Black Mesa was one of Steam's top-selling new games in March

By Andy Chalk
published

Borderlands 3 and the wonky survival MMO Last Oasis also made the list.

(Image credit: Crowbar Collective)

It took more than a decade (closer to two, really), but the Source-powered Half-Life remake Black Mesa (opens in new tab) was finally completed and released this year. And despite the long wait, it was a hit. We scored it 84/100 in our "Xen doesn't suck anymore" review (opens in new tab), and it was also one of the top 20 releases on Steam in March.

Valve runs down Steam's top 20 new releases based on revenue each month, and while it doesn't share actual sales numbers, there are usually enough surprise entries to make the lists interesting. Black Mesa is a standout in this month's list, not just because of its age, but the fact that it actually began life as two free mod projects—Leakfree and Half-Life: Source Overhaul Project—which came together as one when they realized that they were working toward the same goal anyway.

But while most fan-made projects have to carefully avoid any sort of commercialization—some, like the Halo-based Installation 01 (opens in new tab) or Duke Nukem: Next Gen (opens in new tab), get approval from owners in the form of non-commercial licenses—in this case, as we explained in our recent history of Black Mesa's creation (opens in new tab), Valve actually approached the team with an offer to become an official licensee. They went for it, and it sure seems like it was the right decision.

Other interesting entries in the list include Borderlands 3, which made the top 20 despite being an Epic Games Store exclusive for six months, and Last Oasis, an intriguing survival MMO that suffered a "disastrous launch" but has since managed to find its footing. And of course there are the obvious big sellers for the month, including Doom Eternal, Half-Life: Alyx, and the long-awaited Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord.

The full list of Steam's top 20 releases for March is below, sorted by release date, and as always you can throw money at any or all of them on this Steam sale page (opens in new tab).

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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