Steam is one of the largest gaming platforms anyone can find. With millions of concurrent users, this digital marketplace provides thousands of different games to fit anyone’s tastes. As a result, it can be tough to quantify what the best games on the platform are - especially with the massive seasonal sales that occur for numerous beloved games. That’s why this article will take a look at the 10 best Steam games of all time according to how well they sold.
Figuring out which Steam games are best-selling can be surprisingly difficult. There is no official, up-to-date sales data to draw from, and many popular titles have become free or contain microtransactions that skew any possible revenue data. Because of this, all-time peak player counts of non-free-to-play games (collected by SteamDB) will be how this list determines the best-selling Steam games. It’s not a perfect solution, but it will provide some great insight as to how these games managed to reach the top!
10 Best Steam Games Ranked by Sales
10. Counter-Strike
9. Monster Hunter World
8. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Among Us
6. Fallout 4
5. Terraria
4. Valheim
3. New World
2. Elden Ring
1. Cyberpunk 2077
9. Monster Hunter World
8. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Among Us
6. Fallout 4
5. Terraria
4. Valheim
3. New World
2. Elden Ring
1. Cyberpunk 2077
10. Counter-Strike - 319,586 Peak Players
The original Counter-Strike spawned a new era for First-Person Shooters. It brought players together in tactical multiplayer matches, giving them goals of rescuing hostages or eliminating counter-terrorist units. This game eventually led to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a game so popular that even other games try to take cues from it.
9. Monster Hunter World - 334,684 Peak Players
Monster Hunter World is the first Monster Hunter game to be given a major release on PC worldwide. As a result, it’s also one of the most popular games Capcom has ever made. The new systems and larger scale of Monster Hunter World likely secured this title’s success. It doesn’t hurt that the PC version has easy access to mods, as well.
8. Grand Theft Auto V - 364,548 Peak Players
It should come as a surprise to no one that Grand Theft Auto V is on this list. This title is one of the best-selling games of all time even outside of Steam. Its popularity has ebbed in recent years, but its legacy lives on in the form of GTA Online - which still manages to pull in thousands of players each day.
7. Among Us - 447,476 Peak Players
Arguably one of the biggest hits over the past two years, Among Us took the world by storm when it suddenly gained massive popularity around the year 2020. It climbed to the top of Steam’s charts rapidly, reaching the top 15 most-played games on the platform. It hasn’t been able to keep up this popularity in more recent times, but it continues to be a great choice for friends wishing to test their suspicions on each other.
6. Fallout 4 - 472,962 Peak Players
Fallout 4 is the latest entry of the famous post-apocalyptic Fallout series. It follows Bethesda’s recent traditions of having a vast world, numerous fleshed-out characters, and fantastic modding capability. Some might say it falls short when compared to previous entries in the franchise, but Fallout 4 still manages to stand above all other Fallout titles on Steam’s charts.
5. Terraria - 489,886 Peak Players
Terraria boasts one of the best user rating ratios any game on Steam has ever obtained, and for good reason. It’s cheap, filled with content, and still receives massive love from both the developers and the community. Across its lifespan of over 10 years, Terraria has surely earned its spot in the top 10 of Steam’s most-played games of all time.
4. Valheim - 502,387 Peak Players
Valheim is the only early access game to make this list, and the last one to have user ratings greater than 90% recommended. Valheim puts players in the shoes of Vikings, building houses and fighting off mythical creatures as they struggle to survive. The game also has multiplayer, which is likely what accounts for most of its popularity. Survival games just aren’t the same without friends to help with exploration, after all.
3. New World - 913,634 Peak Players
New World is a game that got extremely lucky with timing. As an MMO without need for a subscription, plenty of players were drawn towards this big-budget title - especially with recent controversies surrounding World of Warcraft’s publishers. However, the game currently sits with mixed user reviews, making it clear that major hype and even great sales don’t mean much when it comes to public opinion.
2. Elden Ring - 953,426 Peak Players
Though it only came out a month ago, Elden Ring manages to be one of the most popular games on Steam. Featuring an evolution of the formula created by Dark Souls, this title managed to both draw in and keep players from all around the globe. It makes sense that the only game able to surpass it is one that was hyped up for an even longer period of time.
1. Cyberpunk 2077 - 1,054,388 Peak Players
Cyberpunk 2077 is the only game to break 1 million players on Steam without being free-to-play. Despite its unfortunate launch that led to the game being removed on certain storefronts, the hype surrounding its release still managed to grant Cyberpunk a massive number of players. Today, it sits with mostly positive user reviews on Steam, showing that even disliked games can make a comeback with enough popularity.
Final Thoughts
Judging Steam games by their player counts might not be the best way to determine their sales. When combined with their ratings and current popularity, however, it shows how these “successful” games managed to stay so notable for as long as they did. If Steam releases official sales numbers for their most-played titles, it would make for an interesting comparison to just how well they perform today.
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