Detroit: Become Human is one of the best story-driven adventure titles ever made. It was pieced together by Quantic Dream and released way back in 2018, emerging on Steam as a port in 2020. The game tells the story of a race of androids breaking free from their programming and conditioning to rise against their human creators and oppressors.
In the last two weeks, Detroit: Become Human has established itself as a best-selling game on Steam, becoming the second-most bought title on the platform behind ARC Raiders and shifting almost (an estimated) one million copies.
Why is Detroit: Become Human Surging on Steam?
A recent report from Alinea Analytics revealed that Steam generated substantial revenue in December 2025. The Valve-backed storefront generated a whopping $1.6 billion, a year-over-year increase of more than 22%. The growth was elevated by games like ARC Raiders being released and selling extremely well in a short period.
One unexpected title to storm up the charts was 2018’s Detroit: Become Human, which Alinea estimates sold approximately 993,000 copies from December 21 to January 5. That’s almost one million sales for a game that was released nearly eight years ago.
Per the report from Alinea, the staggering growth was spurred by the game having a deep discount – the steepest discount the title has ever seen on the platform. It crashed down from $40 to just $4, representing a fair amount of bang for the average gamer’s buck.
Detroit: Become Human was only topped by ARC Raiders, which sold around 1.2 million copies on Steam in the same timeframe.
The likes of PEAK, Battlefield 6, and R.E.P.O. also claimed spots in the best-seller charts on Steam.
Detroit: Become Human is a phenomenal and emotional game that is totally open-ended. It mirrors titles like Beyond: Two Souls, Heavy Rain, and Until Dawn, giving players full control over every action their characters make, allowing them to influence the direction of a story that has multiple endings and branching concepts.
The sales figures also pushed Detroit: Become Human to an all-time high peak player count of 25,615 users on January 4.
Did you buy Detroit: Become Human during the recent Steam sale? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server how you’re enjoying it.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that PlayStation has promoted a weird Resident Evil rip-off
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Doesn’t surprise me. It’s an amazing game. Hopefully they keep making fantastic narratives like this.