Towards the end of every year, Valve publishes a list of the games that performed exceptionally well across different metrics including “Most Played” and “Top Seller”. Valve’s “Best of 2023” has Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, and Hogwarts Legacy as the three standout releases of this year—plus a fourth surprise entry.
Valve makes use of a tier system (Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze) to rank the games in the different categories. Most gamers who check the list every year are usually eager to know the most played games of that year. This year’s list had several staples including a couple of surprising new entries.
The most played games were measured based on the peak concurrent players. Games with over 300,000 peak players were grouped under Platinum; over 150,000 but less than 300,000, Gold; Over 80,000 but less than 150,000, Silver; and over 40,000 but less than 80,000, Bronze.
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The Platinum list was dominated by multiplayer online games like Counter Strike 2, Destiny 2, Dota 2, PUBG, and Apex Legends. Interestingly, only four 2023 releases namely, Baldur’s Gate 3, Sons of the Forest, Starfield, and Hogwarts Legacy, recorded over 300,000 concurrent players.
The most impressive entry under that category was Sons of the Forest. Released via early access in February 2023, the game recorded an all-time peak of 414,257 players. The survival game developed by Endnight Games and published by Newnight is the sequel to the 2014 release titled The Forest. The full release is scheduled for February 22, 2024.
In the Gold tier, one game that impressed us the most was The Finals, considering the fact that it was a new IP. The game recorded an all-time peak of 242,619 players. Other popular releases this year like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, and Resident Evil 4 and its expansion Separate Ways also made it to the Gold tier.
Valve’s top-selling games present an interesting list
There is still an ongoing argument around the performance of Starfield and how Bethesda handles criticism. However, the September 6 release beat Baldur’s Gate 3 on Valve’s best of 2023—if revenue is your most important metric. Among the top-selling games, Starfield did not only hit Platinum but was also the top-selling game on Steam. Baldur’s Gate made the cut but in the 5th position.
Valve also had a list of the most played games measured by daily active controller players. This was where Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield shone in the Platinum, but Baldur’s Gate 3 dropped to the gold tier. Nevertheless, Baldur’s Gate 3 was one of the surprise hits of 2023.
The game developed by Larian Studios took the gaming world by storm and was named The Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Before heading to The Game Awards, it had scooped up several other awards including winning several awards at the Golden Joystick Awards.
Although Swen Vincke, the Larian Boss, did not get enough time to express himself after collecting the Game of The Year award, he later released what he wanted to say through a series of tweets. He mentioned that he doesn’t care about how much he makes on a game.
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“Games are a unique art form, as important as books, music, or movies,” Vincke wrote. “Many developers, myself included, make games because they love seeing others engage with their creations in a way only games can offer. They don’t care that much about the money made beyond it being the fuel they need to create new and better games.”
Therefore, it is unsurprising that Larian has never posted the number of copies Baldur’s Gate 3 has sold. However, we got to know that the game sold over 22 million copies through PlayStation 5.
