Valve offered a behind-the-scenes look at the biggest Steam games of 2023 on Wednesday, revealing which titles dominated the sales charts on the largest digital platform for PC gaming. Valve also revealed which games Steam users – and Steam Deck owners – played most this year, with Baldur’s Gate 3, Hogwarts legacy, StarfieldAnd Sons of the forest appears in several top 12 lists.
Some of the data won’t be all that surprising to Steam users who pay attention Valve’s publicly available statistics; Enduring Steam favorites like Counter Strike 2 (born Counter Strike Global Offensive), Dota 2, PUBG: BattlegroundsAnd Apex Legends are well represented in the lists of the best-selling and most played games. But 2023 brought new competitors, such as The final And Deadly companyone of the most played games on Steam.
Valve does not provide specific sales figures or numbered rankings, but instead highlights the top 100 Steam games in several categories, breaking each 100-game list into several tiers based on sales or game performance:
- Platinum: 1st – 12th
- Gold: 13th – 24th
- Silver: 25th – 50th
- Bronze: 51st – 100th
The company’s data covers the period from January 1 to December 15 of this year, so high-performing laggards in 2023 The final Higher rankings on Valve’s lists largely missed out. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest, most played, and best-selling games on Steam this year.
The best-selling games on Steam in 2023
The top 12 (Platinum tier) games on Steam based on total gross sales in 2023 include numerous free-to-play titles such as Apex Legends And Lost Arkalongside paid premium games like Hogwarts legacy And Starfield. (Publisher Activision also lists Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3And War zone so easy call of Duty on Steam to explain this naming convention.)
- Apex Legends
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- call of Duty
- Counter Strike 2
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Destiny 2
- Dota 2
- Hogwarts legacy
- Lost Ark
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Sons of the forest
- Starfield
Just outside the top 12, in the “Gold” sales level, proven games like Dead by daylight And Grand Theft Auto 5alongside newer releases like this Resident Evil 4 remake and EA Sports FC 24.
The best-selling new games on Steam in 2023
Only a third of the top 12 bestselling games on Steam this year were actually released in 2023, so Valve is highlighting the newly released bestsellers separately. Additionally, the following list is based on sales in the first two weeks after launch.
- Armored Core 6: Fire of the Rubicon
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Cities: Skylines 2
- EA Sports FC 24
- Hogwarts legacy
- Payday 3
- Rest 2
- Resident Evil 4
- Sons of the forest
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Starfield
- Street Fighter 6
Notable new releases for 2023 like Empty room, Mortal Kombat 1And Party animals ranks in the gold tier, while Diablo 4, Lies from PAnd Six days in Fallujah Rank in the silver class. (Valve has not released Bronze level data.)
The most played Steam games of 2023
The Most Played Steam Games of 2023 is a well-known list of venerable favorites Counter Strike 2, Dota 2And Destiny 2 Placement in the top 12. The newcomers on the most played list include big hits like Baldur’s Gate 3 And Hogwarts legacyalongside challengers like Goose, goose, duck.
Here are the 12 most played Steam games of the year, all of which peaked at more than 300,000 concurrent players. (Valve said it excluded games with “short spikes in player count due to things like giveaways and free weekends.”)
- Apex Legends
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Counter Strike 2
- Destiny 2
- Dota 2
- Goose, goose, duck
- Hogwarts legacy
- Lost Ark
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Sons of the forest
- Starfield
Most played games on Steam Deck in 2023
Steam users played many familiar favorites on the go this year, including Blockbuster Baldur’s Gate 3 And Starfieldalongside smaller dishes like Dave the diver And Vampire survivors. The original Half-life also made it into the top 12 most played Steam Deck games, almost certainly because Valve made it free for its 25th anniversary.
According to Valve, the list of the most played Steam Deck games was measured by “daily active player counts over the course of the year.”
- Armored Core 6: Fire of the Rubicon
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Dave the diver
- Elden Ring
- Grand Theft Auto 5
- Half-life
- Hogwarts legacy
- Resident Evil 4
- Starfield
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Vampire survivors
Just outside of the top 12 Steam Deck games, there are notable 2023 releases like Diablo 4, excavatorAnd Danger of rain returning.
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