With the year coming to a close, we're ready to unveil our Best of Steam lists for 2020. You can jump straight into the lists here, or read on below for more specifics.

Also, don't forget to check out the Steam Winter Sale, which is going on now until January 5th. Many of the titles in these lists are discounted, making this a great way to browse games that players loved in 2020.




This list is straightforward - a look at the 100 games earning the most revenue on Steam during 2020. To get the total revenue for each game, we look at game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales from January 1st, 2020 through December 18th, 2020.

Since we've been organizing top sellers now for five years, it's interesting to take a look at how the top games have changed from year to year, or in some cases stayed exactly the same. GTA V, Dota 2, and CS:GO all have the honor of making the platinum category five times since we began these lists in 2016. Rainbow Six: Siege and PUBG are not far behind, both with four appearances in the platinum category. Several brand new 2020 releases have also gone straight to the top, with DOOM Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, and Fall Guys each having tremendous 2020 success. We've linked previous year's Best of Steam lists at the bottom of this post for those who want to jump in and compare even further.

Here are the Top Selling Games of 2020


This list showcases the top releases for each month in 2020, along with the top 25 new releases for the entire year. We generate top new releases by looking at each game's total revenue during the first two weeks after its release.

As we were building out the Top 25 list for the entire year, we were curious which months were the most represented. October & March both stood at the top, each with four of their releases making the yearly Top 25. After that, June, August & September had strong representation, with three new releases a piece. Sadly, May was the only month without a new release in the Top 25 this year, but we have our fingers crossed for 2021.

Here are the Top New Releases of 2020


This list showcases the bestselling VR-only titles of 2020. Just like the Top Sellers list, we look at total revenue for each game, including game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales from January 1st, 2020 through December 18th, 2020.

VR continued to gain popularity and grow its catalog in 2020, with more than 800 new VR-only releases on Steam over the course of the year (~30% increase from 2019). Many popular games added or launched with VR support, along with VR-only experiences releasing for many fan-favorite franchises. We're excited to see what new experiences players discover in 2021 as developers continue to push the boundaries of VR.

Here are the Top Selling VR Games of 2020


This list recognizes top games that transitioned out of Early Access during 2020. These are measured by gross revenue earned in 2020, during Early Access and after full release.

2020 was another strong year for Early Access, with plenty of new debuts and successful graduations. This development model continues to benefit developers eager to get direct feedback, while rewarding players who can't wait to get their hands on new content. These successful graduations are a testament of how that relationship can produce some amazing products on Steam.

Here are the Top Early Access Grads of 2020


While the previous lists are all based on commercial success, the Most Played list highlights games that reached the highest peak concurrent player counts throughout 2020. We've included all games that had more than 30,000 concurrent players at some point during the year, grouping them into buckets based on how many players they reached. We've excluded brief spikes in player counts due to things like giveaways and free weekends in order to highlight the games that have built large player bases.

The first thing that immediately jumped out with 2020 was just how much higher the peak concurrent numbers were compared to 2019. For example, Steam saw 12 titles reach more than 100,000 peak concurrent players in all of 2019. That number more than doubled in 2020, with 26 games going above 100,000 players. This increase happened across the board, so we've doubled the size of each bucket for 2020:
Here are the Most Played Games of 2020


This list recognizes the 100 games that found the most success with players who use controllers. We create this list by looking at the highest number of unique controller players a game reached on any given day. The games are further grouped into buckets based on how many controller players each game had.

When we talk about controllers on Steam, we are referring to the dozens of different input devices that players use on Steam. These include the always popular Xbox and PlayStation controllers, as well as joysticks, gamepads, and a multitude of other devices. So, if you're a player who prefers to use something other than a mouse & keyboard with your games, make sure to check this list out for inspiration. 

Here are the Most Played Controller Games of 2020


We don't disclose revenue breakdowns for these lists, so we sort the games into buckets to give an idea of how they compare. The games within each bucket are sorted randomly:

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


You may also be curious about previous years, which are linked here:

• Best of 2016
  
• Best of 2017
  
• Best of 2018
  
• Best of 2019

-Happy Holidays from everyone on the Steam Team!

The Winter Sale has begun, with deep discounts on thousands of games! But as always that’s not all there is to the event. The Steam Awards nominees have been chosen, there are holiday gifts to pick up, and both Steam Points and Steam Chat have been updated with new features and content.




This year we’ve teamed up with artist Eric Nyffeler, to help us create the Winter Sale theme, the Seasonal Profile, and... bird stickers!? Why birds, you ask? To that we ask you - why NOT birds? Claim a free animated bird sticker (each inspired by a popular game on Steam) every other day of the sale when you visit the Points Shop, where you'll find other new winter seasonal items.




Thanks to your tens of millions of nominations (a record!) during the Autumn Sale, we have our final nominees for the 2020 Steam Awards. Over forty titles are up for awards across ten categories, and the winners will be chosen by you, the Steam community. Make sure to visit the Steam Awards page to cast your vote before January 3rd, when we will be announcing the winners!




New Profile Showcases and Upgrades
Don’t have enough room to display all your rare achievements or badges? Now you can upgrade your showcases, giving you more room to display your swag. Still not enough room? You can also get additional showcases for your profile, all for Steam Points. Check them out now in the Steam Points Shop. We've also added new showcases to choose from. You can now add the Community Awards, Game Completionist, Featured Artwork, and Video showcases to your Steam Profile.

Profile and Discussion Awards
We’ve seen how Steam players have loved awarding reviews and workshop content, so the team has decided to expand this further. Starting today, you can grant community awards to Steam Profiles and Discussion Board posts as well. Learn more here.

New Community Awards
There are now even more places to award content, so it would be a shame if there weren't more awards to choose from. The team has nearly doubled the number of available community awards with this update - this includes the Clever, Wholesome, Wild, and Saucy awards, just to name a few.




Steam Chat has gotten an upgrade as well with today's update - Chat Reactions. You can now react to messages within Steam Chat using your emoticons or animated stickers. Reactions appear in-line below the message, and other players can +1 your reaction or add reactions of their own. This update applies to desktop, web, and mobile versions of Steam Chat.


Enjoy the sale, and stay tuned for announcements about the best games of 2020 and the winners of the Steam Awards!

Continuing our monthly series, we're happy to announce the Top Releases of November. As a reminder, we showcase the Top 20 titles released during the month, measured by the revenue generated during the first two weeks after release. We also highlight the Top 5 free-to-play titles, based on number of unique players they acquired.


Players have always appreciated how games allow them to see worlds they may not otherwise be able to. November demonstrated that theme in a fun way, with many players opting for the experiences that come with real-life careers. Whether it's the excitement of blazing danger in Firefighting Simulator, the feeling of worldwide musical fame in FUSER™, the challenge of attaining perfection in Football Manager 2021, or even the appetite for exploration in Mars Horizon, these games give players a taste of what these careers entail - now only if they came with the paycheck, too! Make sure to check future months to see if your job ends up becoming a Top Release.


We're also happy to see four new Early Access debuts in November, each well on their way to creating collaborative and invested communities. Prodeus and Due Process are bringing new and exciting elements to the FPS genre, while Door Kickers 2 and Kingdoms Reborn give players two completely unique simulation experiences that are worth checking out. We're looking forward to watching these games and their communities grow as they progress through Early Access.


About half of the games this month are coming from teams who are releasing a product on Steam for the very first time. Some of these teams have worked on games before, while others are completely new to development. A big welcome and congratulations to Bounding Box Software Inc., Chris Shanaz, Chronos Unterhaltungssoftware, Damian Schloter, Earthshine, Giant Enemy Crab, GSQ Games, Pillow Castle, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, Stellar Entertainment Limited, Vadim Slyusarev, and YS Net.

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


Kingdoms Reborn
Earthshine (Thailand)


Door Kickers 2: Task Force North
KillHouse Games (Romania)


Due Process
Giant Enemy Crab (USA)


SpellForce 3: Fallen God
Grimlore Games (Germany)


Apex Legends™
Respawn Entertainment (USA)


DIRT 5
Codemasters (UK)


Need for Speed™ Hot Pursuit Remastered
Stellar Entertainment Limited (UK)


Superliminal
Pillow Castle (USA)


Prodeus
Bounding Box Software Inc. (USA)


FUSER™
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc (USA)


Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Edelweiss (Japan)


Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (Japan)


Titanfall™
Respawn Entertainment (USA)


Firefighting Simulator - The Squad
Chronos Unterhaltungssoftware (Germany)


Mars Horizon
Auroch Digital (UK)


Shenmue III
YS Net (Japan)


Slasher's Keep
Damian Schloter (Germany)


Football Manager 2021
Sports Interactive (UK)


Amazing Cultivation Simulator
GSQ Games (China)


NEKOPARA Vol. 4
NEKO WORKs (Japan)

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And here are the Top 5 free-to-play titles from November, ranked by total unique player count:


Apex Legends™
Respawn Entertainment (USA)


Super Buckyball Tournament Preseason
Pathea Games (China)


*NEW* SCUFFED EPIC BHOP SIMULATOR 2023 (POG CHAMP)
Chris Shanaz (Australia)


Our Life: Beginnings & Always
GB Patch Games (USA)


Disc Space
Vadim Slyusarev (UK)

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

• May 2020
  
• June 2020
  
• July 2020
  
• August 2020
  
• September 2020
  
• October 2020

Library

• Added a new game properties dialog, which replaces the old dialog for all Steam games.
  
• Fixed displaying the coming soon date for a pre-loaded game

Steam Input

• Added support for software calibration of the PS5 controller gyro
  
• Fix issue with Dpad emulation in games using the joyGetPosEx Windows API, ex: Shiren the Wanderer
  
• Fix Nintendo Switch origins in Steam Input API not reflecting the current Nintendo/Xbox layout setting

Steam Cloud

• Fixed an issue causing files to swap between users under separate Windows user IDs, and also with some file stored in paths with embedded 64-bit SteamIDs

SteamNetworkingSockets

• P2P connections now may attempt to negotiate a direct connection (punch NAT), if needed, to prevent connections from having very high latency. Added an option in the In-Game settings panel to control when your IP address is shared.

Server Browser

• Fix bug causing LAN server browser search to not show any servers

Linux

• Improved performance of processing incremental Vulkan shader database updates
  
• Fixed several issues around skipped Vulkan shader processing continuing in the background after a game has started
  
• Disabled shader processing on NVIDIA while driver issues are being looked into
  
• Fixed long delay in UI response when hot-plugging a controller

macOS

• Disabled “Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views” and “Enable hardware video decoding” settings on Apple M1 devices due to poor HW-accelerated performance currently through Rosetta.