According to data collection site Steam Spy, nearly 370 million games were purchased on Steam last year, with the average game bagging median sales of 6,640 copies, generating $25,245 in revenue.
Related: last year was a good year for videogames – here’s our list of the best games of 2016.
The data collected on Steam Spy, made up from samples, shows that 2016 was a good year for digital videogame sales. In a year where lower-than-expected physical sales have been dominating the headlines, it’s nice to see a digital marketplace like Steam thriving.
That’s assuming the data collected from Steam Spy’s samples is anywhere near accurate, as the resources’ creator is open about there being discrepancies. It’s not 100% accurate by any means, but it should give us at least a decent representation of the state of the industry.
For example, PCGamer pointed out to Steam Spy that the data collection service listed Rise of the Tomb Raider and Doom 6th and 5th respectively in the top estimated revenue charts, but Steam’s official best sellers didn’t even show them ranking in the top 12.
@ELahti @pcgamer their data is obviously more correct. My numbers include sales outside of Steam and giveaways and don’t include DLCs
— Steam Spy (@Steam_Spy) 5 January 2017
There are a few more caveats to consider too. For example, those 370 million games sold in 2016? That figure doesn’t account for bundles, promotions or giveaways.
One thing the data does show, though, is that 2016 was a damn good year for strategy games. Steam Spy puts Civilization VI at the top of its revenue chart, placing it above even GTA V in second place, though this data doesn’t account for microtransactions. Total War: Warhammer sits in 7th place and XCOM 2 sits in 8th.
The four top indie games were No Man’s Sky, Rocket League, ARK: Survival Evolved and Stardew Valley, with each game placing in the top 20. Stardew Valley earned around $24 million last year, which isn’t too shabby considering it was made by one dude.
Check out the full data over on the Steam Spy blog.