Nearly 30 Percent Of The Top 100 Steam Deck Games Aren’t Verified
Recently, Valve published a list of the top 100 most-played Steam Deck games over the last 12 months. Digging into this much data is fun, and the full list is both a snapshot of recent trends and a reminder that old favorites are some of the most popular options on Valve’s portable PC.
On March 14, roughly two years after the Steam Deck’s launch, Valve released its list of the most-played games on the best-selling device for the past year as part of its ongoing Spring 2024 sale. According to Valve, this list of the 100 most-played games on Steam Deck is based on daily active player counts between March 2023 and March 2024. Interestingly, Valve’s list cares not about a game’s Steam Deck status. That means that about 27 games, or 27 percent of the list, are non-verified or even unsupported Steam Deck games.
Looking through the full list, a lot of games I expected to be on here are here, and listed toward the top. There are some real surprises and head-scratchers too, though. For example, Balatro—which just came out a few weeks ago—is in the top 30. Another recent release, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor—an idle shooter spin-off of the FPS mining game Deep Rock Galactic—lands a few spots below that at 39. As someone who has put a good amount of hours into both games on Steam Deck, I can attest to them being perfect for the platform. (Funnily enough, the original Deep Rock game is also on the list, but only barely at 91.)
Another interesting entry on the list is Starfield. A lot of people are playing Bethesda’s open-world space RPG on the Steam Deck, even though that’s a not-so-great experience. In fact, Valve lists the game as “Unsupported,” but that hasn’t stopped people from playing it and helping the game land at number 46.
Looking at the top of the list, some older games are dominating, including GTA V, Elden Ring, and Stardew Valley. But the top post goes to the massive RPG and kissing simulator Baldur’s Gate 3. It pulled ahead of Vampire Survivors, a game that many—myself included—feel is such a perfect fit for the Deck that Valve should just pay the devs to have it pre-installed on the device. While I prefer Vampire Survivors, I totally understand how a turn-based, narrative-heavy RPG would be a nice fit for the Steam Deck. Sometimes you want to smooch a demon lady on your couch while you watch Netflix. No judgment.
Here, according to Valve, are the top 100 games played on Steam Deck this past year. Are there any you’re surprised to see on here? Anything missing?
If you are reading this congratulations. I have no prizes to award. Maybe check out our best Steam Deck games list? That’s all I have for you. Bye!
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