At around the midpoint of every month, Valve puts out a list of the top new releases on Steam from the past month based on their first two weeks of sales. (That's why we have to wait until mid-month for the list.) Sales figures aren't provided so there's no way to say for certain which game is number one, but every month there are at least a couple of obvious entries, and a couple that come as surprises.
February is no exception. Metro Exodus, which came to Steam on February 15—a year after its original release on the Epic Games Store—made the list, which is absolutely zero surprise, as did Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem, Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, and Dota Underlords, which are all games people had been waiting for eagerly.
On the other side of the coin, the list also features Tank Mechanic Simulator, Death and Taxes, and OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos. No judgment, but I think it's fair to say that they, and others, are perhaps less obvious candidates for inclusion. And once again, new studios account for a significant portion of the list: 11 of the top 20 new games come from developers releasing their first games on Steam.
Games entering or leaving Steam Early Access also featured prominently in February. "When we launched Early Access back in 2013, we hoped that the program would provide developers with an optional path to work on their game alongside data and feedback from players," said Valve. "It’s great to see so many studios finding success through Early Access."
The full list, sorted by release date:
- ScourgeBringer - Flying Oak Games & E-Studio (France & Finland)
- Stoneshard - Ink Stains Games (Russia)
- Azur Lane Crosswave - Idea Factory, Compile Heart & Felistella (Japan)
- Being a DIK - Season 1 - Dr PinkCake (Sweden)
- Daemon X Machina - Marvelous Inc. (Japan)
- Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem - Wolcen Studio (France)
- Metro Exodus - 4A Games (Malta)
- Senren＊Banka - Yuzusoft (Japan)
- Besiege - Spiderling Studios (UK)
- Blackwake - Mastfire Studios Pty Ltd (Australia & US)
- Skul: The Hero Slayer - SouthPAW Games (Republic of Korea)
- Taur - Echo Entertainment (Sweden)
- Death and Taxes - Placeholder Gameworks (Estonia)
- Tank Mechanic Simulator - DeGenerals (Poland)
- Wprld of Horror - panstasz (Poland)
- Dungeon Defenders: Awakened - Chromatic Games (US)
- Max Gentlemen Sexy Business! - The Men Who Wear Many Hats (US)
- Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection - Capcom Co, Ltd. (Japan)
- One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows - Spike Chunsoft Co. Ltd. (Japan)
- OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos - SukeraSomero (Japan)
And the top five free games, based on unique player count:
- Dota Underlords - Valve (US)
- Risk: Global Domination - SMG Studio (Australia & US)
- I Wanna Maker - The Elephant Crew (US)
- Moe Era - Comfy Company (Russia)
- 绝望监牢 / 絶望プリズン - Studio Wasabi (Japan)
A sale page featuring all the games in the February list should is available here.
