Yesterday, Valve unveiled its annual “Steam Year In Review” blog post, offering a comprehensive look back at the platform’s feature enhancements and customer engagement trends throughout 2024. Describing the year as “a year of growth,” Valve reported that the peak concurrent user count on Steam has nearly doubled since March 2020, with users engaging with a greater number of new titles than ever before.
Record-Breaking New Release Revenue
According to Valve, 2024 marked the highest revenue for newly released games on the Steam platform, defined as sales from the first 30 days post-release along with any pre-purchases. This revenue soared to ten times the levels seen in 2014. Notably, over 500 games surpassed 0,000 in new release sales, with more than 200 of those achieving over million—a significant increase of 27% and 15% compared to 2023.
Valve also shared a chart illustrating a consistent upward trend in yearly new release revenues since 2017. Among the top earners of 2024, several new titles emerged as standout successes, including Palworld, Helldivers 2, Space Marine 2, and Black Myth Wukong. The list also featured familiar favorites such as Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, and PUBG. Interestingly, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is classified as a new release, its annual iteration has become a staple in the gaming landscape.
Despite the impressive revenue figures, a notable statistic from last year’s Steam Replay indicated that only 15% of user playtime was dedicated to games released in 2024. While this may seem concerning, it represents an increase from 2023, where just 9% of playtime was allocated to that year’s releases, although it is a decline from 17% in 2022.
This trend may suggest a shift in the gaming industry’s dynamics, particularly as the closure of several live service games, such as the recently announced Spectre Divide, signals a potential end to the pursuit of the elusive “forever game.” Yet, many titles on the 2024 best-sellers list, including Throne and Liberty, The First Descendant, and Once Human, continue to chase this ambition, with their initial microtransaction sales contributing to new release revenue.
Without a more comprehensive dataset, it remains uncertain whether the rise in new release revenue signifies a transformative shift in the industry or if it reflects ongoing trends within the established tides of gaming.
