Plenty of great VR titles came to the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality headsets in 2017, but which sold the best? Steam has given us some idea.
Valve’s digital gaming store recently released its ‘Best of 2017’ lists, which recognizes the top earning games as measured by gross revenue for the past year. VR has its own section with Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze categories. It’s not clear as what revenue developers had to make to earn a spot in any section.
Several of VR’s best-known games and experiences feature in the Platinum category along with a few surprises. Despite releasing in the final weeks of the year on only being optimized for the HTC Vive, Bethesda’s Fallout 4 VR still found a place in the list, as did big games and apps like Tilt Brush, Superhot VR, Job Simulator, Arizona Sunshine, Raw Data and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-Ality. Other VR launch titles and indie efforts like Space Pirate Trainer, Audioshield and Onward also featured.
Perhaps the most unexpected editions, though, are RUST’s Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, which released in 2016, and Free Live’s brutal brawler, Gorn. Both of these games remain in Early Access for now.
The Gold category is also filled with some expected runner-ups. Rocksteady Games’ Batman: Arkham VR and id Software’s Doom VFR are perhaps the biggest names on the list, but welcome additions like Dead Effect 2 VR, I Expect You To Die, QuiVR, Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul and Vanishing Realms show that players are seeking out well-made content with plenty to offer like The Talos Principle VR.
Surprisingly, some of 2017’s biggest releases don’t feature until the Silver category. Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, for example, may well have suffered from releasing just a few days after the $59.99 Fallout 4. Cloudhead Games’ The Gallery Episode 2: Heart of the Emberstone and Stress Level Zero’s Duck Season also featured here. Finally in the Bronze category are plenty of other notable inclusions like Killing Floor: Incursion, The Invisible Hours and Form.
Now that 2017 is behind us we’re looking forward to lots of big new releases in 2018. Will any of them claim a spot on next year’s list?
