ARC Raiders was easily one of the biggest releases in 2025. Despite only releasing at the end of October, it was one of the year's best-selling games on Steam, and it helped the digital storefront have its "highest-grossing" December yet. It was even the most-searched video game on Google for the year, and now, a new report from Circana analyst and executive director Mat Piscatella shows the first indication that one of 2025's biggest games is in the running to be the biggest game in 2026.
If you've been following our gaming coverage in the last year, then you've almost definitely seen Circana and Piscatella mentioned before. Circana is a data analyst firm that tracks retail sales across multiple industries in the US, and Piscatella is one of their top analyst and an executive director, specifically covering the video game industry. Every month, Piscatella reports the US sales numbers for the video game industry, showcasing which titles made the charts that month, and in between those monthly reports, he's also started showcasing weekly player engagement numbers.
Today, ahead of his report for December 2025, which will also include the final sales charts for the best-selling game in the US in 2025, Piscatella reported that on Steam, ARC Raiders has led player engagement in the US for nine consecutive weeks. These aren't concurrent numbers, just the total number of players per week.
Of course, it's worth remembering that it's still only January, and by the end of this week, ARC Raiders' impressive streak could be over, with it getting overtaken by the number two game, Counter-Strike. Even if the streak is broken, though, it's the latest sign that ARC Raiders is on an extreme hot streak at the moment, and there's no real indication it'll slow down anytime soon.
Since it launched, ARC Raiders has remained towards the top of the charts for global Steam concurrent player numbers. It hasn't even dipped below 250K concurrent players on Steam since it soared past that mark when it arrived. It has sold over 12.4 million copies, and across all platforms, it reportedly hit close to 1 million concurrent players this month.
Despite its developer, Embark Studios, being consistently embroiled in controversy over its use of GenAI, the game has seemingly only picked up momentum. If it can continue this run, especially as new content is on its way from Embark, then there's little question as to what the biggest game of 2026 will be.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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