Baldur’s Gate 3has beaten out stiff competition from Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield to become the highest-grossing game on Steam by a strong margin.
For many people,Baldur’s Gate 3 was the best game of last year, even being recognized as such at The Game Awards. Larian Studios’ effort put players amid an epic tale based on the world and mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons. With a hugely memorable cast of characters, few argued with its credentials.
Hogwarts Legacy was a more complex proposition, as controversies surrounding Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling overshadowed the game’s release. Starfield is the latest offering fromstoried RPG developer Bethesda, though feedback from the community was less universally positive than the reception for Baldur’s Gate 3.
In total, Baldur’s Gate 3 drew in a spectacular $657 million, almost twice as much asits nearest competitor Hogwarts Legacy, which itself managed to accumulate an enormous $341 million.
Related:
The rest of the top 10 was filled out by a mixture of big AAA titles and indie darlings, including Resident Evil 4, EA Sports FC 24 andsurvival horror Sons of the Forest. The most interesting entry was co-op horror Lethal Company, which has generated $52 million in revenue despite only releasing in October.
The game averaged over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam in December and that popularity shows little sign of abating. With an all-time concurrent peak of a little under 240,000, there is huge continuing appetite for games players can experience with friends
Though many of the entries in the Top 10 won’t be a surprise, the scale of the success of the Top 3 in particular may be shocking to some.
James Lynch is a Games Writer on Dexerto’s UK team, specializing in Destiny, World of Warcraft, Baldur’s Gate, Elden Ring, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Assassin’s Creed, strategy and RPG games. He also has bylines at CBR and GG Recon. You can contact him at: james.lynch@dexerto.com
