Steam has already released more games in 2026 than in all of 2025

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Steam has already passed last year's total number of new game releases, with more than two months of 2026 still to go. Kotaku's John Walker reports that Steam had 21,388 new releases as of 16 October, more than the 21,248 that SteamDB counted for the whole of 2025. Researcher Brendan Keogh first spotted the milestone

The trend has been rising for years. 2025 had about 3,000 more releases than 2024, which itself had more than 4,000 more than 2023. One analysis tool projects at least 24,000 releases for 2026, and Kotaku cites an average of 66 releases a day this year, up from 55 last year

The end of the year is usually the busiest period for releases, so the final 2026 figure could be much higher. Kotaku's writer predicts more than 30,000 releases in 2027 if the trend continues. Those projections are estimates, so they should be treated with some caution

Kotaku blames AI powered vibe coding tools for much of the increase, arguing that they make it quick and easy to clone games and churn out low effort releases. The writer says Steam's $100 submission fee is not deterring them, and that Steam's new release lists cannot filter out games with AI declarations. The piece is partly opinion, so it is fair to note that more releases also means more opportunity for real indie developers

Discovery is the real challenge. With so many games arriving every day, good small games can easily get lost. Valve's recommendation tools and curators matter more than ever, and better filtering options would help players find what they want

How do you find new games on Steam these days? And should Valve raise the submission fee or add better filters?

2026 Has Already Seen More Games Added To Steam Than All Of 2025, And It's About To Get So Much Worsekotaku.com