Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to top the global sales spot on the Steam charts months after it first came out. But, that’s not all. It’s selling so well that it’s the top-billing Steam Deck “Verified” game on Valve’s digital games distribution platform.
Larian Studios’ soon-to-be-award-winning game didn’t need a massive marketing campaign to beat Cyberpunk 2077 or Starfield. Two months later, the power of word of mouth is still helping it stay ahead of every big AAA game on Steam that came out in August and September.
At the moment, the only games selling better than Baldur’s Gate 3 on the global charts on Steam are EA Sports FC 24, Call of Duty, and Counter-Strike 2.
Aside from Counter-Strike 2, the other two games aren’t expected to hold their spots for long. EA Sports FC 24 isn’t a critical hit and is actually going through a physical sales slump (at least, in the United Kingdom). Compared to Baldur’s Gate 3 continuously winning gamers over, it won’t be long before it’s gunning for a runner-up spot if not the throne itself.
This year’s dark horse GOTY contender continues to attract and retain players. According to SteamDB, it’s still one of the most popular games on the platform. As of the time of writing, its 24H peak is close to 300,000, which makes it the only single-player game close to reaching that number. Even though it has lost more than half of its peak player numbers in October, it’s looking like the D&D game’s dominance on the Steam charts, and presumably, other platforms as well, will last well into 2024.
After much discussion, Larian Studios and Xbox finally agreed to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to the Xbox Series S/X albeit with one minor concession. Between its success on Steam and the Steam Deck, Larian Studios has to feel pretty good about Baldur’s Gate 3 outperforming expectations.
Perhaps the best part about Baldur’s Gate 3 is it’s leading the way for a potential shift in market trends in gaming. For years, live-service was the “go-to” genre of many developers as companies desperately tried to hit gold and make the next Fortnite, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and so on. PlayStation, in particular, recently invested billions into its latest endeavor, which will see nearly a dozen live-service titles come out in the next few years. It remains to be seen if this is still the case following the impending departure of Jim Ryan in March 2024.
With narrative-driven solo adventures racking up awards and selling extremely well in consecutive years, Baldur’s Gate 3 is part of a growing list of games that prove that single-player games are still worth investing in.
Baldur’s Gate 3 will likely continue its run atop or near the top of the Steam charts for the month of October. The D&D game’s only real contender this month on the PC is Diablo 4. As much as we’re hoping for a comeback, the release of a single season alone isn’t a big enough of a draw to vault Diablo 4 above Baldur’s Gate 3, at least on Steam.
As for Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios is aware of the demand for more. However, it’s not in any rush. Instead, the now-not-so-under-the-radar developers will take its sweet time refining the current experience before it thinks about the next big adventure in the fantastic world of Faerun. Finally, for the Divinity: Original Sin fans out there, Larian Studios promises to circle back after taking a well-deserved break.
