Steam has shared list of top selling games of 2023

Platinum (1-11)

• Sons of the Forest
• PUBG: Battlegrounds
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Destiny 2
• Apex Legends
• Dota 2
• Call of Duty (combining Modern Warfare 2, 3, and Warzone)
• Counter-Strike 2
• Starfield
• Baldurs Gate 3

Gold (12-23)

• Warframe
• EA FC24
• Resident Evil 4
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon
• Rainbow Siege 6
• Narak
• Fifa 23
• War Thunder
• Elden Ring
• GTAV
• Dead By Daylight

Source: Steam Best Selling Games 2023

Surprising games in the list: Hogwarts Legacy defying media blackout of the game (no nomination or awards). And Starfield defying critics online.

Wow, Sons of the Forest? Really? Did not expect that to be on there. And an early access title, no less! Good for them.

With that said, how to they quantify "best selling"? A few of those games are free-to-play. Are they going by unique players or total revenue (including microtransactions/dlc/etc.?

Yep, it is certainly an interesting contrast to the narrative (or lack of, in Hogwart's Legacy's case).

I didn't find Starfield to be a bad game in any real sense, it just didn't really excel in any particular way. It was slightly above average. They can't all be Skyrim/Fallout: New Vegas.

The top sales of the year are measured by gross revenue as per Steam.

Good to get a list with real/ reliable statistics on the board.

Glad Armored Core VI has done well on different platforms, honestly feared DkS tryhards would dismiss the AC series because it's mechanically a very different experience. AC has always been my preferred type of game From Software delivers so this is amazing news.

Primarily a PlayStation series and selling well on P.C. and Xbox shows From Software doesn't have to focus on ARPG Dungeon Crawlers all the time.

Maybe now we'll get a sequel to Metal Wolf too?

*Baldur's Gate III continues to rock everyone's socks_

It would seem my taste in games isn't even close to what's popular. I own 0 games in the platinum category, 2 games in the gold.

@Litchie: Dabbled in a few of the games but I wouldn't say they're all stellar. Not going into the whole 'taste' debate though; however some of these games are clearly selling millions due to IP recognition & nostalgia. Harry Potter for example. Others because the multiplayer aspect and low required specs for player access.

From what I've played would personally put Street Fighter 6, Dead Space 2023 & Pizza Tower above many the games listed.

No Alan Wake 2 either despite being pretty unplayable on console is sad too. Guess AW2 heavily focusing on top tier graphics, slow-walking sections and story is not as popular as The Last of Us fans claim? . . I myself find a game praised namely for graphics and story to be off-putting. Meanwhile Resident Evil 4 continues to prove that Resi4 is among the GOAT, even if I think Dead Space did a great job too. Still they're both retreads which isn't as impressive as a fresh experience (like Signalis or Faith from 2022)

With that stated you'd probably like Baldur's Gate III. Big time commitment though, only real downside to the game. Has great multiplayer, so if you have a friend or three that like tactical RPGs, you're in for an even better time.

Howard legacy has been a lesson to the game media about how small their influence is.