Plus: The Big Steam December Launches You Missed

This analysis examines the performance of video game launches during the late December 2022 period and provides a forward-looking assessment of upcoming releases for early 2023. By scanning data from over 70,000 Steam titles and monitoring public rankings across PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Epic Games Store, Meta Quest, and Apple Arcade, the findings offer a comprehensive view of the global digital games market.

Key findings highlight the success of Project: Playtime, which leveraged the Poppy Playtime brand to achieve 21,100 concurrent users (CCU) and over 10,000 positive reviews. High On Life also demonstrated significant strength, outperforming median first-week conversion rates by three times despite its availability on Game Pass. In the RPG segment, Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII Reunion saw a strong debut with nearly 10,000 CCU, while the Chinese indie title Depersonalization emerged as a surprise hit, drawing 90% of its engagement from the Chinese market. Conversely, the report identifies potential data anomalies, noting that Fallen Arena’s high review count relative to its low CCU suggests the possibility of incentivized or fraudulent reviews.

Looking ahead to early 2023, the analysis identifies One Piece Odyssey and the underwater city builder Aquatico as high-interest titles based on Steam follower counts exceeding 17,000 each. On consoles, God of War Ragnarök and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II continue to dominate download charts, while the VR market remains led by social and athletic titles like Gym Class Basketball VR and Gorilla Tag. The data suggests that while major AAA franchises maintain steady momentum, niche genres such as railway simulators and "bite-sized" indie horror continue to find dedicated audiences through effective discovery and established creator reputations.