Once again, Valve employees have poured through the data over the course of hundreds of hours to produce a list of the biggest and best-selling games available through Steam in 2021. It's either that, or they just had a program compile all of the data for them, but the alternative sounds more thrilling.
Valve has broken down Steam's "Best of 2021" into several categories. They have listings for the top sellers regardless of release date, the list of the top selling new releases in 2021, the games that were played the most, games that left Early Access, the best VR games of 2021, and the best controller friendly games.
These charts were compiled from data pulled from January 1, 2021 through December 15, 2021. You can read up on the criteria for all of these categories in this new Steam blog post. For instance, here is what Valve had to say about the "Top Sellers" category.
Top Sellers
The Top Sellers list is exactly what it sounds like - a look at the 100 games earning the most revenue on Steam during 2021. To get the total revenue, we look at game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales for every app on Steam from January 1st, 2021 through December 15th, 2021.
Being the sixth time we've organized the yearly Top Sellers list, it's quite interesting to look back and see which games have become perennial champs, while also perusing the brand new hits that smashed their way to the top.
In terms of titles new to this list, 2021 was a good year for games making their debut in both the Platinum category as well as the list overall. Six games made their debuts in the Platinum category this year (New World, Valheim, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, Apex Legends, Battlefieldâ„¢ 2042, and Dead by Daylight), with more than a third of the entire list being comprised of first-time Top Seller appearances. Many of these debuts are new releases for 2021, but a handful of older titles also cracked into the top 100, thanks to continued passion from their developers and dedicated community support from players.
Meanwhile, many of the perennial leaders continued to enjoy success on Steam. Dota 2, CS:GO, and Grand Theft Auto V all remain in the Platinum category for the sixth-straight year, which comes as no surprise to the passionate fans that launched these games throughout 2021. Five-time appearances in the Platinum category include PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.
A special shoutout to Destiny 2 as well, which has made the Platinum three years running since its Steam release in 2019.
The Top Sellers list is exactly what it sounds like - a look at the 100 games earning the most revenue on Steam during 2021. To get the total revenue, we look at game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales for every app on Steam from January 1st, 2021 through December 15th, 2021.
Being the sixth time we've organized the yearly Top Sellers list, it's quite interesting to look back and see which games have become perennial champs, while also perusing the brand new hits that smashed their way to the top.
In terms of titles new to this list, 2021 was a good year for games making their debut in both the Platinum category as well as the list overall. Six games made their debuts in the Platinum category this year (New World, Valheim, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, Apex Legends, Battlefieldâ„¢ 2042, and Dead by Daylight), with more than a third of the entire list being comprised of first-time Top Seller appearances. Many of these debuts are new releases for 2021, but a handful of older titles also cracked into the top 100, thanks to continued passion from their developers and dedicated community support from players.
Meanwhile, many of the perennial leaders continued to enjoy success on Steam. Dota 2, CS:GO, and Grand Theft Auto V all remain in the Platinum category for the sixth-straight year, which comes as no surprise to the passionate fans that launched these games throughout 2021. Five-time appearances in the Platinum category include PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege.
A special shoutout to Destiny 2 as well, which has made the Platinum three years running since its Steam release in 2019.
