Steam tag trend
Early Access Steady
Releases, reviews written and modeled launch revenue for Early Access on Steam, month by month (14,548 games with an estimate carry the tag).
Reviews written
+41%
859,527 in Jul–Sep 2026 vs 607,856 in Jul–Sep 2025
Paid releases
+172%
1,403 vs 515, same months (of 1,561 and 593 in all)
Upcoming games
6,795
median 25 followers (6,773 with a count); their total followers +6% in 30 days, over 381 games read at both ends (the largest weigh most)
Top contributor to the growth: WARDOGS, 88,285 reviews in Jul–Sep 2026 against 0 a year earlier — 35% of the tag's increase.
We compare the last 3 complete months with the same 3 months a year earlier, which takes out the season. Reviews are counted on the tag’s paid games only (free-to-play games have no monthly review history with us), so releases are counted the same way: paid releases. A tag needs at least 30 paid releases and 1,000 reviews in both periods, and no more than 50% of its releases in the two years free to play; otherwise it is “too few”. Rising: review volume up 20% or more, by at least as much as paid releases, and no more than 50% of that growth from a single game. Cooling: review volume down 20% or more. Anything else: Steady.
Reviews written are summed over 9,061 paid Early Access games whose review history we re-read on or after Oct 1, 2026, so their last complete month is whole; 2 more, last read before that, are left out of every month alike (we re-read a game about once a week).
Our follower history starts Jul 13, 2026, so the 30-day change has nothing older to compare with. A game carries many tags and counts in each. Correlation only: a trend describes the past, it does not forecast.
Releases
Early Access games that first went on sale each month (tracked Steam games).
Reviews written
Steam reviews posted each month on Early Access's paid games of any age — the demand side. Free-to-play games have no monthly review history with us, so they are not counted.
Median revenue of the month's releases, 3 months in
Modeled: each paid release's estimated revenue at the last month boundary on or before 3 months after it first sold (2–3 months of sales), median per month, over the month's paid releases. Releases with no review yet have no history and are left out, so this is the median of reviewed launches and runs above a typical launch; each month shows its n of the paid releases. Through Jun 2026; younger months are not 3 months old yet.
Modeled estimate, not reported sales
Month by month
| Month | Releases | Paid | Median revenue, 3 mo | Reviews written |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 565 | 511 | not yet | 321,597 |
| Aug 2026 | 555 | 499 | not yet | 247,865 |
| Jul 2026 | 441 | 393 | not yet | 290,065 |
| Jun 2026 | 310 | 269 | ≈$1.9Kn=200 of 269 | 278,480 |
| May 2026 | 279 | 243 | ≈$3.8Kn=184 of 243 | 407,739 |
| Apr 2026 | 285 | 250 | ≈$2.1Kn=197 of 250 | 321,436 |
| Mar 2026 | 284 | 261 | ≈$1.7Kn=212 of 261 | 306,478 |
| Feb 2026 | 202 | 180 | ≈$1.4Kn=142 of 180 | 210,515 |
| Jan 2026 | 188 | 177 | ≈$2.2Kn=150 of 177 | 258,695 |
| Dec 2025 | 216 | 185 | ≈$1.8Kn=139 of 185 | 252,782 |
| Nov 2025 | 247 | 231 | ≈$2.5Kn=191 of 231 | 336,163 |
| Oct 2025 | 227 | 197 | ≈$3.2Kn=158 of 197 | 208,835 |
| Sep 2025 | 186 | 167 | ≈$2.1Kn=124 of 167 | 170,302 |
| Aug 2025 | 198 | 168 | ≈$3Kn=134 of 168 | 202,415 |
| Jul 2025 | 209 | 180 | ≈$3Kn=147 of 180 | 235,139 |
| Jun 2025 | 153 | 127 | ≈$1.3Kn=96 of 127 | 207,656 |
| May 2025 | 178 | 155 | ≈$2.4Kn=121 of 155 | 232,175 |
| Apr 2025 | 159 | 134 | ≈$3Kn=109 of 134 | 351,239 |
| Mar 2025 | 222 | 198 | ≈$1.2Kn=155 of 198 | 338,745 |
| Feb 2025 | 119 | 105 | ≈$2Kn=82 of 105 | 186,355 |
| Jan 2025 | 155 | 130 | ≈$2.7Kn=111 of 130 | 261,598 |
| Dec 2024 | 163 | 132 | ≈$2.4Kn=102 of 132 | 351,112 |
| Nov 2024 | 199 | 176 | ≈$1.6Kn=136 of 176 | 284,101 |
| Oct 2024 | 166 | 145 | ≈$1.9Kn=112 of 145 | 189,289 |