Beat Saber becomes first VR-only game on Steam’s Top Sellers list

By Aaron Mamiit Published December 29, 2019

The wildly enjoyable Beat Saber, which combines lightsabers and dancing, is the first VR-only game to crack Steam’s annual Top Sellers list.

Steam published its Best of 2019 lists, including this year’s Top Sellers, Top New Releases, Top Selling VR Titles, Top Early Access Grads, and Most Played Games. Steam does not provide the specific revenue information, but it divides the lists into four randomly sorted tiers of Platinum for the top 12, Gold for 13th to 24th, Silver for 25th to 40th, and Bronze for 41st to 100th.

Recommended Videos

The annual Top Sellers list recognizes the 100 games that earned the most revenue on Steam, including game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC. Swinging into the Bronze tier for 2019 is Beat Saber, claiming the title as the first VR-only game on the list and sharing the category with the likes of Fallout 4, Far Cry 5, Gears 5, Mortal Kombat 11, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The hardware requirements in order to play Beat Saber, compared to the other games on Steam’s Top Sellers list, makes the accomplishment even more impressive.

Earlier this year, Beat Saber became the highest-rated game on Steam of all time with a 99% positive score. Interestingly, the VR-only game achieved the feat on May 4, known as Star Wars Day, even though it is not officially affiliated with the franchise that introduced lightsabers into pop culture.

Beat Games, the studio behind Beat Saber, was acquired by Facebook’s Oculus Studios in October, but that has not affected the planned content for the game, with update v.1.6.0 adding a music pack featuring six tracks from Green Day.

In Steam’s Top Sellers list for 2019, the Platinum category includes the following games:

Civilization VI
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Destiny 2
DOTA 2
Grand Theft Auto V
Monster Hunter: World
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Elder Scrolls Online
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Warframe

Destiny 2, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Total War: Three Kingdoms also cracked the Platinum category of Steam’s Top New Releases this year:

Code Vein
Destiny 2
Devil May Cry 5
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Mordhau
Planet Zoo
Red Dead Redemption 2
Remnant: From the Ashes
Resident Evil 2
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Total War: Three Kingdoms

Topics

Contributor

Aaron received an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was four years old, and he has been fascinated…

Computing

Two new ‘game-changing’ VR headsets could arrive at HTC’s ViveCon next week

HTC Vive Pro Eye virtual reality headset

HTC has been teasing that a new virtual reality headset could launch at its Vivecon conference next week, but the company may have more up its sleeve. We are hearing reports that HTC has several VR headsets in the works. The company is expected to launch at least two new headsets at ViveCon on May 11, and it will likely use the venue to talk about the recently leaked Vive Air.

The two headsets rumored to be launching at ViveCon are the HTC Vive Pro 2 and the Vive Focus 3 Business Edition. HTC's sports-focused Vive Air was leaked late last month, but the company quickly debunked speculation that this particular model will be launching any time soon. Instead, HTC said that the Vive Air is just a concept.

Gaming

Veteran game designer Tom Hall joins VR firm Resolution Games

arizona state vr headset 180822 bio lab 7

Back in 1992, when most of the world was playing Street Fighter II or Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Tom Hall was exploring the world of virtual reality.

The game designer, who’s best known for his work on the original Doom and Commander Keen, was leading a team at id Software that assembled a VR version of Wolfenstein 3D. It was, according to Hall, “fuzzy, but fun,” and it was enough to spark an interest in the field that has spanned almost 30 years.

Gaming

Valve knows that a non-VR Half-Life: Alyx mod will be made by game’s fans

Half-Life: Alyx Gravity Gloves

While Half-Life: Alyx isn't officially playable without a virtual reality headset, developer Valve knows that its dedicated fan base will likely mod the new release for traditional PC play.

"Yes, it’s going to happen," Robin Walker of Valve admits in an interview with Polygon. "I’m fine with it. For the sake of the other members of the team, I don’t want to say I encourage you to do it, but it’s going to happen."

nproxy.org