Valve has revealed the top performing games across Steam for 2021, with rankings being given according to revenue generated and peak player counts.
I’d like to introduce Valve by calling them a game development company, but game publishers might honestly be a better title. It’s been ages since the pioneers of amazing, high-concept and well-executed games such as Portal and Half Life have worked on an original IP. To be fair, when you’re the creator of games such as Dota 2, which is to this day a massive moneymaker, and own Steam as a platform for game distribution, creating an original IP no longer remains a massive priority. Besides, we got Half Life Alyx and The Lab back in 2020, so it’s not like the company’s been displaying absolute radio silence. Apparently, all it took to make founder Gabe Newell creative again was an entire pandemic. Go figure, and it seems like we’re not getting Half Life 3 until the man gets yet another reason to camp inside his home for almost a year. I hope he doesn’t; I love Half Life as much as the next guy, but I can do without both a sequel as well as yet another pandemic or something worse.
At any rate, 2021 has come to a near-end, Steam has made an insane amount of money as always, and now it’s time to look back upon the gaming world over this year. Developers have been hard at work, developing a lot of well-made titles and fine additions to the platform’s library (even if the amazingly made Metroid Dread isn’t amongst them). However, one of its most successful titles, New World, has also been one of its most problematic from almost every point of view. Much of its success can be tied to an interesting premise, a solid marketing strategy, and a generally rising interest in MMORPGs. However, that premise is entirely wasted on (get ready to groan) a gaming experience built upon micro-transactions. Well, no worries, since there’s been a lot of good news as well.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy came at the heels of the incredibly mundane and disappointing Avengers game, and yet managed to rise above its peers to deliver a truly well-made game! Capitalizing on how well the Guardians had already been established across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the game played very well into its characters and setting, and thus continues the Square Enix tradition of hitting, then missing, then hitting again. Between the Guardians, Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and the upcoming Wolverine game, Marvel’s gearing up for a very lucrative few years ahead of it.
Apex Legends and DOTA 2 continue to maintain their streak of being both relevant and successful, the latter of which probably made Valve very pleased. Cyberpunk 2077 still made it onto the successful list, probably owing to its massive pre-release sales figures (which promptly fell after everyone realized the game was just that bad). Monster Hunter World is yet another well-received addition in the series; something that I’m personally very happy about since it means we continue to get Monster Hunter games localized in English.
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I’d like to introduce Valve by calling them a game development company, but game publishers might honestly be a better title. It’s been ages since the pioneers of amazing, high-concept and well-executed games such as Portal and Half Life have worked on an original IP. To be fair, when you’re the creator of games such as Dota 2, which is to this day a massive moneymaker, and own Steam as a platform for game distribution, creating an original IP no longer remains a massive priority. Besides, we got Half Life Alyx and The Lab back in 2020, so it’s not like the company’s been displaying absolute radio silence. Apparently, all it took to make founder Gabe Newell creative again was an entire pandemic. Go figure, and it seems like we’re not getting Half Life 3 until the man gets yet another reason to camp inside his home for almost a year. I hope he doesn’t; I love Half Life as much as the next guy, but I can do without both a sequel as well as yet another pandemic or something worse.
At any rate, 2021 has come to a near-end, Steam has made an insane amount of money as always, and now it’s time to look back upon the gaming world over this year. Developers have been hard at work, developing a lot of well-made titles and fine additions to the platform’s library (even if the amazingly made Metroid Dread isn’t amongst them). However, one of its most successful titles, New World, has also been one of its most problematic from almost every point of view. Much of its success can be tied to an interesting premise, a solid marketing strategy, and a generally rising interest in MMORPGs. However, that premise is entirely wasted on (get ready to groan) a gaming experience built upon micro-transactions. Well, no worries, since there’s been a lot of good news as well.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy came at the heels of the incredibly mundane and disappointing Avengers game, and yet managed to rise above its peers to deliver a truly well-made game! Capitalizing on how well the Guardians had already been established across the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the game played very well into its characters and setting, and thus continues the Square Enix tradition of hitting, then missing, then hitting again. Between the Guardians, Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and the upcoming Wolverine game, Marvel’s gearing up for a very lucrative few years ahead of it.
Apex Legends and DOTA 2 continue to maintain their streak of being both relevant and successful, the latter of which probably made Valve very pleased. Cyberpunk 2077 still made it onto the successful list, probably owing to its massive pre-release sales figures (which promptly fell after everyone realized the game was just that bad). Monster Hunter World is yet another well-received addition in the series; something that I’m personally very happy about since it means we continue to get Monster Hunter games localized in English.