The PC gaming platform Steam has announced its 12 top-grossing and most successful games for the year 2020. Three surprises stand out: above all, the fact that Destiny 2 appears at the top of the list is surprising. But one could hardly expect Doom Eternal or Monster Hunter World.
What kind of list is this? Steam has announced the 100 top games of the year 2020, measured by total sales. These 100 games have been further divided into 4 categories, with Platinum being the highest.
We look at the top 12: These PC games generated the most revenue on Steam in 2020. The games appear on the platform in no particular order within the “Platinum” category. So there is no way to further divide who made the most money among the 12 games.
Category 1: The Famous Steam Hits
There are 5 games on the list that are known to be huge hits on Steam. They have dominated the platform for years in terms of player numbers. These games primarily earn their money through microtransactions and are played for hundreds of hours:
CS:GO – the free-to-play shooter from Valve itself. It can only be played on Steam. CS:GO is considered “THE” eSports shooter.
DOTA 2 – the free-to-play MOBA from Valve, this has also been one of the top games on Steam for ages. It is the second largest MOBA in the world, after LoL, and hosts huge tournaments.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – has been indispensable on Steam since 2017. The battle royale shooter was overshadowed in public by Fortnite starting in 2018 but still has many fans.
Grand Theft Auto 5 – as GTA Online, it is a revenue guarantee for Rockstar Games. It is considered one of the games that has developed the best over time. New strong content also came to GTA Online in 2020.
Rainbow Six Siege: The PvP shooter from Ubisoft had a weak launch in 2015 but has been a hit for years. The eSports scene is seen as a driver of its success.
Category 2: The Blockbuster Games
These are games that primarily generate revenue from “buying the main game” and are usually played for the story:
Red Dead Redemption 2 – was released extremely late on Steam in January 2020. However, many Steam fans boycotted the Epic Games Store and waited for the Steam release. Red Dead Redemption 2 then sold excellently on Steam. It also has an online mode, which has yet to get off the ground. Red Dead Redemption 2 impresses with its cinematic impact.
Cyberpunk 2077 – came late in 2020 but was the expected sales hit. The criticism of the game mostly focused on the versions for PS4 and Xbox One. For Steam, it was a reliable source of revenue.
Category 3: The Viral Hits
These are budget games whose success is objectively hard to explain. They hit the zeitgeist and triggered a wave of hype.
Fall Guys – looks like a party game, is available as a budget title. Still, it made it into the top 12. Fall Guys shows how a game can spread “viral” in 2020 through social media and Twitch.
Among Us – is “THE” pandemic game. It actually comes from 2018 but only fully took off in 2020. The social game became known through Twitch and YouTube and triggered a huge hype. Apparently, many have wanted to join in the trend game and have bought it for little money on Steam. It added up.
Category 4: The Surprises
These are games that are not on the radar or that have been harshly criticized, but apparently Steam players have a preference for them. After all, they are among the 12 games that generated the most revenue on Steam in 2020:
Doom Eternal – The shooter made it into the top 12 on Steam. Doom Eternal received little worldwide attention compared to other games. However, it received good reviews on Steam. Doom is considered a cult brand for PC gamers, and there are many veterans on Steam.
Monster Hunter World: The amazing thing is that the game performed so well on Steam in 2020. The release was in 2018. In January 2020, the “Iceborne” expansion came to PC, which apparently gave Monster Hunter World a tremendous boost and catapulted the title into top revenue spheres. This shows how much potential this type of co-op loot game has. Although the title received terrible reviews on Steam initially for technical reasons, Monster Hunter World Iceborne became a Steam hit.
Destiny 2: The game has been consistently criticized by fans. In recent years, the development has been meager. But the numbers show that Destiny 2 has generated more revenue on Steam than many other “big titles” like The Elder Scrolls Online or Warframe. Perhaps an indication that many new players are satisfied with Bungie’s shooter.
In the top 100 of Steam, there is a plethora of MMOs. In December 2020, we looked at which MMOs had the most players:
These 10 MMOs had the most players on Steam in December 2020 – Are you playing them?
