Steam reveals the best-selling games of 2023 and there are some surprises among them

It’s not the annual awards, but hard facts instead: Steam presents the objectively determined hits of 2023 across several categories

Another gaming year is over. And without even knowing it, you’ve already voted which games have landed at the top of the podium – at least in this evaluation on Steam. (Because Valve has published a list spanning several categories), which titles have made a particularly large amount of money or attracted players

We pick out a few examples for you and find a few surprises in the process.

The best on Steam in 2023 by numbers

Top sellers

These are the best-selling games on Steam by sales. The top groups are hardly surprising, as they mainly contain well-known big names. But below silver are some titles from previous years, such as Sea of Thieves. The continued support for the title is clearly being rewarded here

The same applies to No Mans Sky, which can be placed under bronze. And a perennial favorite like Anno 1800 will also make it into the top 100 by sales in 2023.

New products

These are the best-selling releases of 2023 – measured by sales from the first two weeks after release.

Payday 3 stands out here, as it had a really bad start but sold very well. With Armored Core 6, From Software has clearly succeeded in capitalizing on the increased fan base thanks to Elden Ring. Otherwise, there are other expected candidates such as Dave the Diver, Dredge or The Finals. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Diablo 4 easily makes it onto the list despite its late launch and plenty of accompanying criticism.

Most played

The most-played titles of 2023 include all games that recorded more than 40,000 players at peak times. Short-term peaks due to raffles or free weekends, for example, were excluded

At the top are giants such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Hogwarts Legacy or Counter Strike 2. Cyberpunk 2077 also attracted numerous players again in 2023 thanks to megapatches and a top add-on.

Fresh from Early Access

Games that have left Early Access in 2023 are measured by their gross sales during the Early Access phase and after full release

Wartales is one of the clear winners here. But the online co-op horror title Demonologist was also able to show off its strengths in 2023. With Everspace 2 a space action game also makes it through and out of Early Access.

Steam Deck

This list contains the most played games on Steam Deck, measured by the daily number of active players in 2023. This includes games with the Deck Verified status Verified and Playable

In general, it is noticeable that by no means only graphically simple games are launched on Valve’s mobile platform – quite the opposite. There are visual heavyweights, but the gaming community seems very willing to forgo the best possible presentation so that they can always have their favorites with them

Controller support

This list contains all games that recorded the most gaming sessions with a controller in 2023. In particular, the games with the highest number of unique players are taken into account, regardless of controller type.

Aside from the expected top games such as the new Armored Core or still Elden Ring, it is also noticeable, for example, that many players like to use the controller support in Baldur’s Gate 3.

The best VR games

These are the top VR-exclusive games based on revenue in 2023

Gamers with little affinity for VR will probably see one or two titles here for the very first time. Because apart from Half-Life: Alyx, which occupies a top position, hardly any of the top examples of their special genre represented here have achieved great fame. The exception to this is of course – how else could it be – Skyrim VR

We’re all waiting together for the first manned rover on Mars in 2035, which will serve as a high-tech Skyrim platform.

Click through for yourself (Valves lists) and see if anything particularly catches your eye. You can also vote for the candidates for the Steam Awards until January 2nd

What do you think? Are you surprised by some of the top rankings? If so, which titles would you not have expected to see on one or other of the lists? Are you perhaps even missing a representative of a genre that will shape the year 2023 for you? Or does everything turn out exactly as you thought it would? Let us know your opinion and thoughts in the comments!

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