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Valve continues to pretty much print money, and they've released their latest yearly review and 2023 seems to be another great year for Steam.

This time around, they didn't give all that many details on Steam's overall growth. We didn't get notes on monthly or daily active users like we've seen in the past. And most of the post is simply going over features they added for users and developers during 2023. Still, they did give a few details on that and what they showed was still really surprising.

One of those surprising marks is physical wallet cards, which Valve said during December 20th to December 31st, 2023 that "players redeemed more than $80 million in physical wallet cards". That's a whole lot of gifting going on! Valve also said these physical cards are "some of the most expensive payment methods we support" but the benefits are clear for both developers and Steam users.

Valve also showed one element of their growth with a comparison of the Steam Autumn Sale between 2022 and 2023 showing many developers managing to find success. With a 21% increase in the amount of games earning over $1M in revenue.

Steam Autumn Sale Increase from 2022 to 2023
Games over $1K Revenue +19%
Games over $10K Revenue +17%
Games over $100K Revenue +17%
Games over $500K Revenue +19%
Games over $1M Revenue +21%

Another big note is that 2023 was the first year in the entire history of Steam where over 500 games earned more than $3 million in gross revenue in one year, Valve said this was more than double the number of games hitting it versus 2018.

It's not just existing and well-known developers doing well though. As Valve notes with their Top 20 game releases each month by revenue that in 2023 more than a quarter of them were from studios releasing on Steam for the very first time.

2023 was also the year that Steam crossed over 33 million concurrent users for the first time!

See the full post on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Steam, Valve
18 Likes
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30 comments
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Eike Feb 21
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I'd be curious about the real "printing money": psychical wallet cards not redeemed.


Last edited by Eike on 22 February 2024 at 8:11 am UTC
CatKiller Feb 21
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QuoteThis time around, they didn't give all that many details on Steam's overall growth. We didn't get notes on monthly or daily active users like we've seen in the past.

That is a shame - what with me having nudged them specifically about that - especially with Sony and Epic having recently provided MAU numbers. Where Steam currently fits in the ecosystem would be useful information.
Pengling Feb 21
Am I the only person who can't even find the physical wallet cards anywhere? All of the places that they list as UK stockists don't seem to actually carry them!

Like so many geeks, I'm frequently told that I'm difficult to get gifts for on traditional gift-giving occasions (and I always say they don't need to worry about it, and on it goes ) - physical Steam cards actually being available would be kind of helpful.
Eike Feb 21
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Quoting: PenglingAm I the only person who can't even find the physical wallet cards anywhere? All of the places that they list as UK stockists don't seem to actually carry them!

Like so many geeks, I'm frequently told that I'm difficult to get gifts for on traditional gift-giving occasions (and I always say they don't need to worry about it, and on it goes ) - physical Steam cards actually being available would be kind of helpful.

Available at about every second store here in Germany.
Pengling Feb 21
Quoting: EikeAvailable at about every second store here in Germany.
Lucky! Over here, you see cards for all of the consoles, then the Apple and Google mobile stores, and then a few cards to encourage children to go for microtransactions in titles like Minecraft and Roblox, but no Steam ones at all.
Eike Feb 21
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Quoting: Pengling
Quoting: EikeAvailable at about every second store here in Germany.
Lucky! Over here, you see cards for all of the consoles, then the Apple and Google mobile stores, and then a few cards to encourage children to go for microtransactions in titles like Minecraft and Roblox, but no Steam ones at all.

I think we've got all those too (though I cannot remember Roblox), but fortunately, Steam as well.
And it's got "Linux" written on it!
finaldest Feb 21
For UK retailers,

You can get steam PS5 and MS gift cards in GAME stores by purchasing at the till. You get a code printed on a till receipt for the value purchased.

I use this method for the consoles as I don't like registering a credit card for security reasons.

I have seen them in some of the supermarkets also at the checkouts.

I only buy physical games for the consoles now as I have ditched digital purchases.


Last edited by finaldest on 21 February 2024 at 2:25 pm UTC
Highball Feb 21
Quoting: PenglingAm I the only person who can't even find the physical wallet cards anywhere? All of the places that they list as UK stockists don't seem to actually carry them!

Like so many geeks, I'm frequently told that I'm difficult to get gifts for on traditional gift-giving occasions (and I always say they don't need to worry about it, and on it goes ) - physical Steam cards actually being available would be kind of helpful.

That would be nice. My Sisters just buy me gift cards to Subway, the sandwich place. It really feels like a punishment at this point. If I got a Steam gift card I'd probably fall over in shock.
Pengling Feb 21
Quoting: finaldestFor UK retailers,

You can get steam PS5 and MS gift cards in GAME stores by purchasing at the till. You get a code printed on a till receipt for the value purchased.
Alas, I'm clearly not meant to find the bloody things - all of the local branches of GAME shut up shop ages ago, too. I don't think we've even got any of the ones shuffled off into a Sports Direct store. (I honestly don't think that GAME is long for this world, at this point, but that's another matter.)

Quoting: finaldestI have seen them in some of the supermarkets also at the checkouts.
I wish I could find them, hahaha!

Quoting: HighballThat would be nice. My Sisters just buy me gift cards to Subway, the sandwich place. It really feels like a punishment at this point. If I got a Steam gift card I'd probably fall over in shock.
I think I would too, as I'm convinced that they're like Leprechauns or something.
ToddL Feb 21
I can say that I'm one of those $80 million physical Steam Wallet card purchasers and I wouldn't be surprised if some of that is attributed to those that can't buy a Steam Deck using credit card, Paypal or other means.

It's nice that you can buy something like a Steam Deck with Steam Wallet digital and physical cards
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