Like every year, Gabe Newell’s company has done its homework.

The Best of Steam 2023 has compiled the top lists in several categories (top sellers, new releases, most played, early access, Steam Deck, most played with a controller, VR). The top-selling titles are divided into categories (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze), with Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield, Destiny 2, Lost Ark, DotA 2, Baldur’s Gate III, Hogwarts Legacy, Sons of the Forest, PIBG Battlegrounds, and Counter-Strike 2 all in the Platinum category (the order may vary, and many of these are free-to-play titles). Sons of the Forest is the big surprise, as it’s a big hit among the many AAA titles from an initially small studio.

In the list of most played games we see mostly the same titles, but the difference is Goose Goose Duck. It’s a free-to-play game that essentially copied Among Us and still managed to be successful. (Among Us is one of the most played games overall; this is based on the highest number of concurrent players, and in January it was over 700,000). The new releases show that console games (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Street Fighter 6) can do just as well on Steam as Baldur’s Gate III or Remnant 2. Payday 3 and Cities Skylines 2 are still in the platinum tier, despite not receiving outstanding reviews, while Far Cry 6 only made it to the silver tier…

In addition to the obvious Early Access titles (Baldur’s Gate III, Ready or Not, Against the Storm), there are some surprising ones (Sun Haven, Fairlight 84, World of Horror, Your Only Move is Hustle). The Steam Deck category is based on the number of active players per day, not peak players (The Witcher 3, Dave the Diver, Vampire Survivors, Half-Life… even though Gordon Freeman’s story is 25 years old!)

It’s worth checking the lists…

Source: PCGamer