Steam's best-selling new games for August includes Early Access hits and classic remakes

The list of best-selling new releases on Steam for the month of August is, as we've come to expect, an interesting mix of genres and also developers, with more than half of the studios represented on the list launching games on Steam for the first time.

The list includes both Early Access and full releases, and is based on sales over the first two weeks immediately following a game's releases. Sales figures aren't included, so instead the games are listed chronologically, from Hide or Die on August 1 to Re:Legend on August 30. (That's why the lists don't show up until well into the following month—so Valve can collect the full two weeks' worth of sales from games that came out at the end of the month.)

Here's who led the way in August:

Hide or Die
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Cliff Empire
Metal Wolf Chaos XD
Dicey Dungeons
Ion Fury
Shortest Trip to Earth
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
We Need to Go Deeper
Rad
Remnant: From the Ashes
Undermine
Oninaki
Telling Lies
Hunt: Showdown
Pagan Online
Monster Sanctuary
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
Blair Witch
Re:Legend

The monthly roundup also includes the top five free games released in August:

Steel Circus
Steambirds Alliance
Hobs
Undefeated
Rise of Legions

The top free game releases are based on peak player count over the first two weeks of launch, so it's a bit easier to gain insight into their performance. Steel Circus had a peak concurrent player count of 2153 according to Steam Charts, for instance, while Rise of Legends maxed out at 476, although Rise of Legends appears to be having better luck holding onto players. Steel Circus peak concurrent player count over the past 24 hours was 99, compared to 230 for Rise of Legions.

If you'd like to check out any or all of these games yourself—I think Shortest Trip to Earth looks particularly interesting, but there should be something in there for just about everyone—Valve has collected them all together in a Steam page you can dive into here.

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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.