Arc Raiders was the biggest seller on Steam over Christmas but you’re never going to guess what was number two.
The Christmas break is the perfect time to pick up a bargain in the sales, whether it’s the PlayStation Store, Nintendo eShop, or Steam.
These discounts can lead to a sharp spike in sales and, for Steam especially, it was a very lucrative month. According to Alinea Analytics, Steam had its highest-grossing December ever in 2025, with the storefront generating $1.6 billion (£1.18 billion) in gross revenue.
This figure is 22.7% higher than December 2024, and is even above the pandemic highs of December 2020, where revenue soared to $1.4 billion (£1 billion).
As for what games sold the most during that period, Arc Raiders ruled the roost in terms of copies sold. Between December 21 and January 4, during the Steam Winter sale, the extraction shooter sold 1.2 million copies.
Arc Raiders’ popularity has stayed strong since it launched in October last year, but these sales were boosted by a 20% discount. According to Alinea Analytics, the shooter has now surpassed 12 million copies sold across all platforms since launch, with 7 million copies sold on Steam alone.
The second biggest-seller on Steam, between December 21 and January 4, was much less predictable tough: 2018’s Detroit: Become Human, which sold 993,000 copies during this period. Developed by Quantic Dream, it’s a choice-based sci-fi adventure with all the narrative subtlety of a wrecking ball.
Detroit: Become Human was a massive 90% off during the Steam Winter Sale, bringing it down to $4 (£3.40) in the US. The concurrent player count surged to record highs as well, due to this discount, with over 25,000 people playing the title on Steam on January 4, 2026 (via SteamDB).
Aside from the very cheap price, it’s unclear why so many people gravitated towards Detroit: Become Human over any other title in the sale. It does have an ‘overwhelming positive’ rating on Steam, although how it managed that feat we’re not sure.
The other top titles during this period on Steam were the co-op climber PEAK, open world survival title Icarus, and Battlefield 6. The latter, which was 30% off, sold 706,000 copies.
Quantic Dream hasn’t released a game since Detroit: Become Human, but it is working on several titles. Star Wars Eclipse is believed to be another adventure game, at least somewhat in the style of the dev’s previous titles, but Spellcasters Chronicles is a free-to-play shooter which had a closed beta last month.
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