Steam Week in Review: Here are the top 10 most popular genres on Steam
PC Gamer · 2026-08-31
A new revenue report for Steam games, based on a collaboration between Ichiro Lambe, Matt Martindale, and Dr. Tim Ermilov on weloveit.io, estimates the top 10 most popular genres by "hit rate" — the percentage of games in a genre that have made over $100,000. Using the Boxleiter method, which estimates sales by multiplying user reviews by 35, the study found that sandbox games lead with a 27.3% hit rate, despite the genre's broad definition encompassing titles like *Terraria* and *Red Dead Redemption 2*. FPS (First-Person Shooter) ranks second with a 21.6% hit rate, followed by RPG (Role-Playing Game) at 19.4%.
Other genres in the top 10 include Simulation (16.9%), Visual Novel (16.5%), Horror (16.1%), Strategy (16.1%), Racing (15.8%), Roguelite (15.3%), and Sports (14.8%). Conversely, genres like Hidden Object and 2D Platformers have much lower hit rates, at 5.4% and 5.5% respectively, indicating a higher risk for developers. The report also notes a significant decline in 2D platformer popularity since 2016, while visual novels have maintained consistent popularity since 2014.