Valve’s digital distribution service Steam achieved a record $4.3 billion in total sales last year, data from Steam Spy has revealed. This figure was based on raw game sales and did not include downloadable content, microtransactions or any other in-app purchases.
In 2017, there were over 6,000 games released on Steam. Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad showed that the number of Steam titles experienced a sharp uptick in 2014, and continued rising with unprecedented gusto. Luckily for Valve, the proliferation of games translated to sales growth too, with 2014’s net profit of $1.5 billion more than doubling to $3.5 billion by 2015.
Steam might not be accepting Bitcoin any longer, but its peak concurrent player base is sitting at an enviable 18 million — the highest number in history. That’s the size of an entire population. If Valve wanted to join forces with Spielberg and integrate its VR division into OASIS, it totally could. We’re not in 2045 yet though. Still, a lot of us are plugged into PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Last year, PUBG Corp’s battle royale shooter hit three million concurrent players. If Steam continues bringing out the big guns, we could be looking at another $8oo million revenue boost this year.
