Steam’s Best-Selling Games of 2025 Revealed (And There’s One No One Saw Coming)

2025 has been an incredible year for gaming; in fact, it is one of the strongest for new titles in a long time. Between incredible AAA games like Battlefield 6 and new IPs like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, players have been playing some incredible games. Even indie titles like Hades 2 and Hollow Knight: Silksong have finally been released. And with Steam revealing the best-selling games of 2025, a lot of these are showing up. However, one title is surprising to see considering how little discussion surrounded it at The Game Awards and throughout the year.

Dune: Awakening launched in June, taking players to the desert planet Arrakis as an MMO. It exploded in popularity upon release and saw huge numbers of players logging in. Developer Funcom continued to support the game with content updates and bug fixes. Currently, the game has a Mostly Positive review score with over 42,000 reviews. This likely represents a small number of players who purchased Dune: Awakening, showing it has certainly earned its spot among Steam’s Platinum-selling games.

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As an MMO, Dune: Awakening does not use a subscription-based model, but instead asks players to purchase the game outright. While this does require players to put money up front, they don’t have to worry about recurring fees unless they wish to purchase the DLC. This model has proven to be successful and has helped retain players and bring in newcomers. This will also be big for the game’s success on consoles when that version releases.

Other titles that appear in this list come as no surprise. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was in contention for GOTY, while multiplayer titles like Monster Hunter Wilds, Arc Raiders, and Borderlands 4 captured the online scene. Long-running series like EA Sports FC26, Civilization 7, and Battlefield 6 have become some of the best within their franchises and genres.

Indie hit Schedule 1 is another title that exploded in popularity. The game’s humor brought in players, especially as streamers shared their experiences. Finally, this list is rounded out by titles like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Elden Ring Nightreign, and of course, Hollow Knight: Silksong.

When looking at direct sales and how this correlates to a game’s popularity and success, there are many factors to consider. Sometimes a game generates enough hype through marketing and sees huge amounts of pre-orders. Even if the game disappoints, the sales make the game look successful. On the other hand, sometimes all it takes is a popular streamer to play a game, and it explodes. Sales numbers do not indicate if a game is necessarily bad or good necessarily, but it can be a determining factor.

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