Amid a year defined by mass layoffs and studio closures, Steam just posted its best half-year in its history. According to a report from data firm Alinea Analytics, games sold on the platform generated an estimated $11.1 billion in gross revenue between January and June 2026 — up 14.5% year-over-year, and remarkably, up 8% even on the traditionally stronger, holiday-heavy second half of 2025. "In the first half of 2026, we estimate that games on Steam generated $11.1B in gross revenue, the platform's highest-ever half-year," wrote Alinea's head of market analysis, Rhys Elliott. The trend line is a long one: Steam's annual revenue has climbed from roughly $5.5 billion in 2017 to around $20 billion in 2025, according to the report. What's driving it isn't simply more games — it's pricier ones. Alinea's analysis points to rising average game prices, breakout "friendslop" hits like Meccha Chameleon racking up huge sales almost overnight, and the return of major third parties, Ubisoft among them, to Steam after years of trying to build out their own competing storefronts. Interestingly, new releases are becoming a smaller slice of the pie: just 21% of 2026's revenue so far has come from games released this year, down from 29% in 2024, suggesting players are increasingly spending on catalog titles rather than chasing every new release. That's not to say new games aren't performing — the top five highest-grossing new releases so far this year are Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, Crimson Desert, Slay the Spire 2, and Subnautica 2, with Meccha Chameleon rounding out sixth place. PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield couldn't resist pointing out the irony of a first-party Xbox game — Forza Horizon 6 — topping that list "given, you know, everything" happening at Microsoft's studios this month. It's a genuinely strange split-screen moment for the industry: layoffs gutting studios by the thousands on one side, and the platform those same games are sold on posting record numbers on the other. As Kotaku's Zack Kotzer put it, Steam is thriving "off surprise hits, new demographics and higher priced blockbusters" while the industry crumbles around it. Whether that revenue growth trickles down to the people actually making the games — rather than just the platforms and publishers selling them — is the far less celebratory question hanging over the numbers.
