Which games were the biggest hits on Steam in 2024?

Free-to-play as lucrative as ever

It’s the tradition at the end of the year, Steam, the Valve platform which continues to beat its attendance records (set at just over 39 million since December 8), takes stock of the games with the most of success over the last twelve months. The opportunity to see the new headliners – and those over whom time has almost no influence.

It’s logical, but the Platinum list bringing together the titles which generated the most turnover brings together productions which will be familiar to you. We find a good number of classics which immutably occupy this section. Among these are, in 2024 as in 2023, Counter-Strike 2, DOTA 2, PUBG or even Destiny 2. Note also the maintenance of Baldur’s Gate 3 in this very exclusive club (limited to twelve productions), as well as the return ofElden Ring (no doubt helped by the release of its extension, Shadow of the Erdtree) in this division.

Fortunately, there are a few games released this year in this top; if you follow the convolutions of the video game sphere, you should quite easily guess which ones.

The time for reflection is over, here are the new entrants: Palword, Black Myth Wukong, Helldivers 2, Space Marine 2 and inevitably, COD Black Ops 6. In particular, they eject Cyberpunk 2077, Sons of the Forest, Starfield et Hogwarts Legacy of this Platinum category.

Concretely, five of the twelve productions that generated the most revenue in 2024 are free-to-play. They are also five out of twelve in the Gold category (we could however add FC 25 and FC 24, two titles giving pride of place to microtransactions within their Ultimate Team mode). To remain in this Gold category, let us highlight the success encountered by Path of Exile 2. The software from Grinding Gear Games, available in early access only since December 6, and expected to end free-to-play within a few months, counts as one of the 24 games with the most money in 2024.

Black Myth Wukong also deserves a few words. The Game Science title remains the solo game having brought together the most players simultaneously: 2,415,714. It is placed behind PUBG and its record at 3,257,248, but ahead Palworld and its 2,101,867.

What is the overview of Steam Deck and VR devices?

On Steam Deck – Valve’s portable console – the most popular games of 2024 are a little different. The Platinum category includes behemoths like Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077 et Palworld. But it also includes less mainstream titles, like Balatro et DAVE THE DIVERand some old things (or timeless ones, it depends), in this case Fallout 4 (2015) et Stardew Valley (2016).

Last interesting category: that of VR games. There is not much change from 2023 in the Platinum division, however. Half-Life Alyx, Skyrim VR et Beat Saber, to name but a few, remain timeless. L’Early Acess d’Into the Radius 2 stopped Into the Radius first of the name in the Gold compartment. Otherwise, Arizona Sunshine 2 took the place of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2.

Don’t forget that if some of these titles appeal to you, they may be offered at a discount during the winter sales. They run until January 2, 7 p.m.