Directly following their large annual winter sale Valve has presented their top 100 highest grossing games of the year on Steam. The best-sellers are broken up into multiple tiers, from platinum to gold. Best-sellers include a list of the biggest releases of the year, such as XCOM 2, Civilization VI, and The Division, as well as older main-stays like Counter-Strike and Grand Theft Auto V.
The following 12 games make up the “Platinum” category, representing the highest grossing games of the year on Steam (presented here alphabetically).
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dark Souls III
- DOTA 2
- Fallout 4
- Grand Theft Auto V
- No Man’s Sky
- Rocket League
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
- Tom Clancy’s The Division
- Total War: Warhammer
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- XCOM 2
Interesting to see No Man’s Sky up there, with its widespread criticisms and reports of mass refunds. Despite its incredibly rocky launch and controversy over content, the game sold remarkably well. Also funny to see both Dishonored and its new sequel in the Bronze category. A lot of folks waited until now to jump into the series.
DOTA 2, valve’s in-house MOBA, remains very popular as well. It’s also free to play, meaning enough people bought in-game loot to make DOTA 2 one of the highest grossing games of the year.
Valve doesn’t publish or make public any actual sales numbers. These best-seller lists are the best indicator we have of PC gaming on the world’s largest digital service.
The Steam Awards also wrapped up at the end of the winter sale. Users voted each day in a number of multiple choice categories. Here are the winners:
- Villain Most In Need of a Hug: Portal 2
- I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award: Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Test of Time: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Just 5 More Minutes: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- “Whoooaaaaaa, dude!”: Grand Theft Auto V
- Game Within A Game: Grand Theft Auto V
- I’m Not Crying, There’s Something In My Eye: The Walking Dead
- Best Use of a Farm Animal: Goat Simulator
- Boom Boom: DOOM
- Love/Hate Relationship: Dark Souls III
- Sit Back and Relax: Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Better With Friends: Left 4 Dead 2
