Steam showcases Its Best-Selling and Most Played Games of 2021

While Steam's Best of 2021 lists do not rank the top games in each category, they do reveal which games were the most played, sold the most, and much more.

Valheim, New World, Halo Infinite, Battlefield 2042, PUBG, Counter-Strike, and Grand Theft Auto V appear in multiple categories on Steam's Best of 2021 lists, including 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

The Top Sellers category lists the top 100 games by gross revenue and categorises them as Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze; however, it does not specify how much a game must earn to advance to the next level. In alphabetical order, the Platinum Best Sellers 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 in the same way as the Top Sellers category, but games must have been released in 2021 to qualify. Sorry, GTA V, but you can't win this one! The Platinum-tier New Releases are listed alphabetically below:

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 honours the games with the most "highest peak concurrent players" over the course of the year. The following games attained the highest tier - Over 200,000 Peak Players :

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 honours games that exited Early Access with the highest gross revenue in 2021. The Platinum-tier Early Access Grads are alphabetically listed below:

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 compiles the top-selling VR-exclusive experiences with the highest gross revenue in 2021. In alphabetical order, the Platinum-tier Best of VR games 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

Finally, the Controller Friendly category recognises games with the highest number of daily active controller players in 2021. The Platinum-tier Controller Friendly games are listed alphabetically below:

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