As stressful and difficult as 2016 was for the real world, it was an incredible year for video games. Some of the most anticipated games of the decade — Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian — finally saw the light of day, Nintendo changed mobile gaming forever with the release of Pokemon Go and Super Mario Run, and life simulator Stardew Valley provided the perfect escape from reality.
In celebration of the year that was 2016, Valve has put together a comprehensive list of the top 100 best sellers on Steam “as measured by gross revenue this year,” and there are more than a few surprises.
Rather than just list the games 1-100, Valve has separated the list into four tiers: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. There’s no indication as to whether or not the games in each of those tiers are listed in order of their gross revenue, or even any indications as to where the cut off point was for each tier.
Nevertheless, it’s an interesting list, with plenty of familiar titles clogging up the top tiers. The Division, Fallout 4, Grand Theft Auto V and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive all managed to climb into the platinum tier, along with the free to play Dota 2 and the most controversial game of the year: No Man’s Sky.
Dota 2 was one of several free to play games to make the list, alongside Team Fortress 2, Warframe, Smite and a few others. If you thought that microtransactions were reserved for mobile games, PC gaming wants to have a word with you. Gamers clearly love cosmetic upgrades, and are willing to pay for them.
Best of all, virtually every game on the list (save for a few new releases) is on sale as part of the Steam Winter Sale, so be sure to check and see if anything on the list interests you before the sale ends.