Steam visibility lists: Popular Upcoming, New & Trending and Top Sellers

Most Steam lists rank by what players do. Top Sellers ranks games by revenue, including DLC and in-game purchases, globally and for a set of popular countries. New & Trending shows recent releases that are doing well. Popular Upcoming is the main exception where wishlists count, and the Personal Calendar recommends upcoming games that similar players wishlisted.

Last reviewed · SteamStats team

The lists and what ranks them

Steam store lists, as described by Valve
ListWhat decides the placeWhere it appears
Top SellersTotal revenue right now, across all editions, DLC and in-game transactionsStore home page, genre and tag pages, and Steam Charts, which has country lists for a set of the most popular countries
Weekly top sellersRevenue over a week from Monday at 10 a.m. Pacific, top 100Steam Charts, with weeks on the chart and change in rank
Monthly top releasesEach game's revenue in its first two weeks, top 50 of the monthSteam Charts, published 14 days after the month ends; gold for the top 12, silver for the next 12
New & TrendingRecent releases that are doing wellStore home page
Popular UpcomingThe most anticipated releases of the coming monthStore home page tab
Personal CalendarUpcoming and recent games that players with similar playtime have wishlistedIts own page and the home page, different for each player
Most PlayedPlayers in the game right now, top 100Steam Charts

A game can be on several of these at once and off all of them in one country while listed in another. The ranks move through the day for the real-time lists, and once a week or once a month for the charts.

What Valve says counts

Are people buying and playing your game?
Steamworks: Visibility on Steam
  • Purchases and play are what Steam looks at. With a few exceptions such as the Popular Upcoming tab, wishlists are not a factor in algorithmic visibility.
  • Traffic to the store page is not a factor, and neither is the share of visitors who buy.
  • As long as reviews are Mixed or better, 40.00% positive or more, the review score is not a factor; below that a game is less likely to be featured.
  • Steam is more likely to show a game to players who speak a language it supports.
  • At launch, a game may appear in New and Trending if it is doing well, and on the Top Sellers lists of the home page and of relevant genre and tag pages once it reaches the sales rank.
  • The Personal Calendar needs a visible Coming Soon page with a specific release date. Valve states that it does not sell placement on the Personal Calendar or anywhere else on Steam.
  • The Traffic Breakdown tab in Steamworks shows where the game appeared, how often it was shown and how many views led to its store page.

Worked example: Pebblewick's launch on the charts

Illustrative inputs for Pebblewick, the fictional demo game by Hollow Fern Games, released on Tuesday 15 September 2026. Valve's chart rules give the dates without any sales figures.

Pebblewick: which revenue counts for which chart
ChartRevenue that countsWhen the result is known
Top SellersRevenue right now, all editions and DLCContinuously, in each country list and globally
Weekly top sellersThe week from Monday 14 September at 10 a.m. Pacific, which Pebblewick joins on TuesdayAfter the week closes on Monday 21 September
Monthly top releases, September 202615 September 2026 to 28 September 2026, the first two weeks14 October 2026, 14 days after the month ends

A Tuesday launch gives Pebblewick a short first week on the weekly chart, while the monthly chart compares every September release over the same length of time, its first two weeks. Because both rank by revenue, a lower price needs more copies for the same place.

The monthly chart's dates line up for every release day. A game released on 30 September 2026, the last day of the month, completes its first two weeks on 13 October 2026, the day before the chart is published on 14 October 2026. A late-month launch is therefore judged on the same two weeks as an early one; on the weekly chart, by contrast, a launch just after Monday 10 a.m. Pacific has the most days in its first week.

Country lists change the picture too. A game that is outside the global Top Sellers can still be listed in some countries, so where it is listed says more about where its players are than one global rank does.

Why two people see different lists

  • Personalisation. The Personal Calendar and the Featured & Recommended section are chosen for each player, so two screenshots of the home page rarely match.
  • Country. Top Sellers has country lists for a set of the most popular countries; a shopper sees their own country's list when one exists.
  • Time. Real-time lists change through the day. A rank read once a day describes one moment; the weekly and monthly charts are fixed once published.
  • Changes to the lists. Popular Upcoming was changed on 4 June 2026 to focus on the most anticipated releases of the coming month, and the Personal Calendar became a full store feature on 23 October 2026, so advice written before mid-2026 describes different lists.

Where to see this in your own data

The Store visibility view checks the lists daily on Indie, Studio, and Publisher, and on Indie, Studio, and Publisher every 6 h in the 14 days either side of launch. For each main list it shows how many countries list the game and its best rank, a map of where it is listed, a rank strip for the last 14 days and the day it left New Releases. Before launch it shows Top Wishlisted and Popular Upcoming.

The Store visibility feature page linked below shows the view with the demo game.

Sources