Valve has released is annual list of the best-selling SteamVR games in 2021, but there are no truly new titles in its top category.
Every year Valve releases a list of the top-performing titles on its digital storefront based on the amount of revenue generated, not numbers of copies sold. It divides games into categories like VR or controller-based games and then splits games into Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum categories based on performance, without revealing actual specific sales stats. But the Platinum category, which holds the games that made the absolute most revenue of 2021, doesn’t feature a single title that originally launched in 2021.
SteamVR’s Best Of 2021 Revealed
Instead, we have a list of the usual top performers like Superhot VR, Beat Saber, Half-Life: Alyx and Blade And Sorcery. Even Valve’s own blog highlights this, pointing to Into The Radius, the STALKER-like VR shooter that got a full release in July 2020 after launching in early access in 2019, as the only new entry in the Platinum category since 2020.
Things get a bit more interesting in the Gold category, where actual new games like Cooking Simulator VR and Vertigo Games’ After The Fall join other staples like Job Simulator and Onward. Moving into Silver, Sniper Elite VR, Demeo, Legendary Tales and I Expect You To Die made their debut, whilst plenty of others like Walkabout Mini Golf, Cosmodread and Ancient Dungeon VR featured in the Bronze category.
It’s not too surprising to see a lack of new titles in the Platinum category for 2021 given that many of the year’s highest profile releases like Resident Evil 4 and Lone Echo 2 didn’t launch on Steam. Perhaps had it released earlier in the year then Vertigo Games’ After The Fall might’ve been able to climb the categories given it’s outperforming Arizona Sunshine (which, yes, was in the Platinum category). This category also doesn’t include games with optional VR support, so titles like Phasmophobia won’t show up here despite likely doing well in this context.
2022 is just around the corner, though, and there’s a lot of hopeful new releases on the PC front. We’ll be looking to see if games like Wanderer, Vertigo 2 and Cosmonious High can make their mark. In the meantime, you can check out our list of the best PC VR games for 2021 right here.
