Halo and a Nancy Drew game were among the most popular Steam games in December

(Image credit: HeR Interactive, inc)

Valve has posted a list of the most successful Steam releases in December, and as usual, it's a mix of the expected (Halo, Red Dead Redemption 2) and the surprising (Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem, VR Paradise: Gentlemen's Club). The list isn't ordered - so we don't know which among these sold best - but it's testament to the wide range of games available on the platform.

The list is determined by the amount of revenue generated during the first fortnight of each game's launch.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Nancy Drew: Midnight in Salem
Day of Dragons
Darksiders Genesis
Red Dead Redemption 2
Endless World Idle RPG
Nostos The Lost Home
Ashen
GTFO
Boneworks
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Hades
Hurtworld
Last Year
Transport Fever 2
Vampire: The Masquerade: Coteries of New York
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Winter Resort Simulator
DJMAX Respect V
VR Paradise Gentlemen's Club

A bit of everything in that list: sci-fi FPSs, charming Minecraft clones, Dark Souls-esque RPGs, tycoon sims, Australian outback survival, an idle game and... a VR game set in a gentlemen's club.

Valve also highlighted December's top free releases, which included Ylands, Paunch, Ironsight, Endless World and Inferna. Steam released its Best of 2019 charts late last month.

Shaun Prescott

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.