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

Starfield

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

Hogwarts Legacy

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

Destiny 2

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

Baldur’s Gate 3

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

Dave the Diver

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

FC24

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

Half-Life: Alyx

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!