25-Year-Old Game Is Currently the #1 Best-Selling Game on Steam

July 25, 2026, 5:33pm

Steam has a new king, and it’s an old king. Specifically, a 25-year-old king. Ahead of games like Palworld, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Shift at Midnight, Tears of Metal, and The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is a new release from Xbox. Steam orders its “Top Sellers” chart by revenue rather than copies sold, which can work against smaller games. That said, the top of the top sellers right now is not a fully priced $80 or $70 or even $60, but a $50 game.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Right now, Xbox and Halo Studios’ Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, is out in early access. And unsurprisingly, there is a healthy amount of interest in the remake of the 2001 OG Xbox game. Additionally, there isn’t much competition on Steam right now. Palworld 1.0 recently happened, but many already purchased Palworld long ago in early access. Meanwhile, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced has been out for a couple of weeks and already had its time at the top. The rest of that list above is just smaller indie games. This is to say, if Halo: Campaign Evolved didn’t grab the top spot at release, it would have been shocking. Thankfully for Xbox, it has.

Mixed Reception So Far

A good number of Steam users have checked out Halo: Campaign Evolved so far, but how many are enjoying it? Well, only 70% of user reviews are positive. This gives the Xbox game a “Mostly Positive” user review score. Now, this is the score with hardcore fans, which suggests this score will go down over time when it breaches hardcore containment. Hardcore fans can be the most critical, though, and the score of many games on Steam actually slightly improves over time. Whatever the case, it’s not a good start.

Most user reviews agree that the gameplay of the remake is great, and the overall visuals are also top-notch. It’s fun to play and pretty. There are some bugs and performance issues, especially on PC. Meanwhile, the cutscenes — which include the writing, performances, and animation work — have come under serious scrutiny. In many ways, the remade cutscenes feel worse than the original cutscenes. The various and controversial changes made to Cortana have also been a big discussion point.

What the game on PC/Steam has going for it compared to other platforms is the Steam Deck. In the past, Xbox has been a great supporter of the Steam Deck, and no exception has been made here. At launch, Halo: Campaign Evolved is Steam Deck Verified, which means Valve has tested the game on the handheld and can confirm it works start to finish. It doesn’t mean it works perfectly, or in an increasing number of cases, well, but it works.

Due to the lack of big releases at the end of July and early August, Halo: Campaign Evolved could end up staying in the #1 spot for a little bit, but Palworld does seem to be surging, so perhaps it will be short-lived and end after launch.

As always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the video game conversations happening right now on the ComicBook Forum.