Valve’s Surprising £11bn Windfall from Steam in 2026—How Forza Horizon 6 Became Their Star Player!

Steam Generates $15 Billion in 2026, Led by Forza Horizon 6

2026 has proven to be a lucrative year for Valve, with Steam generating approximately $15 billion (~£11.10 billion) in revenue, reflecting the company’s share from sales of games, downloadable content (DLC), and software on its platform.

The highest-grossing new game release on Steam this year is Forza Horizon 6, which has reportedly earned Valve around $210.5 million (~£155.74 million), according to analysis from Alinea Analytics.

Trailing behind Forza Horizon 6 is Crimson Desert, contributing approximately $203.3 million (~£150.42 million) to Valve’s revenue. In a close third place is Resident Evil Requiem, which has generated about $200.9 million (~£148.64 million) for the company.

Alinea analyst Rhys Elliott reported that the top six highest-grossing new game releases collectively accounted for merely $1 billion (~£735.8 million) of the total $15 billion, representing only 6.6 percent of the overall revenue. Notably, two of the top six titles, Crimson Desert and Meccha Chameleon, originate from new intellectual properties (IPs).

When broadening the scope to include the top 100 highest-grossing new releases of 2026, the revenue figure increases to $2.4 billion (~£1.78 billion), which constitutes a more substantial 15.9 percent of Steam’s total revenue so far this year.

The data indicates some skewing, as Crimson Desert is responsible for 18 percent ($203 million) of the revenue from new IPs. Excluding Crimson Desert would drop that percentage from 63 percent to just 39 percent.

Looking ahead, several highly-anticipated titles are still slated for release in 2026. Recently released games include Onimusha: Way of the Sword and The Blood of Dawnwalker. Upcoming major titles include Gears of War: E-Day, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and Phantom Blade Zero.

News Courtesy of Eurogamer