With the new year just around the corner, Valve has shared its annual list of top games for 2021. The list is broken down into several “best of” categories to show off which games people were playing the most and which ones raked in the most profit. Players can also see which new release for the year did the best and which early release title sold the best.

Each of the categories comes with a quick explanation of what the category means and how exactly the list was generated. For example the “top selling VR games” offers the “100 best-selling VR-only experiences of 2021” based on revenue according to Valve's blog post. However, the games listed under each category are not placed in a specific order, making it hard to tell which title was the top selling or most played overall. Instead, the games are broken down into four tiers: platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. Platinum accounts for the top 12, gold holds those from 13 to 24, silver holds titles 25 through 40, and bronze ranks the final 41 through 100.

One of the most interesting categories is the "most played" titles on Steam. This category is broken down by concurrent player count from January 1 to December 15 of this year with the platinum tier having gone over 200,000 peak players. The list includes:

Valheim

Halo Infinite

PUBG: Battleground

Apex Legends

Cyberpunk 2077

Grand Theft Auto V

DOTA 2

New World

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Rust

Announcing the Best of Steam 2021! Take a look at this year's top sellers, new releases, most-played games, and more!

Curious which games had the highest peak concurrent players? The answer to that and more in this year's list!
https://t.co/ZcGuS2d1Hb

— Steam (@Steam) December 27, 2021

Another category and one that many are surely curious about is the “top sellers” of 2021. According to the list, this category offers a look at the “100 games earning the most revenue on Steam during 2021.” To get the list, Valve looked at game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales on all gaming apps on Steam for the year. The Platinum tier of the list includes:

Valheim

Rainbow Six: Siege

Grand Theft Auto V

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

New World

Destiny 2

Naraka: Bladepoint

Apex Legends

PUBG Battlegrounds

Dead By Daylight

Battlefield 2042

DOTA 2

Posted: Dec 31, 2021 8:19 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/these-were-the-most-played-games-on-steam-in-2021/