Steam on track for $20 billion: Valve's store is having its best year ever

Steam is about to cross a line it has never reached before. As reported by Dexerto, Valve's store is on track to bring in more than $20 billion in a single year, something unprecedented in its history. The momentum comes after it closed out its best September ever and, along the way, the strongest third quarter in its history.

Why should you care if you play competitively or create content? Because Steam isn't just a store. It's where it gets decided which games thrive and which ones fade into obscurity, and it's where the skins, passes and launches that later fill tournaments and streaming schedules change hands. If the platform grows like this, the PC ecosystem grows with it, and so do the opportunities (and the pressure) for everyone who makes a living from that ecosystem.

What you need to know

• Steam is heading toward surpassing $20 billion in annual revenue for the first time.
• The platform has just posted its best September ever.
• It also closed its highest third quarter on record to date.
• For now, this is a projection: the annual figure still depends on how the final stretch of the year plays out.
• The original report comes from Dexerto.

Context: PC isn't dead, it's more alive than ever

For years, people kept saying PC gaming would be pushed aside by consoles and mobile. Dexerto's report points in exactly the opposite direction. The fact that the record came in September and in the third quarter, a period that doesn't usually feature the big year-end sales, says a lot. Growth doesn't seem to rely solely on discount events, but on steady spending month after month.

Keep in mind, the key word is still projection. We're talking about a trend, not final results. But with the last quarter still ahead, which usually brings a wave of releases and the winter sale, it's hard to imagine the pace collapsing right now.

Who does this affect?

• Competitive players: more money on the platform means more studios betting on PC titles, including shooters and strategy games with competitive ambitions.
• Content creators: more releases and a bigger PC audience mean more material to cover, but also more competition for viewers' attention.
• Indie studios: a bigger storefront can be a blessing or an ocean where it's very easy to go unnoticed.
• Valve: it strengthens its dominant position and gains more room to keep experimenting with hardware and services.

Our take

At Underworld Lordz, we see this as good news with some fine print. The upside is obvious: a strong PC platform is the foundation of much of the competitive scene we're part of. More revenue on Steam means more incentive for studios to keep bringing their games to PC, keep servers running and support competitive circuits. For a Spanish-speaking team spread across the Americas and Europe, that translates into more titles to compete in and more open tournaments.

The fine print is concentration. When a single store holds this much power, it sets the rules: front-page visibility, refund policies, review management, the item marketplace. Valve has no real competition forcing it to make a move, and that shows in how slowly certain improvements arrive. With this much money involved, expectations should rise too: better anti-cheat tools in its own games, more transparency in the recommendation algorithm and stronger support for the competitive scenes of its titles. A record like this isn't just a reason to celebrate; it's also a responsibility.

For creators, the message is clear: the PC audience is there and it spends. But that spending is split across a huge number of games, so the key isn't chasing every release, but building a community around the titles where you bring something different. Steam's record doesn't guarantee your growth; it only confirms that the playing field is huge and worth fighting for with a smart strategy.

What do you think?

Steam is at its peak, but do you notice it in your day-to-day life as a player or creator? Do you think Valve should invest more in the competitive scene now that it's about to break records, or is one store's dominance starting to become a problem? Drop by the team chat or our Discord and let us know: does Steam deserve this record, or do you expect much more from it?