Steam has revealed the biggest winners of 2025. Game of the Year didn't make the list

Every year, thousands of new games pop up on Steam, and lately, they're showing up at a crazy fast pace. However, only a portion of them have achieved enough success to make it onto the list of the best titles of 2025, which Valve released last night.

Best New Releases of 2025

Let's start with the list dedicated to new games released in 2025. It's worth explaining how Valve put it together first, because it's not just about the total number of copies sold. The titles were selected based on the revenue generated in the first two weeks after their release.

The top twelve games released in 2025 (listed in random order) are as follows:

1. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
2. Dune: Awakening
3. ARC Raiders
4. Elden Ring: Nightreign
5. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
6. Battlefield 6
7. Borderlands 4
8. Sid Meier's Civilization VII
9. EA Sports FC 26
10. Schedule I
11. Monster Hunter: Wilds
12. Hollow Knight: Silksong

Some may be surprised by the absence of the title that dominated The Game Awards this year – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game only appeared in the "gold" category, among the top 24 positions. There are a few reasons for this situation, and one of them might be that Expedition 33 is a jRPG, which seems to naturally turn off some players. Perhaps that's why many preferred to try the game first on Game Pass, where Sandfall Interactive's work was the best third-party release of the year.

Biggest Bestsellers of 2025

The second, equally interesting list is the best-selling games of 2025. In this case, Valve highlighted titles that have generated the highest revenues over the past 11 months. The list will be updated on January 1st when full data from December is available.

The biggest bestsellers of 2025 (in random order) are:

1. Counter-Strike 2
2. ARC Raiders
3. Apex Legends
4. PUBG: Battlegrounds
5. Borderlands 4
6. Marvel Rivals
7. R.E.P.O.
8. Monster Hunter: Wilds
9. Dota 2
10. Schedule I
11. Call of Duty
12. Battlefield 6

In this group, you'll mostly find live service games that make most of their money from microtransactions. Notably, Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders, which debuted only in the fourth quarter of the year, managed to make it to the top ranks. The presence of Borderlands 4 might be surprising, as it was heavily criticized by players after its release and, according to Strauss Zelnick, sold below expectations.

The list also includes representatives of indie games, which are R.E.P.O. and Schedule I. It's worth mentioning that the latter was created by one developer, who likely won't have to worry about their well-being for the rest of their life. A small team was behind creating this new hit for co-op play.

Moreover, Valve revealed the most played games of 2025. Some of them overlap with the previous titles, but it's worth noting that games like Left 4 Dead 2, Peak, Stardew Valley, and Terraria also made the list. You can find the other categories on Steam.

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• game sales
• summary of the year 2025