The Steam Games That Blew Up After Gamescom

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV secured 22.4K new Steam followers post-gamescom, reaching over 300K total wishlisters, with 60% of them having played the Soulstorm expansion.
02
LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight gained 15.2K new Steam followers between August 18 and 25, with 37% of its wishlisters having previously played Arkham Knight.
03
The first-person souls-like Valor Mortis attracted 9.1K new followers post-gamescom and has surpassed 100K total Steam wishlisters.
04
Paradox Interactive’s Europa Universalis V gained 7.6K new followers, featuring a new population-based simulation and expanded localization for the Chinese and Turkish markets.
05
The co-op climbing game PEAK reached 10 million total copies sold on Steam following a viral discount period that generated nearly 900K sales in one week.
06
Battlefield 2042 saw a significant sales spike of nearly 500K units on Steam last week, driven by a 95% price reduction to $2.99.
07
The co-op horror title R.E.P.O. continues to show strong momentum with 125K copies sold last week, bringing its total lifetime sales to 16.9 million units since February.

Summary

This analysis examines the impact of the Gamescom event on Steam user engagement, specifically tracking follower growth between August 18 and August 25, 2025. The primary objective is to identify which upcoming titles generated the most significant interest following industry announcements and to review recent sales performance for top-performing Steam games.

The data highlights that Hollow Knight: Silksong led the surge in interest, gaining 34,400 new followers and reaching a total of 390,700 followers, the highest for any unreleased game on the platform. Other notable titles experiencing significant post-Gamescom growth include Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV (22,400 new followers), LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (15,200), Valor Mortis (9,100), and Europa Universalis V (7,600). These figures reflect a mix of highly anticipated sequels and new intellectual properties, with audience interest often correlating with previous engagement in franchise titles or specific genres, such as the souls-like community’s interest in Valor Mortis.

Beyond upcoming releases, the analysis reviews recent sales data for established Steam titles. The co-op climbing game PEAK reached 10 million copies sold, while Battlefield 2042 saw a massive spike in sales—nearly 500,000 copies—driven by a 95% price reduction. Other strong performers included Mage Arena, R.E.P.O, and Subnautica, all of which benefited from sustained interest or strategic pricing adjustments. The findings underscore the effectiveness of both high-profile industry events in driving wishlists and aggressive discounting in boosting short-term revenue for legacy titles. The analysis relies on proprietary Steam engagement and sales estimates to provide a snapshot of current market trends.