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Over 14,000 games were released on Steam in 2023How do we feel about that?
How do we feel about that?
Image credit:SteamDB
Image credit:SteamDB
The number of games released on Steam has increased every year since the platform’s launch, with the exception of 2019. That decline from 2018 is because 2018 was the year Valve launched Steam Direct, letting developers release their games onto the platform without an approval process and thus prompting an unrepeatable deluge of back catalogue and previously rejected games.
At the time of writing, 102 games have been released on Steam in 2024.
I always feel ambivalent about the increasing number of games released on Steam. I like anything that suggests that video games are growing, because the more people who make them, the more interesting they will become; on the other hand, I’m not sure Steam is the boulevard through which all of these games should be flowing.
“The vast majority of these sell 0 copies, many are ‘my first game’-type projects,” commentedTyler Glaiel on X, developer on The End Is Nigh and the upcomingMewgenics. “Everyone’s gotta start somewhere but it is somewhat odd how much game dev communities are funneling people to immediately jump to trying to sell games instead of just getting plays and feedback first.
