Another year is coming to an end, and as usual, Valve takes the opportunity to present us with its own review of “The Best of 2021”, highlighting the best-selling games, played games and the best new releases within its Steam platform, divided into six divided categories and four ranks.
However, unlike the prizes of the platform, normally awarded through the previous voting of the users, in this compilation we find a ranking based on figures and measurements recorded by the platform, highlighting the number of copies sold, the revenue generated, or the player base of the games themselves.
Best of 2021: Steam’s Bestsellers
Although we can still find some titles from previous years, it is certainly worth making a special mention of those games that have debuted within this in 2021, and that have managed to enter this first category, such as the MMO New World, the survival adventure of Valheim, the intense action of NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, or the war shooter Battlefield 2042.
Although on the other hand we do not want to leave aside other previous titles that have also managed to sneak into this Platinum category, with the battle royale Apex Legends and PUBG Battlegrounds, the terrifying Dead by Daylight, or the shooter Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.
A list that is completed by the presence of some already classic titles at the top of Steam such as Counter Strike, DOTA 2 or Grand Thenft Auto V, which remain in the Platinum category for the sixth consecutive year; as well as Destiny 2, present in this list for the last three years.
As for the rest of the categories, although we will mention some of the games, it is worth mentioning that each user may see a different selection on their Steam store page. And it is that unlike the Platinum titles, the rest of the categories have a greater number of highlights, with 12 gold titles, 15 silver titles, and up to 60 bronze winners.
Best of 2021: Steam’s Most Played
Although these two categories do not necessarily have to be related to each other, this time the most played games this year have coincided almost entirely with the best-sellers, highlighting the presence of RUST and Halo Infinite. And it is that each and every one of them focuses on an online multiplayer experience, offering a practically infinite replay value.
Thus, all the titles included in this Platinum category managed to reach figures greater than 200,000 players connected simultaneously during some time of the year. Unfortunately, while these details certainly offer us an important perspective, we wish the company had also shared the total number of players or the number of hours played for each game.
As for the rest of the categories, we find divisions that frame the gold titles in figures of up to 100,000 simultaneous players, 60,000 players for the silver category, and 30,000 in the case of bronze. In addition, as detailed by Steam itself, as in previous years, those games that have reached these peaks of players during special events such as temporary free access, gifts or other anomalous events that may detract from their popularity have been excluded. .
Within the gold category, some titles stand out such as Team Fortress 2, a title with more than 14 years behind it; Among Us, which despite having lost popularity compared to its first years of release, continues to enjoy a good player base; as well as some releases this year such as Resident Evil Village or Outriders.
Best of 2021: the best releases on Steam
If you follow our monthly Top Releases posts throughout the year, you may already be aware of the vast majority of featured releases this year. However, in this list Steam has wanted to highlight the 20 main titles of each month of this 2021, as well as a small compilation with which it considers the 25 main releases of the whole year.
Some listings created based on the revenue they generated during the first two weeks after launch, thus trying to create greater equity between the titles released at the beginning and end of the year.
This highlights the presence of Forza Horizon 5, Age of Empires IV, Farm Simulator 21 (recently analyzed on this website), Resident Evil Village (also reviewed by our colleagues), Mass Effect Legendary Edition, or the controversial launches of Battlefield 2042, New World or Outriders.
Thus, we can still find three additional categories where the best early access titles, the best in virtual reality and the most popular games compatible with a controller are also highlighted.
Finally, remind you that we are still within the Steam winter sale period, with thousands of discounts throughout the store, including the vast majority of the titles featured in this list of winners, with discounts that reach up to 90% of reduction.
