14 DAY TRIAL // A analysis firm called Forecasting and Analyzing Digital Entertainment, LLC has estimated that the Steam service from Valve has managed to get close to 1 billion dollars from sales of video game content during 2010, with Call of Duty: Black Ops, the first-person shooter from Treyarch and Activision being the most popular game.
The Research & Analysis division of FADE has not had actual access to sales data from Steam but estimates that revenue reached 970 million dollars, with parent company Valve being the third largest publisher, gaining about 80 million dollars, mainly from the launch of the cooperative shooter Left 4 Dead 2.
Here are the top selling games on Steam, ordered by estimated sales in million dollars:
1. Call of Duty: Black Ops – Activision: 98.2 2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Activision: 39.4 3. Left 4 Dead 2 – Valve: 36.0 4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Electronic Arts: 25.4 5. Sid Meier's Civilization V - 2K Games: 21.9 6. Portal – Valve: 20.0 7. Fallout: New Vegas - Bethesda Softworks: 17.0 8. Metro 2033 – THQ: 13.4 9. Mafia II - 2K Games: 11.9 10. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising – THQ: 10.8
Benjamin Schlichter, who is the director of Research & Analysis, stated, “Steam's growth has been remarkable during the year. Over 180 titles were estimated reaching over $1 million USD in revenue for the year, painting a very healthy market for developers and publishers, with more room for growth in the future.”
Steam is a good example of how the PC gaming market is moving farther and farther from the retail market and allowing gamers quick access to their experiences from any computer connected to the Internet.
Rival digital distribution service Direct2Drive, which is backed by IGN, has been especially active lately, allowing gamers to rent titles for a limited period for 5 dollars and introducing a loyalty program.