Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Here's the most played Steam Deck games of 2023

By -

Valve has released the annual Best of lists, and so we can see what the most played games are across the whole of 2023 for the Steam Deck so here's what's up.

Measured by Daily Active Players across Platinum: 1st - 12th, Gold: 13th - 24th and  Silver: 25th - 50th these are the most popular games on Steam Deck overall for 2023. However, Valve said they're only including games in the list that have a Deck Verified status of Verified or Playable. Additionally, each list is also randomly sorted, unlike their usual monthly shout-outs which are from highest to lowest.

Platinum

Gold

Silver

You can see all the lists over on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
21 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
See more from me
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
21 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

Pengling Dec 29, 2023
My Steam Deck, Super Bomberman R 2, and I will be over here in the lonely corner, as I've only played three out of the fifty games on this list, and almost none of the rest are my sort of thing.


Last edited by Pengling on 29 December 2023 at 1:15 pm UTC
Janne Dec 29, 2023
I have to say, The murder of Sonic the Hedgehog was the Tru sleeper hit of last year. It had no business being that good.
Ehvis Dec 29, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
My Steam Deck, Super Bomberman R 2, and I will be over here in the lonely corner, as I've only played three out of the fifty games on this list, and almost none of the rest are my sort of thing.

You're not alone on that one. I have played exactly zero of those games on my Steam Deck. I've played three of them on desktop using Steam and one of them through Heroic.
scaine Dec 29, 2023
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
  • Mega Supporter
I've played 27 of the 50 overall, 8 of the platinum games. Very few on my Steam Deck though! That tends to be simple 2D or pseudo-3D games mostly. The only Platinum game I played on Deck was Dave the Diver.

What I love about this list is that there's so few Denuvo games on there. Hi-Fi Rush, Street Fighter 6 and Midnight Suns are the only ones that jumps out at me. It's great that Monster Hunter World is on there (had Denuvo, it was removed), while Monster Hunter Rise isn't (still has Denuvo).

I hate wishing ill on anyone, I really do hate the whole cancel culture thing, but as a very committed gamer, I'd happily see Denuvo fold tomorrow and I'd toast its demise with a whisky and a smile.
hardpenguin Dec 29, 2023
Here's to the brave souls playing Starfield on Steam Deck....
dvd Dec 29, 2023
How is Dead Cells only gold? Is this for running the game through wine?


Last edited by dvd on 29 December 2023 at 8:00 pm UTC
Purple Library Guy Dec 29, 2023
How is Dead Cells only gold? Is this for running the game through wine?
Nah, I was confused for a minute too--this is a completely different meaning of "Platinum" "Gold" etc. In this list, Platinum is the "most popular" group, "Gold" is "next most popular" etc.
whizse Dec 29, 2023
View PC info
  • Supporter
I need to give The Binding of Isaac a try. It's constantly on these top lists.

Shamefully I've had it sitting in the library unplayed since that Humble Indie Bundle back in '11.
Woodlandor Dec 30, 2023
I really thought Liam would relax and make it to the new year this time without posting a new article.
😉
Pengling Dec 30, 2023
It's great that Monster Hunter World is on there (had Denuvo, it was removed), while Monster Hunter Rise isn't (still has Denuvo).
Capcom is off on one of their anti-consumer rampages again at the moment, as they do every decade or so, having recently deemed all PC-game modding to be cheating and doubling down on Denuvo, so we won't be seeing them removing Denuvo from any more games for a long time, I would imagine.

This annoys me, because they've stuck it on several titles that I was looking forward to (some of them compilations of decade-old games following up on collections that did not have Denuvo). At least it's saved me some money!

I hate wishing ill on anyone, I really do hate the whole cancel culture thing, but as a very committed gamer, I'd happily see Denuvo fold tomorrow and I'd toast its demise with a whisky and a smile.
It's not cancel-culture to want anti-consumer snake-oil* to die the death it deserves.

*I hate using this expression because I know that genuine snake-oil actually did have health-benefits due to containing high amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, and it was the counterfeit stuff made from rattlesnakes and turpentine that did not, but what can ya do?
StoneColdSpider Dec 30, 2023
My Steam Deck, Super Bomberman R 2, and I will be over here in the lonely corner, as I've only played three out of the fifty games on this list, and almost none of the rest are my sort of thing.
I have played only one of those fifty games in total...... On any device.........
I have forsaken our lord and savior Doritos Pope........

THE POWER OF DORITOS COMPELS ME!!!!.........
Purple Library Guy Dec 30, 2023
I have also played just one of those games--Slay the Spire. I would have played Vampire Survivors too except it wouldn't start. I'll try again one of these days.
GetBeaned Dec 30, 2023
I'm surprised Counter Strike 2 is even on there at all. From what I've seen, at best you're getting 40fps, and it doesn't seem like the type of game you'd want to compromise on when it comes to frame rate.

I contributed heavily to Elden Ring this year, though I've since moved on to Baldur's Gate 3, and that demanded I finally sort my home network out so I can stream it from my PC. Elden Ring is definitely playable natively, but it will be nice to go back to it at some point streaming it from my PC.
chickenb00 Dec 30, 2023
I contributed heavily to Elden Ring this year, though I've since moved on to Baldur's Gate 3, and that demanded I finally sort my home network out so I can stream it from my PC. Elden Ring is definitely playable natively, but it will be nice to go back to it at some point streaming it from my PC.
Elden Ring streams quite nicely. Note that Preview build has the fix for streaming right now, but the overlay still doesn't come up which is annoying.
Heck, everything streams nicely. FF7R looks great at 40fps but even better streamed at 1440p.
chickenb00 Dec 30, 2023
Some of y'all who havent played any on that list need to "get out more" :P many of those titles are modern classics.
Pengling Dec 31, 2023
Some of y'all who havent played any on that list need to "get out more" :P many of those titles are modern classics.
Not everything is of interest to everyone, though.
StoneColdSpider Dec 31, 2023
Some of y'all who havent played any on that list need to "get out more" :P many of those titles are modern classics.
Dont you mean "stay in more"???........

Not everything is of interest to everyone, though.
True..... The only thing on that list I have played in Stardew Valley......

I do own Half-Life 1....... Bought it back in a brick and mortar store decades ago..... But I bought it and installed it just to play TeamFortress Classic....... I have never actually played Half-Life.........

They are the only two on the list I own..... And I have only played one of them........
PoliticsOfStarving Dec 31, 2023
Wtf is Armoured Core? Never heard of this series before and suddenly it’s sixth iteration Is the most popular game.

Nice seeing those modern classics - Stardew, Dead Cells, Vampires are all still pulling in, but I’m always surprised Terraria doesn’t seem to make these lists anymore. It’s still great, infinitely replayable, awesome co-op, and still getting free updates.

And Risk of Rain Returns… I played the original to death, but I thought it would be unplayable on steam deck with its tiny sprites. This new version must do better zoom/scaling, but then do you see enough of the screen or is it way harder?
Purple Library Guy Dec 31, 2023
And Risk of Rain Returns… I played the original to death, but I thought it would be unplayable on steam deck with its tiny sprites. This new version must do better zoom/scaling, but then do you see enough of the screen or is it way harder?
Well, for me, Risk of Rain has definitely Returned this Christmas season. (looks out window) Yeah, I think it's stopped just now, but there's definitely Risk of Rain again today.
ToddL Jan 1
Wtf is Armoured Core? Never heard of this series before and suddenly it’s sixth iteration Is the most popular game.

Armoured Core is action game involving robots that got its start back in the Playstation 1 days and it has it's fans even though they haven't released a new one in the last 10 years until now. From Software ended up making a lot of games like Elden Ring, Dark Souls 1-3 and Bloodbourne during that time this series was away.

As for this list of games, I only played Resident Evil 4 Remake and enjoyed it a lot while the rest didn't interest me that much.


Last edited by ToddL on 1 January 2024 at 4:43 am UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
Login / Register