Estimated revenues through the major digital PC retailer were estimated at $970 million USD in 2010, with December capping off the year with an estimated $213 million USD. Valve took a back seat during the year, as it was the 3rd largest publisher on Steam, bringing in an estimated $80 million USD in revenues, mostly from its 2009 release 'Left 4 Dead 2'. However, Valve sold the most titles of all publishers, as Valve published 7 of the top 10 titles when ordered for units sold. Director of Research & Analysis, Benjamin Schlichter, 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."
Mirroring its console successes, the 'Call of Duty' franchise saw great sales on the platform, with 'Call of Duty: Black Ops' and 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' taking 1st and 2nd place in terms of gross revenues, respectively. During just 2 months on the market, Black Ops sold an estimated 1.6 million copies for just under $100 million USD. Due to the popularity of the titles and expansion packs, Activision was the #1 publisher on Steam in 2010, selling an estimated $153 million USD of content during the year. Other first person shooters saw great success as well, as 7 of the top 10 games were primarily of the format.
Top Selling Titles, by Estimated Gross Revenues in 2010
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision) - $98.2 Million USD
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision) - $39.4 Million USD
- Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve) - $36.0 Million USD
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts) - $25.4 Million USD
- Sid Meier's Civilization V (2K Games) - $21.9 Million USD
- Portal (Valve) - $20.0 Million USD
- Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks) - $17.0 Million USD
- Metro 2033 (THQ) - $13.4 Million USD
- Mafia II (2K Games) - $11.9 Million USD
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising (THQ) - $10.8 Million USD