Skip to main content

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

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.

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

Read more
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.

Read more
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."

Read more