In brief: Valve has just revealed the most successful Steam games of the year. In addition to the titles that brought in most revenue across 2018, it also listed the top 150 new releases, most-played games, top early access graduates, and most popular VR experiences.

As it usually does, Valve doesn't list any figures for its top-sellers; instead, it groups them into four categories: platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. The rankings are based on revenue, which includes sales, in-game transactions, and DLC, which is why a few free-to-play titles such as DOTA 2 make the platinum category.

Out of the top 12 games, only three were released this year: Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Monster Hunter: World, and Far Cry 5, all of which appear or have appeared on our Best PC Games (you should be playing) feature. You can check out the top 12 entries at the bottom of this page.

Valve also listed the top games (again, by revenue) that were released every month this year. March was a good month for gamers, with Vermintide II, Far Cry 5, Final Fantasy XV and Ni No Kuni II arriving on PC.

The most-played list is particularly interesting. It shows that despite their age, games such as Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: GO still attract over 100,000 simultaneous players. The other titles in this category include Warframe, Realm Royale, Monster Hunter World, Path of Exile, PUBG, Grand Theft Auto V, and Rainbow Six Siege.

A few of the top games to have left early access this year include Rust, Conan Exiles, and Subnautica, while Fallout 4 VR, Superhot VR, and Beat Saber are some of the highest-grossing virtual reality experiences.

The majority of these games are currently discounted in the Steam sale, so grab them while you still can.

Top-grossing games of 2018 and their release dates:

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012)
  • Dota 2 (2013)
  • Warframe (2013)
  • The Elder Scrolls Online (2014)
  • Grand Theft Auto 5 (2015 on Windows PC)
  • Rainbow Six Siege (2015)
  • Rocket League (2015)
  • Civilization 6 (2016)
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (2017)