Steam wrapped up 2025 with its strongest December ever, pulling in an estimated $1.6 billion in gross revenue and capping off another massive holiday season for PC gaming.
The total beats Steam’s December 2024 numbers and even tops the platform’s previous holiday highs from the pandemic boom in December 2020. A big reason for the jump was Arc Raiders, the new extraction shooter from Embark Studios, which moved more than 1.2 million copies on Steam between December 21 and early January.
Steam’s annual Winter Sale once again played a major role, but Arc Raiders stood out for a different reason. Unlike many of the platform’s biggest hits, the game launched as a paid title and still managed to attract a huge audience, pushing back against the idea that only free-to-play games can dominate on PC.
Player activity across Steam surged during the holiday window, with millions of users logging in daily to browse sales, jump into multiplayer games, and pick up new releases. Valve hasn’t shared an official revenue breakdown, but third-party estimates show Arc Raiders sitting near the top of Steam’s sales charts throughout the sale period.
Even as competition from storefronts like the Epic Games Store continues to grow, December’s results highlight Steam’s staying power. For developers and publishers, the month is another reminder that premium PC games can still thrive — especially when they land at the right moment.
With 2026 underway, Steam’s record December sets a tough benchmark to beat and offers an early look at how player spending and platform momentum may shape the year ahead.
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