Steam generated an estimated $15 billion in gross revenue during the first eight months of 2026, according to market-analysis firm Alinea Analytics. The analysis puts the platform about 15% ahead of the same period last year and identifies Forza Horizon 6 as the highest-grossing new 2026 release, with Crimson Desert leading among new intellectual properties.
Steam Revenue Reaches New High
Steam generated about $15 billion in gross revenue during the first eight months of 2026, according to an analysis published Sept. 3 by Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott.
Alinea estimates that figure is roughly 15% higher than Steam’s gross revenue during the comparable period in 2025. The firm said the platform had already surpassed its full-year 2023 revenue by the end of August and is likely to finish 2026 above $20 billion.
The estimate is not a financial disclosure from Valve. Steam does not publicly report a platform-wide annual revenue figure, making Alinea’s number a market estimate rather than an official Steam result.
New Releases Generate $2.4 Billion
Alinea estimates that the top 100 new games released in 2026 generated about $2.4 billion in Steam gross revenue through August. That represents approximately 15.9% of the platform’s estimated revenue during the period.
The analysis also found that established intellectual properties remained dominant within that group. Although 63% of the top 100 new games were classified as new IP, established franchises accounted for about 52.5% of their combined revenue, or roughly $1.25 billion.
That distinction shows that Steam’s 2026 growth is not being driven solely by entirely new franchises. Major entries in established series continue to capture a substantial share of spending.
Forza Leads 2026 New Releases
Alinea’s estimates place Forza Horizon 6 at the top of its tracked 2026 new releases, with approximately $210.5 million in gross Steam revenue through August.
Crimson Desert follows at about $203.3 million, while Resident Evil Requiem is estimated at approximately $200.9 million. These are Alinea estimates rather than sales or revenue figures publicly reported by the respective publishers.
The distinction matters for Crimson Desert: while it does not lead the overall group of new releases, Alinea identifies it as the strongest-performing new intellectual property among the titles it tracks. The firm estimates that the game accounts for about 18% of the new-IP revenue generated by its top 100 new 2026 games.
Crimson Desert Extends Beyond Steam
The performance of Crimson Desert is also supported by official sales data from developer Pearl Abyss.
Pearl Abyss announced in April that the open-world action-adventure game had surpassed 5 million copies sold worldwide. The company’s figure covers sales across platforms and therefore cannot be directly compared with Alinea’s Steam-only revenue estimate.
The game is available on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Epic Games Store and Mac, according to Pearl Abyss. The company also reported a peak of 276,261 concurrent Steam players following its March release.
Valve’s Public Data Has Limits
Valve’s Steamworks documentation confirms that publishers and developers can access detailed sales and financial information for their own products through Steam’s reporting systems.
Steam’s public Top Sellers charts are based on revenue from multiple sources, including base-game purchases, downloadable content and in-game transactions. Valve also says its partner reporting systems provide near-real-time information on revenue, units and player counts for individual products.
Those systems do not amount to a public, platform-wide financial statement from Valve. As a result, the $15 billion figure should be treated as Alinea’s modeled estimate of Steam’s gross revenue rather than an audited Valve figure.
Older Games Remain a Major Force
Alinea’s analysis also challenges the idea that Steam’s growth is being driven primarily by a growing middle tier of new games.
Among the 900 games ranked from 101st through 1,000th by estimated 2026 Steam revenue, Alinea found that 83% had launched before 2026 and 66% were at least two years old. The firm said games that had already generated more than $50 million in lifetime revenue accounted for 51% of the group’s 2026 revenue.
The findings indicate that Steam’s commercial ecosystem continues to rely heavily on its extensive back catalog alongside major new releases. Older blockbusters can continue generating significant revenue through discounts and ongoing sales even years after launch.
Steam Could Cross $20 Billion
Alinea expects Steam to finish 2026 above $20 billion in gross revenue if the current pace continues. The estimate would put the platform above that threshold for the first time, although the final result will depend on spending during the remaining months of the year.
For developers and publishers, the data points to a market with substantial consumer spending but intense competition for visibility. New franchises such as Crimson Desert can still break through, but established properties continue to command a large share of the money flowing through the world’s dominant PC storefront.
Conclusion
Steam’s estimated $15 billion in gross revenue through August highlights the scale of the PC market in 2026, while Alinea’s release data shows how that spending is distributed. Established franchises remain powerful, but Crimson Desert’s estimated $203.3 million in Steam revenue demonstrates that a new intellectual property can compete at the highest end of the market when a major launch connects with players.
Reporting Credit: Alinea Analytics — market analysis and Steam revenue estimates; Valve Steamworks — official sales and revenue reporting documentation; Pearl Abyss — official Crimson Desert sales announcement.
