These are the top selling and most played games on Steam at the beginning of the year

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latest Steam data revealed the best selling and most played games at the start of the new year. Some well-known contenders appear at the top of the Steam leaderboard, such as Counter-Strike 2but it will be interesting to see how things develop in the coming months.

As the most popular PC digital video game store, Steam has no shortage of options for gamers looking for something to play. Thousands of new titles are added to the platform every year, with more than 19,000 additions recorded in 2025. Quality may vary as many are added daily, but there have been some notable releases in the past year. For example blockbusters like Battlefield 6 and ARC Raiders fully launched in the second half of the year. In addition, some highly regarded independent producers have also arrived, including Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33among others. Despite many games doing well on the digital market, some have racked up numbers that put them above the competition.

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List of top selling products on Steam

  1. ARC Raiders

  2. Steam Deck

  3. Counter-Strike 2

  4. Marvel Rivals

  5. Baldur's Gate 3

  6. War frame

  7. Battlefield 6

  8. Clair Obsur; Expedition 33

  9. Send

  10. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

With 2026 underway, Steam data shows the games that are currently performing best on the platform. Valve regularly updates its best-selling and most-played charts, and the latest changes reveal a mix of 2025 and older titles dominating the charts. When it comes to bestsellers, Steam compiles a list of the 100 best-selling games and ranks them by revenue. Based on the latest information ARC Raiders he stands on top of the pile and thrashes out Counter-Strike 2. This is worth noting Counter-Strike 2 it's actually third on the list because Valve's handheld Steam Deck is in second place in the live rankings. Next up is Valve's first-person shooter Marvel Rivals and Baldur's Gate 3. The first 10 are rounded off War frame, Battlefield 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Sendand Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

List of most played games on Steam (daily players)

  1. Counter-Strike 2

  2. Dota

  3. PUBG: Battlegrounds

  4. Wallpaper Engine

  5. Arc Raider

  6. Geometry Dash

  7. Battlefield 6

  8. Apex Legends

  9. War Thunder

  10. Marvel Rivals

On the most played side of things, the list looks vastly different. Based on daily players Counter-Strike 2 unsurprisingly he takes first. Its highest number of concurrent players in the last 24 hours was 1,515,495, over 800,000 more than Dota 2 in second place. The third place is occupied by PUBG: Battlegroundsanother free game while the fourth is a popular app Wallpaper Engine. Despite ARC Raiders is fifth in daily players, still an impressive result for being the first paid game on the list. Embark Studio's extraction shooter follows Geometry Dash and Battlefield 6. Apex Legends, War Thunderand Marvel Rivalsthree more free games round out the top 10.

It's worth noting that Steam also provides a list of the most played games by current players. Instead of showing daily users, this list is updated every 15 minutes and shows the top 100 games on the PC platform. At the time of writing this chart contained several games that did not make the daily player list Rust, Bongo the cat, Path of Exile 2and Baldur's Gate 3. However, things can change quickly as some games are more popular in certain regions.

ARC Raiders is committed to protecting friendly players Image via Embark Studios

It will be interesting to see how these charts change over the course of the year. From ARC RaidersFull launch on October 30, the extraction shooter has shown impressive staying power on Steam. With that in mind, it looks like the game will continue to be near the top of the charts if Embark Studios can keep the experience fresh for players through new updates. On the contrary, Battlefield 6Player numbers have dropped significantly since launch, so time will tell if DICE can keep the game close to the top 10 in the coming months. Many new games are also planned for the first half of 2026. These could potentially shift the ranks of the most played and best selling games, but dedicated actors like Counter-Strike 2 likely to remain near or at the top for the foreseeable future.

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