Embark Studios’ game is performing so well on Valve’s digital platform that Gabe Newell and his team are feeling the impact in their wallets – in a positive way.
Steam’s Winter Sale has come to an end, and according to Alinea Analytics, PC players will be spending their time with Arc Raiders while waiting for the platform’s next Spring Sale. December 2025 marked Steam’s strongest December ever, with the platform generating more than $1.6 billion in revenue.
This represents a 22.7% increase compared to December 2024 and easily surpasses the Covid-era peak of December 2020, when Steam reached $1.4 billion in gross revenue. What fueled this record-breaking performance? Embark Studios’ third-person extraction shooter Arc Raiders, which has remained the “game of the moment” since its hugely successful launch in October.
The title has shown little sign of slowing down since release and recently surpassed 12 million copies sold worldwide. Alinea Analytics estimates that more than 7 million of those sales occurred on Steam alone. During the holiday period, Arc Raiders was the second highest-grossing game on Steam.
On December 26 alone, more than 250,000 copies were sold, and based on concurrent player numbers, there is no indication that the game will drop out of Steam’s most-played titles anytime soon. Since launch, it has never fallen below 250,000 concurrent players.
The top spot in terms of revenue was claimed by Counter-Strike, which is hardly surprising given its consistent dominance on the platform. Steam’s December 2025 rankings become even more interesting when looking at copies sold.
Detroit: Become Human was available at a 90% discount during the Winter Sale, prompting approximately 993,000 new players to pick it up. As a result, it became the second best-selling game of December 2025, just behind Arc Raiders.
Other notable titles on the list include Battlefield 6, discounted by 30%, and Slay the Spire, which reached its lowest price ever with a 90% discount. The timing could hardly be better for developer Mega Crit, which is preparing for the March launch of Slay the Spire II.
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