2023 was another record-breaking year for Steam, as more titles released on Valve's platform in the last 12 months than in any previous year.
As documented on SteamDB, 2023 saw the release of 14,531 titles on Steam, smashing 2022's record by just under 2,000 games. The sheer quantity of releases means that, on average, more than 39 games were released every single day. You're never getting through that backlog, even if you stick to the very best PC games.
2023's final tally saw the continuation of a trend that's been continuing for several years. 2010 and 2019 were the only years in Steam's history that didn't see the total number of annual releases increase year over year, but there's been a massive upward trend since 2014. With the initial impact of Steam Greenlight, and then the subsequent arrival of Steam Direct, the number of games that released on the platform has grown substantially.
- Steam's new game revenue is 10x higher than it was 10 years ago, but only around 200 made more than $1 million in their first 30 days
- Valve "followed" 1.7 million Steam users for over a year, and now reports those gamers spent $20 million on microtransactions and another $73 million on games and DLC
Last year's total is massive - more than the number of games that released on Steam in its first decade combined - but what tickles me is that developers appear to show no sign of slowing down. On the very first day of 2024, 36 new games launched on the platform - that's just under last year's average daily release schedule, which is pretty impressive coming out of the fog between Christmas and New Year's Eve. I could barely move during that time, let alone put the finishing touches on a new game.
It's going to be a busy year, so if you want a hand finding the biggest and best, here's our list of new games 2024.
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