Steam generated $4.3 billion in software sales last year spread across its 21,000 games. Incredibly, 50% of that came from just 100 titles, meaning 0.5% of the games on Steam are responsible for over half of its sales revenue.
The most shocking thing about Steam’s 2017 sales data, though, is that just one game is responsible for 14% of that $4.3 billion: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. With over 28 million copies sold, PUBG raked in $600 million in sales last year.
This data comes from SteamSpy and was shared at a GDC presentation by SteamSpy owner Sergey Galyonkin. Although the data plays a pretty clear picture of which games were last year’s winners, it doesn’t include microtransactions, DLC, or in-app purchases. However, it’s highly doubtful that even with those taken into account, any title would come close to defrocking PUBG as last year’s #1 best-selling Steam game.
Interestingly, the second and third slots for most revenue are held by games that didn’t even come out in 2017. Valve’s own Counter-Strike Global Offensive took second place with $120 million in sales, and Grand Theft Auto V was the third highest grossing game of last year with $83 million. Also noteworthy is Cuphead‘s sales. This indie darling managed to be 20th on the list with $22 million in revenue and 1.3 million copies sold.
Last year’s $4.3 billion in game sales marks a record for Steam, surpassing 2016’s $3.5 billion. PUBG‘s $600 million in revenue is impressive, but it remains to be seen if the game can stay strong through 2018. With Battle Royale fever going on, everyone is sure to try and cash in on the popular game mode in this year’s projects.
