Starfield ended 2023 as one of the highest-grossing games on Steam

While Starfield stands out for actually making it on the list, further proving Xbox's trust in the game and their claims that it sold well, Baldur's Gate 3's stratospheric rise is all that much more impressive.

After spending years in Early Access, Baldur's Gate 3 quickly set new records on every platform it came out in, starting with Steam. The 2023 GOTY award winner was expected to end the year as a commercial success, but no one could've expected it to make $657 million in estimated revenue in Steam alone, which nearly doubles Hogwarts Legacy's figures at $341 million. Keep in mind that Hogwarts Legacy is the first game in a long time to dethrone Call of Duty as the year's best-selling title. Its success is even more particularly noteworthy as Larian Studios is a smaller developer compared to Bethesda, yet it managed to outperform other big-budget titles in terms of revenue.

Furthermore, the list, which measures "Full Game Sales", doesn't include in-game spending, which explains the lack of the usual suspects, such as live-service and free-to-play titles, among others. If we use the "# of Units Sold" as a metric, Starfield is still in the Top 10, albeit at No. 7, with Lethal Company replacing it at No. 3 (both Baldur's Gate 3 and Hogwarts Legacy are still at the top).

Speaking of indie hits, games like Sons of the Forest, Lethal Company, and even The Finals, enjoyed plenty of success on Steam, demonstrating the diverse range of successful titles on the platform - a fact that Epic Games Store will have to contend with if it wants to supplant the industry-leading digital games storefront.

As for Starfield, Bethesda has promised more content for Starfield this year, including official mod support and story expansions, potentially adding new characters, exploration areas, and transportation methods. These updates are expected to enhance the game's appeal and longevity, potentially attracting more players to its already substantial fan base.