Nearly half of the list launched without English language support, too.
Valve's rundown of the top 20 games released on Steam in January 2020 comes with a fun little side of trivia: The top 20 games released in January 2010. The 2010 list isn't actually a top 20, though, but just a top 11, because there were only 11 new games released on the platform that month—and of that 11, only three would have made it into the top 20 list in 2020.
Which three? Valve didn't say, but we can probably make some reasonable guesses. Here's the list from 2010, in order of release, since Valve doesn't share revenue data:
- Wings of Prey
- Zero Gear
- Gothic II: Gold Edition
- Greed: Black Border
- Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy
- Aliens versus Predator Classic 2000
- Dark Void
- Bob Came in Pieces
- Hotel Giant 2
- Mass Effect 2
- Toki Tori
As for the current list, Valve emphasized the diversity of the development teams represented in the new top 20, noting that more than half were developed in Asia, including eight in Japan. Even more interesting is that nearly half of the games in the list were released without English language support, likely reflecting the fact that Simplified Chinese is now the most popular language on Steam.
"Not too long ago, including English support at launch was a requirement for success on Steam," Valve wrote. "English-speakers are still a huge part of Steam's audience, but the success of January's top releases reinforces the fact that now, more than ever, Steam players come from all over the world and will support a huge variety of language options."
Without further ado, the top 20 new releases on Steam for January 2020, in order of release:
- 部落与弯刀 / Sands of Salzaar - 汉家松鼠 Han-Squirrel Studio (China)
- 港詭實錄 / Paranormal HK - Ghostpie Studio (China)
- SUPER ROBOT WARS X - B.B.STUDIO CO.,LTD. (Japan)
- GemCraft - Frostborn Wrath - Game in a Bottle (Hungary)
- Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk DX - KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. (Japan)
- Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky DX - KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. (Japan)
- Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea DX - KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. (Japan)
- some some convenience store 썸썸 편의점 - TALESSHOP Co., Ltd. (Republic of Korea)
- DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT - CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. (Japan)
- ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS XIV - KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. (Japan)
- DEEEER Simulator: Your Average Everyday Deer Game - NASPAPA GAMES (Japan)
- Temtem - Crema (Spain)
- Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception - AQUAPLUS (Japan)
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Skydance Interactive (US)
- Commandos 2 - HD Remaster - Yippee! Entertainment (UK) Pyro Studios (Spain)
- Warhammer Underworlds: Online - Steel Sky Productions (Australia)
- Coffee Talk - Toge Productions (Indonesia)
- The Pedestrian - Skookum Arts (US)
- Astellia - Studio 8 (Republic of Korea)
- Not For Broadcast - NotGames (UK)
And the top five free games for the month:
- Darwin Project - Scavengers Studio (Canada)
- Coloring Game 2 - L. Stotch (Russia)
- Soviet Jump Game - Fantastic Passion (US)
- Grim Clicker - EvilCharm Games (Russia)
- Soccer Manager 2020 - Soccer Manager Ltd. (UK)