Steam just made $11 billion in the last 6 months, and most of it came from older games

[Skye Jacobs]

Bottom line: Steam just posted its strongest half-year ever. In the first six months of 2026, it's estimated that games sold through the platform generated $11.1 billion in gross revenue, a record haul for the PC storefront. That figure is close to what Steam generated across all of 2021, a year boosted by pandemic lockdowns – also only 21% of that revenue comes from games released in 2026. The rest came from older titles in Steam's back catalog.

Alinea Analytics lists Forza Horizon 6 as the top-earning new game on Steam so far this year, with an estimated $197.7 million in revenue since launch. Resident Evil Requiem is close behind at $194.5 million, followed by Crimson Desert at $190.1 million. Those sales numbers highlight how a few big releases can drive a large share of the platform's revenue.

The report ties the revenue surge to a some clear trends. One is user growth in Asia, with China singled out as a major source of new players and spending. Another is higher prices: publishers are putting out more high-priced games and using big, attention-grabbing partnerships to help sell them.

At the same time, many publishers that tried to push users onto their own PC launchers have returned to Steam after gamers were reluctant to use them.

Steam has spent years building features that make it feel like a stable home base for PC libraries: backward compatibility, regional pricing, frequent sales, and reliable access to past purchases. Players can return to games they bought long ago without worrying much about changing hardware or operating systems.

Valve has also been investing in technologies that break Steam out of a pure Windows mold. SteamOS, Proton, and related compatibility layers are all aimed at running Windows-based PC games on other hardware and operating systems, from handheld devices to non-Windows platforms. That work is often invisible to end users, but the goal is to let people buy a game once and keep playing it across different devices.

Other storefronts have tried different approaches. Epic Games Store, for example, has given away free games to attract users. But former employees have said that many players show up to claim those free titles and then return to Steam for most of their play and spending.

Alinea's long-term estimates show how much Steam's position has changed over the past decade. The firm's modeling suggests Steam's annual revenue climbed from about $5.5 billion in 2017 to roughly $20 billion in 2025. With $11.1 billion already booked in the first half and spending on older games still robust, Valve's position in PC gaming keeps growing.

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Steam just made $11 billion in the last 6 months, and most of it came from older games

 

[Lowhangingfruit]

Yes Steam is a monopoly in this space, but it's hard to be mad because they provide hands down the best product. Steam is very player and user friendly. Family sharing is hands down the absolute best. Steam Proton works great. The steam deck. And the massive workshop community. Steam definitely gives the vibes that it wants to do good.

Everything about the Epic and Origin stores reeks of corporate minimum input for maximum cash grab.

 

[Watzupken]

The outcome is not surprising. Most new games are overpriced and lack any meaningful fun factor or engaging storyline. Older games are heavily discounted, looks reasonably good and does not impact performance (hence people with older gaming hardware can also enjoy).

 

[Vixiy]

Steam definitely gives the vibes that it wants to do good.

Steam reeks of price fixing and illegal gamling rings. Not to mention they sat on their hands for ages while TF2 became overrun by hackers commiting actual crimes (the correct response would've been to take it offline until they had a solution).

I would say Epic had vibes it wanted to do good for a while. The most generous licensing of a commercial engine and taking a low cut from developers making the industry acessible, as well as fighting Apple and Google's control. But I've been turned off by Tim Sweeny's AI attitudes and lately he just seems to be engaged in braindead contrarianism at the expense of selfdestructing the brand and all the good will it once generated.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Yes Steam is a monopoly in this space, but it's hard to be mad because they provide hands down the best product. Steam is very player and user friendly. Family sharing is hands down the absolute best. Steam Proton works great. The steam deck. And the massive workshop community. Steam definitely gives the vibes that it wants to do good.

Everything about the Epic and Origin stores reeks of corporate minimum input for maximum cash grab.

The fact you just names two other stores on the platform immediately disproves your claim that steam is a monopoly.

 

[The Eck]

Older music is better than new. Why wouldn’t older games be too?

 

[Endymio]

Yes Steam is a monopoly in this space, but it's hard to be mad because they provide hands down the best product.

Excluding government-mandated monopolies like power utilities and cable, you'll struggle to find **any** monopoly that isn't so because it provides the best product at the best price.

 

[opckieran]

Everything about the Epic and Origin stores reeks of corporate minimum input for maximum cash grab.

Of the over 600 non-Steam games in my collection, only one of them was paid for. $2. The rest were giveaways from Epic or Amazon Prime.

 

[LuckyMenace]

It’s funny that people got all up in arms about Playstation going all digital while Steam has been raking it in for years. Speaking from the wallet, gamers have abandoned physical games long ago.