Steam reportedly hit $11.1 billion in first-half revenue, helped by older games

Steam brought in an estimated $11.1 billion in revenue during the first half of the year, according to a report from Alinea Analytics. That would be up 14.5% year over year and, by the firm’s estimate, Steam’s biggest first half yet.

The interesting part isn’t just that Steam is still growing. It’s what’s driving that growth. Alinea says back-catalogue sales are doing more of the heavy lifting, with older games now making up 79% of revenue, up from 71% in H1 2024. New releases are still producing major hits, but they’re competing against years of discounted, highly rated games that players can grab during sales, bundles, and franchise promos.

The report points to several factors behind the increase, including more player activity in Asia, especially China, higher prices for new releases, and viral co-op games. But publishers are also getting better at using new entries to sell the older stuff. Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem is cited as one example, with the game estimated at $194.5 million while promotions helped push earlier Resident Evil titles too.

Among new 2026 releases, Forza Horizon 6 is listed as the top earner so far, with an estimated $197.7 million in its first two months. Alinea says about $4 million of that came from DLC, including $2 million from VIP memberships. Crimson Desert follows at $190 million since its March launch, with Slay the Spire 2 at $141.7 million and Subnautica 2 at $133.6 million.

One smaller standout is Meccha Chameleon, which Alinea estimates at $73.1 million and says leads new releases in copies sold on Steam. The broader takeaway is pretty blunt: on Steam, a new game can still break out, but it helps a lot if it has a familiar name, a viral hook, a low impulse-buy price, or something unusual enough to cut through the backlog.