Gamers spent $1.7 billion on Steam games and content last month, making it the best September on record, per the latest estimates from Alinea Analytics.
Steam just made record earnings for a September month. New estimates from analyst firm Alinea Analytics show that Steam may have delivered a new all-time high of $1.7 billion in Sept. '26. This represents a mighty 13% increase from last year, and the performance was driven by a healthy mix of paid software and free-to-play content spending.
Around 500 games had the top-grossing spots on the platform, of which new IP released in 2026 made up over 20% of earnings. This is a substantial amount that's no-doubt in part driven by the bevy of breakout Steam hits like Windrose, Meccha Chameleon, Blood of Dawnwalker, Pragmata, How to Fish, and Slay the Spider 2, all of which sold over 1 million copies in a matter of days.
- New 2026 IP accounted for 20.5% of the revenue
- About 79.5% of the revenue came from established IP, including 3.8% from remakes and remasters
- Games released in 2026 drove 33.6% of the revenue, with 2025 releases adding 8.7% and 2024 releases 9.3%
- Free-to-play games accounted for 25.6% of revenue generated by the top 500 (despite making up 16% of the titles), with premium making up the rest
Alinea's Rhys Elliott also notes that just four games made nearly 10% of Steam's total September earnings, and Valve owns two of them.
"On the free-to-play side, Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, PUBG, and Dota 2 generated almost $168M on Steam combined, nearly 10% of Steam's entire revenue for the month."
Story Q&A
Powered by TweakBot
From TweakTown's coverage of this story.
How much revenue did Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, PUBG, and Dota 2 each generate on Steam in September 2026?
Which of Windrose, Meccha Chameleon, Blood of Dawnwalker, Pragmata, How to Fish, and Slay the Spider 2 earned the most on Steam in September?
Which established game franchises contributed the most to Steam revenue in September 2026?
What factors drove Steam’s September revenue growth compared with September 2025?
Want something else? Ask TweakBot.
Be sure to check out the full report over at Alinea's Substack newsletter for more info.
