While most of the major gaming companies released player-specific wrap-up stats earlier this month, today Valve decided to share some platform-wide statistics, highlighting the most played Steam games of the year. To avoid divulging specifics, the entries are not ranked individually but by category. The top twelve games are in the platinum section, the next 13 are in the gold section, the next 25 are in the silver section, and the last 50 are in bronze. Within those categories, however, entries are “randomly sorted,” so it’s unclear which specific game came out at the top of the heap in any specific category.
Still, it’s interesting data. Hogwarts Legacy, Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, and Sons of the Forest each make the platinum category of almost every list they qualify for. Baldur’s Gate 3 nearly completes a full sweep, but it doesn’t quite make the cut for the controller platinum category, and there isn’t a VR version. It’s also interesting to see The Witcher 3, a nearly nine-year-old game, reach the top of the Steam Deck charts, but maybe not as impressive as Half-Life, released in 1998, which has a spot on that same list.
Here are the categories, their sorting criteria, and the games that made the top 12.
Top Sellers
Description: These are the best-selling games on Steam based on total gross revenue earned in 2023.
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Apex Legends
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Dota 2
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Call of Duty
- Destiny 2
- Lost Ark
- Sons of the Forest
- Counter Strike 2
New Releases
Description: These are the best-selling releases of 2023. This list is created by looking at every game released in 2023, then selecting the top ones based on their first two weeks of revenue after launching.
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Remnant 2
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Sons of the Forest
- Payday 3
- FC24
- Cities Skylines 2
- Street Fighter 6
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Most Played
Description: These are the most-played games of 2023, showcasing all games that eclipsed 40,000 peak players during 2023. Games are grouped by the number of peak concurrent player counts that they reached. We’ve excluded brief spikes in player counts due to things like giveaways and free weekends.
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Apex Legends
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Dota 2
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Goose Goose Duck
- Destiny 2
- Lost Ark
- Sons of the Forest
- Counter Strike 2
Note: Because this section is sorted by highest concurrent player count, the platinum section lists the 11 games that had a peak of over 300,000 concurrent players.
Early Access
Description: This list showcases the Top Early Access grads of 2023 measured by gross revenue earned throughout the year, including Early Access and post-graduation revenue.
- Everspace 2
- Sun Haven
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Dave the Diver
- Wartales
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Marvel Snap
- Against the Storm
- Ready or Not
- Demonologist
- My Time at Sandrock
- Farlight 84
Steam Deck
Description: This list includes the most played games on the Steam Deck during 2023, measured by their daily active player counts throughout the year. We include games with a Deck Verified status of Verified or Playable.
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Dave the Diver
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Starfield
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Half-Life
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Vampire Survivors
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Elden Ring
Controller
Description: This list includes the games that registered the most controller sessions during the year. Specifically, it’s the games that notched the highest numbers of those unique players, regardless of controller type.
- Apex Legends
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Starfield
- Elden Ring
- Rocket League
- FC24
- Street Fighter 6
- EA Sports FIFA 23
- Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Call of Duty
- NBA 2K23
VR
Description: These are the Top VR games based on revenue earned during 2023. 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 a virtual headset.
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2
- VTOL VR
- Ghosts of Tabor
- Into the Radius VR
- Boneworks
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
- Gorilla Tag
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Blade and Sorcery
- Bonelab
- Beat Saber
- Pavlov VR
Are there any games you’re surprised to see? Any glaring omissions? Let us know in the comments!
