuts. However, the stalwarts at the top remain unchallenged this year, with only one new game appearing in the Platinum category (Into the Radius).

Although this list requires that an app be VR-only, many existing games on Steam added VR support and VR dedicated modes throughout the year. If you're thinking of buying a VR device, chances are you might have a game in your library with optional VR support.

Top Selling VR Games of 2021

Top Controller Games

This list represents the games that registered the most controller sessions during the year. Specifically, it's a ranking of games based on the highest number of unique controller players that they reached through December 15th, 2021.

With the growth of games and player numbers on Steam during 2021, it's not surprising that the amount of controller sessions went up during the year as well. Whether it was a console controller, a flight stick, or a dance pad, millions of unique devices connected players to their games during 2021.

Games within the sports genre have always been popular with controllers, but 2021 took that to another level with soccer specifically. EA SPORTS™ FIFA 21 returned to the Platinum category this year, joined by its successor, FIFA 22. And if two wasn't enough, eFootball™ 2022 joined them, giving soccer games a 25% share of the Platinum category. Variety awaits those who delve a bit further into the list though, with plenty of other sporting options, along with other genres that are begging to be enjoyed with any input device.

Most Played Controller Games of 2021

Notes

A couple of notes regarding the lists themselves. Since we don't divulge revenue specifics for the games on these lists, we sort them into categories to give an idea of how they stack up. Games are randomly sorted within the following categories:

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

The games on the Most Played lists are organized by peak concurrent player count and grouped into thresholds based on the number of players.

Finally, when generating these lists, we are looking at data from January 1st 2021 through December 15th, 2021.

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If you've made it this far and still want more, check out previous years here:

-Happy Holidays from everyone on the Steam Team!