Steam has released its Best of 2021 lists and, while it doesn't rank the top games in each category, they do reveal which games were the most played, sold the best, and much more.
Steam's Best of 2021 lists include Top Sellers, New Releases, Most Played, Early Access Grads, Best of VR, and Controller Friendly; and games like Valheim, New World, Halo Infinite, Battlefield 2042, PUBG, Counter-Strike and Grand Theft Auto V appear in multiple categories.
The Top Sellers category features the top 100 games as measured by gross revenue and places each one into the Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze tier; but it does not detail how much a game has to earn for it to qualify for a new level. The Platinum Top Sellers, in alphabetical order, are as follows;
- Apex Legends
- Battlefield 2042
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dead by Daylight
- Destiny 2
- DOTA 2
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- New World
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
- Valheim
The New Releases category is measured the same way as the Top Sellers one, but games only qualify if they were released in 2021. Sorry, GTA V, but this is one award you can't win! The Platinum-tier New Releases, in alphabetical order, are as follows;
- Age of Empires IV
- Back 4 Blood
- Battlefield 2042
- Farming Simulator 22
- Forza Horizon 5
- Halo Infinite
- Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- New World
- Outriders
- Resident Evil Village
- Valheim
The Most Played category celebrates the games that reached the most "highest peak concurrent players" throughout the year. The games that reached the highest tier - Over 200,000 Peak Players - are as follows;
- Apex Legends
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Cyberpunk 2077
- DOTA 2
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Halo Infinite
- New World
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Rust
- Valheim
The Early Access Grads category is all about rewarding the games that left Early Access and earned the most gross revenue in 2021. The Platinum-tier Early Access Grads, in alphabetical order, are as follows;
- Breathedge
- Chernobylite
- Draw & Guess
- Endzone: A World Apart
- Hell Let Loose
- GTFO
- Medieval Dynasty
- Skul: The Hero Slayer
- Solasta: Crown of the Magister
- Subnautica: Below Zero
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
- Wildermyth
The Best of VR category collects the top-selling VR-exclusive experiences that earned the most gross revenue in 2021. The Platinum-tier Best of VR games, in alphabetical orders, are as follows;
- Arizona Sunshine
- Beat Saber
- Blade & Sorcery
- Boneworks
- Hal-Life: Alyx
- Hot Dogs, Horseshoes, & Hand Grenades
- Into the Radius
- Pavlov
- Superhot VR
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- VR Kanojo
Lastly, the Controller Friendly category honors those games that had the most daily active controller players in 2021. The Platinum-tier Controller Friendly games, in alphabetical order, are as follows;
- Apex Legends
- Cyberpunk 2077
- eFootball 2022
- FIFA 21
- FIFA 22
- Forza Horizon 5
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Guilty Gear -Strive-
- Halo Infinite
- Monster Hunter: World
- Tales of Arise
- The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
To see how Steam's top games compare to IGN's choices, check out all the winners from our Game of the Year Awards 2021.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.