Steam hits record $1.7 billion in September 2026 despite soaring PC hardware costs

PC gaming continues to see an upward trend despite rising hardware costs, as Steam is estimated to have generated a record $1.7 billion in revenue for September 2026. According to Alinea Analytics, Steam had its best September ever with a 13% jump compared to the previous record set in September 2025. It also had its strongest third quarter on record, generating an estimated $5.5 billion in revenue, an increase of 12% from the same period last year. That brings Steam's estimated revenue for the first nine months of 2026 to $16.5 billion, compared to $14.5 billion during the same period in 2025.

Among the 500 top-grossing games on Steam last month, new IP releases in 2026 generated 20.5% of the revenue, while established IP accounted for 79.5%, including 3.8% from remakes and remasters. Several major releases helped drive revenue during the month, including Wardogs, generating an estimated $86.9 million since its early-access launch on September 10; Onimusha: Way of the Sword at $30.4 million; and The Blood of Dawnwalker bringing in $26.9 million.

Free-to-play games also remained an important part of Steam's business, with Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, PUBG, and Dota 2 alone generating almost $168 million combined in September, which is nearly 10% of Steam's total estimated monthly revenue.

Steam is also closing in on a new annual record for the number of game releases. As of October 1, Steam has a total of 20,220 game releases in 2026. Another 1,156 titles are currently scheduled to launch in October itself, meaning that if those releases arrive as planned, it would put Steam ahead of the 21,268 games released in 2025.

The numbers suggest that while building a gaming PC might be expensive in 2026, it has yet to translate into a slowdown in PC game spending. With a packed release schedule for the coming months, Alinea estimates that Steam could potentially surpass $20 billion in annual revenue for the first time.

It is also worth mentioning that Steam extends beyond desktop and laptop gaming. Valve's Steam Deck gave the platform a dedicated handheld audience, allowing users to access most of their Steam game library on a portable device. The company has also expanded into living-room gaming with the newly launched Steam Machine. It is additionally working on extending support for Steam OS, its gaming-focused operating system, to more devices.

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