If you’re the kind of player who treats storefront charts like a stock ticker, the end of 2025 was wild. Steam’s year-end revenue tiers got surprise indie names sitting next to mega-budget giants, the holiday weeks were dominated by a new wave of shooters, and Epic’s charts continued to prove that “most played” and “top selling” are often two different realities.

This blog is a snapshot of what’s selling hardest and what’s trending upward as we roll into 2026, using storefront chart signals from Steam, Epic Games Store, and the wider PC ecosystem—plus a look back at what “best sellers going into 2025” looked like, and what changed.

  • Top-selling = revenue leaders on major storefronts (especially Steam’s year-end lists and current top sellers), plus consistently high-charting evergreen hits.
  • Trending = titles that surged in late 2025 (holiday weeks, major launches, major updates), dominated “top sellers this week,” or are clearly climbing in engagement.

On Steam, two signals matter most:

  • Valve’s Best of Year / Top sellers style year-end reporting (tiered by gross revenue). (GamesRadar+)
  • SteamDB’s weekly top seller visibility, which catches momentum spikes around launches and sales. (SteamDB)

On Epic, we can directly reference:

  • The Top Sellers collection and Most Played collection (useful for what’s hot right now). (Epic Games Store)
  • Epic’s Year in Review (2024) as the “going into 2025” baseline from that ecosystem. (Epic Games Store)

The headline: 2025 ended with shooters, sports, and surprise indies in the driver’s seat

Steam’s end-of-year reporting for 2025 (as covered by multiple outlets) shows a top tier packed with:

  • Multiplayer juggernauts (Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, PUBG, Apex),
  • Big releases (Battlefield 6, Borderlands 4, Monster Hunter Wilds),
  • And unexpected indie breakouts (notably Schedule I, plus buzz around other surprises). (GamesRadar+)

Meanwhile, the Christmas-week sales chart story on SteamDB had ARC Raiders at #1 for the week, with Battlefield 6close behind—basically a neon sign that late-2025 momentum is going to bleed straight into early 2026. (PC Gamer)

Epic’s current Top Sellers list overlaps heavily with the same “big gravity wells” (sports + open-world evergreen + shooters). (Epic Games Store)

So: what are the games you’ll keep seeing everywhere in early 2026—and why?

1) ARC Raiders — the “it” shooter that closed 2025 on top

Where it’s hot: Steam (top seller), Epic (top seller), and broadly across the extraction/shooter crowd. (PC Gamer)

ARC Raiders’ late-2025 run is exactly what “trending into the next year” looks like. During the Christmas week, it led Steam’s top-seller list, which is the hardest possible time to win the revenue race (everything is discounted, everything is competing). (PC Gamer)

Why it’s selling:

  • Streamer-friendly structure: sessions, stakes, emergent stories—perfect for “one more run.”
  • Genre timing: extraction mechanics have moved from niche to mainstream, and ARC Raiders landed when players were ready for a new flagship.
  • Cross-store visibility: showing up on Epic’s Top Sellers list alongside massive evergreen titles is a sign it’s not just a Steam bubble. (Epic Games Store)

Why it’s trending into 2026:
Momentum plus community meta. Extraction-style games tend to become “living puzzles” where strategy evolves weekly. If the developer keeps cadence (events, balance, seasonal beats), ARC Raiders can turn that launch spike into year-long residency.

2) Battlefield 6 — the “return to form” that actually moved units

Where it’s hot: Steam top-seller lists, Epic Top Sellers, EA App ecosystem, and mainstream shooter audiences. (PC Gamer)

Battlefield 6 had two different narratives in 2025:

  1. The hype cycle, and
  2. The sales reality.

By the end of the year, it’s clearly in the “sales reality” camp—showing up right near the top of weekly charts and in the broader year-end best-seller conversation. (PC Gamer)

EA’s own press materials framed the launch as a major franchise moment and highlighted broad PC availability (Steam + EA App + Epic), which matters because multi-launcher friction used to suppress PC performance. (EA News)

Why it’s selling:

  • Brand gravity: Battlefield still has a dormant fanbase that shows up when the word on the street is “they fixed it.”
  • Social scale: big lobbies + “war stories” moments are uniquely sticky.
  • Chart reinforcement: once it’s visibly top-selling, it gets even more sales from pure storefront exposure.

Why it’s trending into 2026:
Multiplayer shooters don’t need to be perfect; they need to be alive. If Battlefield 6 sustains events and updates, it’s built for long-tail monetization and seasonal returns.

3) Monster Hunter Wilds — the premium co-op monster of 2025

Where it’s hot: Steam’s top-tier best-seller conversation and the wider PC premium market. (XboxEra)

Monster Hunter is basically a physics law at this point: release + content cadence = sustained sales. The series thrives because it’s two things at once:

  • A skill game (mastery, builds, timings),
  • And a social ritual (hunting nights, grinding together).

Why it’s selling:

  • Co-op longevity: players buy in, then bring friends.
  • Buildcraft: “just one more armor set” is an economy of obsession.
  • Expansions as re-launches: the franchise historically benefits from huge second waves when major updates land.

Why it’s trending into 2026:
Even if you don’t touch it at launch, you come back when the community says “the new update changed everything.”

4) Borderlands 4 — comfort food looter-shooter with blockbuster reach

Where it’s hot: Steam’s high-grossing tier discussion and the mainstream co-op shooter audience. (XboxEra)

Borderlands sells on identity:

  • A very specific flavor of humor,
  • A very specific loot treadmill,
  • And co-op chaos that works even when you’re half paying attention.

Why it’s selling:

  • Built-in fanbase that buys early.
  • Co-op gifting effect: friend groups tend to unify around one looter at a time.
  • DLC runway: expansions and season content keep it chart-adjacent long after release.

Trending factor:
A new Borderlands tends to be a “content engine”—it produces guides, clips, builds, farming routes, and streamer-friendly moments. That’s the kind of cultural exhaust that keeps a game discoverable into the next year.

5) MARVEL Rivals — superhero PvP as a free-to-play gravity well

Where it’s hot: Steam top sellers and the “big IP + competitive loop” corner of the market. (XboxEra)

In 2024 and 2025, the market continued to prove something simple: free-to-play plus a strong identity can rival premium games on revenue through cosmetics and battle-pass style monetization.

MARVEL Rivals benefits from:

  • A massive character roster that is inherently collectible,
  • Constant “who’s meta?” conversation,
  • And the fact that people will try it just because it’s Marvel.

Why it’s selling (despite being F2P):

  • Cosmetic monetization that feels like fandom.
  • Social competition that pulls squads in.
  • Storefront stickiness: once a F2P game hits top charts, it keeps being seen.

Trending into 2026:
If it keeps adding heroes and modes, the content drumbeat becomes the marketing.

6) Schedule I — the indie breakout that crashed the big-league party

Where it’s hot: Steam’s year-end top sellers discussion as a surprising high-grosser. (GamesRadar+)

Schedule I is one of the clearest signs that Steam’s algorithmic discovery can still create genuine Cinderella stories. Coverage of Steam’s 2025 sales charts singled it out as a standout indie success. (GamesRadar+)

Why it’s selling:

  • Price accessibility: mid-priced indies can convert impulse buys during sales.
  • “Word-of-mouth math”: when a game is easy to describe (“you’ve gotta try this”), it spreads.
  • Streamability: indies that generate unpredictable moments tend to get free advertising.

Trending into 2026:
Indie breakouts often get a second wave when:

  • Major patches hit,
  • Console ports land,
  • Or creators revisit it during content droughts.

7) Counter-Strike 2 — the evergreen revenue machine

Where it’s hot: Steam charts, weekly top sellers, always. (SteamDB)

CS2 is the ultimate example of a game being “always new” because the meta and the economy keep evolving. SteamDB’s weekly chart still places it at #1 during the same holiday window where new releases were fighting for attention. (SteamDB)

Why it sells:

  • Skins economy and competitive longevity.
  • Esports visibility that acts like a permanent billboard.
  • Low friction: it runs on a wide range of PCs, so its audience ceiling is enormous.

2026 outlook:
It won’t “trend” so much as continue being the baseline that everything else has to beat.

8) Dota 2 / PUBG / Apex Legends — the “forever games” that keep printing money

These games repeatedly show up in Steam’s top-selling ecosystem year after year, and 2025 is no exception in the top tier discussion. (XboxEra)

They share a few traits:

  • They’re free to start,
  • They have years of content,
  • And they own a specific social identity (ranked grind, squad nights, esports spectating).

Why they sell:
Not box price—retention monetization. When a game becomes someone’s main hobby, it competes less with other games and more with everything else in their life.

9) EA SPORTS FC 26 — sports titles remain chart royalty

Where it’s hot: Steam top sellers and Epic Top Sellers right now. (Steam Store)

Sports games are weirdly “under-discussed” in core gaming circles relative to their actual sales power. But storefront charts don’t care about discourse—they care about revenue.

Why it sells:

  • Annual refresh effect: even small mechanical changes can trigger mass upgrades for competitive players.
  • Ultimate Team-style monetization keeps revenue high long after launch.
  • Cross-platform fandom: sports fandom is a pipeline that never stops.

Trending into 2026:
Sports titles tend to surge around holidays (gift season), major tournaments, and content drops—so FC 26 is positioned to stay visible well into the early months of 2026.

10) Grand Theft Auto V (Enhanced) + Red Dead Redemption 2 — “evergreen premium” still wins

Where it’s hot: Epic Top Sellers, Epic Most Played, and Steam’s broader top sellers lists. (Epic Games Store)

Yes, again. The reason these games remain sales forces is simple:

  • They’re cultural landmarks,
  • They discount well,
  • And they still look good.

Why they sell:

  • Deep discounts turn “someday” into “okay fine.”
  • Roleplay + sandbox culture keeps GTA especially visible.
  • Backlog economics: every year there’s a fresh wave of players finally upgrading their PC or joining the hobby.

Trending angle into 2026:
Evergreens trend when:

  • Mods spike,
  • RP communities boom,
  • Or streamers drag audiences back in.

11) Alan Wake 2 — prestige single-player with legs

Where it’s hot: Epic’s Top Sellers list (and prestige-horror fans). (Epic Games Store)

Alan Wake 2 is the kind of game that sells in phases:

  1. Big launch and awards buzz,
  2. Deep discount waves that pull in cautious buyers,
  3. “If you like X, you have to play this” evergreen recommendation status.

Why it sells:

  • Curation effect: it’s a “critics’ pick,” which matters during sales.
  • Genre scarcity: premium horror experiences don’t come along every week.

12) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — premium RPG energy in the charts

Where it’s hot: Steam’s weekly charts around late 2025 (showing up in the top seller mix) and broader conversation as a strong performer. (PC Gamer)

RPGs tend to win big when they nail:

  • Visual identity,
  • A distinctive combat hook,
  • And “screenshot marketing” (people share it because it looks cool).

Why it’s trending into 2026:
RPG communities are slower-burn, but they’re loyal—and if a game becomes a “recommendation monster,” it keeps selling.

How this compares to the best sellers going into 2025 (end of 2024 charts)

Steam’s end-of-2024 best-seller picture (as summarized in reporting about the “Best of 2024” lists) highlighted a set of premium hits like Helldivers 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 among the Platinum tier’s notable 2024 releases. (TechSpot)

Epic’s 2024 Year in Review also tells a very “going into 2025” story: the top tiers were dominated by Fortnite, Rocket League, Genshin Impact, GTA V, and other massive service-style ecosystems. (Epic Games Store)

So what changed from “going into 2025” → “going into 2026”?

1) The shooter market fragmented—and then reconsolidated around new kings

Going into 2025, shooters were already strong (CoD, live-service staples), but going into 2026, you can see a clearer rotation of attention:

  • Battlefield 6 meaningfully re-entered the conversation,
  • ARC Raiders emerged as a “new thing” with real sales weight,
  • While evergreen giants (CS2, Apex, PUBG) held the foundation. (PC Gamer)

2) Premium co-op stayed powerful—but shifted flavor

2024’s co-op premium energy (e.g., Helldivers 2) showed players will absolutely pay for social experiences. (TechSpot)
By late 2025, co-op appetite expresses through:

  • Extraction/social tension (ARC Raiders),
  • Long-form mastery co-op (Monster Hunter Wilds),
  • Familiar loot co-op (Borderlands 4). (PC Gamer)

3) Steam’s indie lottery hit again—big

Every year Steam has at least one “how is this outselling that?” story. Going into 2026, Schedule I is one of the names repeatedly cited as an indie that reached the highest-grossing tier conversation. (GamesRadar+)

4) Epic’s ecosystem remains “playtime-first,” but sales still follow the obvious gravity wells

Epic’s “Most Played” continues to be dominated by entrenched giants like Fortnite and Rocket League, while “Top Sellers” leans into blockbuster discounts and new releases. (Epic Games Store)
That’s a key difference vs Steam, where discovery can push a paid indie into the spotlight more visibly.

Trend A: “Accessible” shooters are back in style

Late-2025 chart coverage emphasized that big sellers like ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6 were benefiting from approaches that feel more welcoming and less punishing than hyper-ranked sweatfests. (PC Gamer)

Trend B: Live-service isn’t slowing down—but it’s getting choosier

F2P and evergreen live-service titles continue to dominate charts and playtime—CS2/Dota/PUBG/Apex on Steam, Fortnite/Rocket League/etc. on Epic. (SteamDB)
But players increasingly consolidate around a smaller set of “forever games” that feel worth the time.

Trend C: The “sale spike” is a second launch

Steam winter sales can completely re-shape visibility. A fun example: Slay the Spire hit a new all-time concurrent player peak during the 2025 holiday period, boosted by discounting and renewed attention. (PC Gamer)
That pattern benefits anything with:

  • Great reviews,
  • A clear hook,
  • And a price that turns curiosity into action.

Quick “what should I buy first?” guide (based on your mood)

  • Want the hottest new trend? → ARC Raiders (PC Gamer)
  • Want a mainstream shooter with big lobbies? → Battlefield 6 (PC Gamer)
  • Want deep co-op progression? → Monster Hunter Wilds (XboxEra)
  • Want loot + co-op chaos? → Borderlands 4 (XboxEra)
  • Want a “forever competitive hobby”? → Counter-Strike 2 / Dota 2 (SteamDB)
  • Want a chart-crashing indie surprise? → Schedule I (GamesRadar+)
  • Want a safe blockbuster that still slaps? → GTA V Enhanced / RDR2 (Epic Games Store)

If you want, I can tailor this into a “Top 15 with scores” list

Tell me what you care about most—single-player, co-op, PvP, story, low-spec PC, Steam Deck, or best value during sales—and I’ll re-rank the picks and expand each section accordingly.

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