As we bid farewell to 2021 and welcome 2022, Valve following its yearly tradition to commemorate the end of the year and promote the winter sale has revealed Steam’s top-selling games of 2021.
To make it easy for its users to understand, Valve has divided the top-selling games into four categories: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Each game is graded on basis of the total revenue earned in 2021.
The total revenue earned includes game sales, in-game transactions, and DLC sales for every app on Steam from January 1st, 2021 through December 15th, 2021.
In terms of titles new to the list, Six games made their debuts in the Platinum category with more than a third of the entire list being comprised of these first-time Top Seller. While a handful of older titles also cracked into the top 100 thanks to the continued developer and community support.
Starting off with the platinum category includes New World, Valheim, NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, and Battlefield™ 2042 which all released in 2021, and older titles Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Seige, Dead By Daylight, Destiny 2, PUBG, GTA V, Dota 2, and CSGO.
Meanwhile, the Gold category has an almost 50-50 split between new releases and older titles. New games that were released in 2021 and made it to the Gold category include It Takes Two, Forza Horizon 5, Forza Horizon 4 (steam release), Back 4 Blood, and Fifa 22. Older titles include Sea of Thieves, Warframe, Rust, Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV, War Thunder, and Red Dead Redemption 2.
The Sliver Category is mostly dominated by older tiles with only 5 new releases making it to Silver. New releases include Resident Evil Village, Halo Infinite, Age of Empire IV, Mass Effect Legendary Editon, and Outriders. While the older titles include Civilization VI, Euro Truck Simulator 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Path of Exile, Monster Hunter World, Ark Survivor Evolved, Sims 4, Team Fortress 2, Stellaris, and Phasmophobia.
While the Bronze list consists of many games with quite a few new releases making it to the list. See the full list here. And as always almost every game on the top 100 list is available at a discounted price during the Winter Sale 2021 which will be ending next week on 5th January 2022.
This year was likely the most tumultuous one for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. 2021 CSGO rewind shows that Valve’s shooter has survived the toughest year in its esports history.
There are no qualms that CSGO rules the FPS throne with its impeccable mechanics and cut-throat esports. Recent years, however, have been harsh. 2020 was nothing to write home about, and fans’ didn’t have high expectations from 2021. Various roster swaps, drama, controversy, and a major event later, CSGO still stands strong as the new year approaches.
Here are all the major events that went down in 2021.
January was all about spicy CSGO drama that ended on a cliffhanger in 2020. However, nothing was worth speaking of after HLTV announced that Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut has again refused s1mple the number one spot by the narrowest margins.
Team Vitality’s sniper emerged as the better player for the second consecutive year. S1mple lost the race to the top after one of the closest runs in the history of the top 20 rankings, triggering a whole new debate between the French and Ukrainian fans.
Envy, North, players leave CSGO
Once the excitement died down, players were greeted with the news of ENVY and North leaving CSGO.
The major qualifying roster of ENCE had already broken up while the news of an international rebuild lingered. With Valorant looming over CSGO as a tough competitor, the departures weren’t a good look either.
Today we bid farewell to Envy CS:GO.
Thank you to all of our players & staff for your time and dedication while on Envy. We wish you all the best in the future.
As February approached, things only took a turn for the worse. Multiple CSGO professionals bid farewell to the scene to start anew in Riot’s tac-shooter. Timothy “autimatic” Ta, Ethan “Ethan” Arnold, Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt, Ricky “floppy” Kemery, Erick “Xeppaa” Bach are a few to name who left CSGO in the first half of 2020.
Health concerns worldwide had already shelved CSGO’s pro tournaments, and players migrating to Valorant didn’t help CSGO’s case.
Hope in PGL major announcement
An otherwise disappointing start to 2021 came with a silver lining for the CSGO fans from PGL. The Swedish tournament organizer announced CSGO’s first major in two years in Avicii Arena. This news breathed a new life into glum fans who haven’t attended a LAN event since the COVID-19.
However, the major hit the wall after the Swedish Sports Federation voted against accepting esports as an “elite sporting event.” Fans were still optimistic that the Major would return to the Swedish capital.
With the efforts of Ninjas in Pyjamas’ CEO Hicham Chahine, who played a crucial role in moving the authorities to reevaluate the restrictions, PGL was confirmed as a LAN event at Avicii arena. This news was enough to reignite the passion in CSGO fans.
Birth of new Brazillian rosters
South American roster OPLANO
Teams in the big leagues faltered when the online era arrived, leading to a year packed with upsets. Many roster shuffles later, the CSGO fans were blessed with multiple new teams that included star players.
MiBR’s internal issues rocked the Brazilian CSGO scene, resulting in a new look GODSENT and Fun Plus Phoenix. The three organizations swapped rosters, pressing the refresh button on the stale Brazilian scene. O’Plano was another team that was a product of the Brazilian clash, later signed by 00Nation.
Anonymo, Extremum, and DBL Poney starring the likes of Aaron “AZR” Ward, Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt, Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro were also notable new teams that took birth in 2021.
Cloud9 colossus crumbles
The North American counter-strike was bleeding profusely since the online era kicked off, but March was the final nail in its coffin. NA’s last hope Cloud9 “temporarily” pulled out of CSGO, sending fans into a frenzy.
The players were scattered as free agents, with no organization to warrant their healthy future in CSGO. Top tier NA scene officially died with Cloud9 taking its leave. Smaller teams like Bad News Bears took the reigns, but again, no organization was willing to sign up in a “dead CSGO region.”
ESIC involves FBI in match-fixing investigation
As previously covered, 2021 was all about spicy drama, but nothing beats FBI entry into the CSGO realm. The NA counter-strike scene may not have contributed much to esports in 2021, but it sure stirred tons of controversy.
Later today (29th Dec), Sony will announce via its official blog the free games coming to its PS Plus and PS Now services as the gaming company gears up for the New Year Celebration.
While the announcement is supposed to come later today, one of the PS Now January 2022 free games has been confirmed and all of the PlayStation Plus freebies have been revealed via a leak well before the announcement.
As per recent leaks, PlayStation Plus’s official list of free games will include Persona 5 Strikers, Dirt 5, and Deep Rock Galactic for January 2022 offering. While Sony’s subscription service — PlayStation Now will add Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age to its library.
PS Plus Free Games
PS Now is Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s behemoth Xbox Game Pass service. While Sony’s service only includes a handful of games when compared to Xbox Game Pass, Sony has committed that they will be adding more games in 2022 and offer its console exclusive games on PC.
Starting 2022 with Final Fantasy XII, The Zodiac Age, being the last FF title added to the service, following the release of four others earlier in 2021 is good and shows the commitment of Sony towards offering a complete experience for fans. Although Final Fantasy XII is the only confirmed freebie, there will be plenty more that join it which we will find out later today.
It is also confirmed that “The Last of Us Part 2” will be leaving the PS Now service on January 3 alongside Nioh 2. As for the PS Plus subscribers, the upcoming games will be replacing Godfall: Challenger Edition, Lego DC Super-Villains, and Mortal Shell. So you still have a week to enjoy and claim any of the games above before they leave on 4th January.
As the third Episode of Valorant is nearing its conclusion, more and more fans of the tactical shooter are growing eager to know more about the upcoming Valorant Episode, and all the new content that it’ll bring to the title. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about Valorant Episode 4 Act 1, it’s release date, and more.
Valorant Episode 4 Act 1 Release Date
The highly anticipated Valorant Episode 4 Act 1 is set to release on January 12, 2022. While no official date has been given by the developers as of yet, we do know that the Episode 3 Act 3 Battle Pass will end on the same date. Since the downtime between two Acts is generally only a few hours, fans can expect to see the Episode 4 Act 1 update hit the live servers on the above-mentioned day.
Valorant Episode 4 Act 1 is set to introduce a plethora of new content to the title including a new Battle Pass, new cosmetics, and the new agent. Codenamed ‘Sprinter’, the upcoming agent is likely to be a fast-paced agent and will be a ‘rival’ to Jett, the swift Duelist from South Korea. It’s also confirmed that Sprinter will be from the Philippines.
While the detailed descriptions of her abilities haven’t been revealed yet, we do know that her abilities will enable her to sprint and slide in and out of combat. It has also been revealed in her reveal trailer that she’ll have an ability involving electricity.
🔻Agent 19 Teaser🔻
Another teaser for our next Agent came at us during today's #VALORANTChampions broadcast!
Quick notes: – VP-19 hails from Manila, Philippines – She is a Radiant, her powers deal with electricity – She plays a role in the Alpha-Omega Bridge
Riot’s Valorant has been regarded as the best tactical shooter since it was released in 2020. It was the reason why many professional gamers switched to the brand new game.
In 2021, Riot sent an email to all of its Valorant players, informing them about their performance during the game’s entire lifespan. To commemorate the release of Year1, the company also gave away Year1 player cards and a free-for-all event pass.
Unfortunately, a lot of players failed to sign up for the emails sent by Riot. This is because many of them forgot to enter their email address correctly. Below is a list of steps that will let you get the email that will contain your stats.
How to check your Valorant Stats:
Open your email client.
Log in to the id that is associated with your Valorant account.
Search for an email from Riot Games’ official account. The email should read, “[in-game name] – Your VALORANT Year in Review is Ready.”
If you can’t find it, look in your spam folder.
If you haven’t received the email yet, there’s a chance that you’ll receive it within the next few days.
Riot’s Valorant has unquestionably been the best first-person tactical shooter ever since its launch in 2020. The game saw a plethora of professionals from Counter-Strike make their switch to the brand new shooter while the developers left no stone unturned in keeping their game updated over the period.
On the day of Christmas, Riot decided to walk the extra mile for their players once again as the latter are close to getting an email from the game developers featuring their statistics across the matches played. In order to get the same, players are highly recommended to make these settings go into effect by the end of the day, as tweeted by Riot.
Care to see how you stacked up? Today's your last chance to sign up in time to see your stats for the year. Just head to https://t.co/9spuxesKJF >> Communication Preferences >> Then check the "Communications from Riot Games" box. pic.twitter.com/80L6dZUq31
Although a plethora of players missed out on getting one from Riot and the reason behind the same would be, you forgot to sign up for emails from the company. Below we have mentioned the steps to be followed if you wish to get the email from Riot which would have your stats ready and packed. In addition to the above, make sure your associated Email-ID has been verified with Riot Games.
Earlier in 2021, Riot had sent an email to its Valorant players, which briefed them about their performance statistics including the Kills/Death/Assist ratio based on the games they played throughout 2020-21. To commemorate a year of Valorant’s release, Riot had also deployed the Year1 Player cards along with a free-for-all Event pass which would reward you with 20 Radiante points, Gun buddies, and much more.
Here is the list of steps you need to follow if you wish to get the email from Riot. You would need to head over to account.riotgames.com before you further initiate the changes required.
How to sign up for Valorant Year End Stats:
Open your email client.
Log in to the id that is associated with your Valorant account.
Search for an email from Riot Games’ official account. The email should read, “[in-game name] – Your VALORANT Year in Review is Ready.”
If you can’t find it, look in your spam folder.
If you haven’t received the email yet, there’s a chance that you’ll receive it within the next few days.
CSGO added a new Service Medal to the game for the year 2022. Just like every year before this, the New Service Medal will be available in the New Year from January 1st. The medal can be claimed by earning XP through playing the game.
Whenever a player reaches Level 40 – Global General rank, their rank resets and they get the option to either earn or upgrade their service medal. The first time this will happen in 2022, the player will earn the 2022 Service Medal that is grey in colour.
As players earn more XP, by playing different game modes such as Deathmatch, Competitive, Arms Race, Retakes etc their level will increase and each time they hit level 40, they have a chance to upgrade the Service medal. The first upgrade turns the grey into green, level 3 is blue, followed by purple, pink and finally red. The progression can be seen here.
Surprisingly this year, there has been no winter update with Christmas lights, sweaters for chickens or even Snowballs in deathmatch to mess around with and one can only hope Valve are working on a big update with the Dreams and Nightmares case and that is why the Christmas update is missing.
Valorant is one among the famous titles of Riot and since its launch, the first-person tactical shooter has reportedly taken the entire community by storm. Known to be a blend of Counter Strike and Overwatch due to its gunplay, Valorant too does have an aesthetic factor that is indeed well appreciated by its player-base.Along with weapon skins and other stuff like gun-buddies, players are often spotted to have equipped a fancy player card as their in-game display.
There are a plethora of ways by which one can acquire these cards i.e. through the battle pass or weapon-skin bundles. A plethora of in-game items were made available by either entering redeemable codes or by watching Riot events on Twitch, most notably the launch of RiotX Arcane, a Netflix animated production.
As said, the Redeemable codes could get you some amazing in-game items including player cards, gun buddies and a lot more items but you may need to keep tabs on their expiry. During the VCT Stage 2 Masters, Riot had released a line of player cards, which were to be grabbed by entering their unique codes, headlining the Valorant Duality Player card followed by a series of Pride cards in order to celebrate the Pride month.
Below is the list of the codes which were earlier revealed by Riot and which are still active and redeemable.
Martin ‘stavn’ Lund, Heroic’s star rifler could not attend the year’s final tournament, BLAST Premier World Final and was replaced by former teammate Johannes “b0RUP” Borup. The reasons for that were unknown at the time, and rightly so as the org respected and protected stavn’s privacy during this time. Heroic couldn’t get too far without their star player and went out in 7-8th place at World Finals, losing to Gambit first, and then NaVi.
In a tweet today, stavn spoke up about why he missed out on the event. The reason for that was the tragic loss of his brother Thomas ‘Lifedance’ Lund, who committed suicide few days before the event. In the post stavn explained how Lifedance stood in for him in a game against G2 on Cache back in 2016, when stavn was too young to play in the tournament.
Many of you were surprised that I missed BLAST Premier: World Final 2021. I thought for a long time whether to write this post or not. Since I am a public person and I have a good relationship with our fans, I decided to talk about everything.
A couple of days before the tournament, I learned the heartbreaking news – my older brother decided to die. Perhaps some of you know him from the video “famous lifedance yolo”, when he replaced me in the match against G2 on Cache – I was then too young to play in the tournament. For a short period of time he coached me and my brother Jacob in the Fragsters.
For me, he will forever be the best brother you can dream of. He is one of, if not the only reason why I am now at this point in my career. He also shaped me as a person.
I have spent the last couple of weeks with my family experiencing this terrible loss and pain. I want to thank the Heroic organization for their understanding, and my teammates for their love and support. Rest in peace, Thomas.
He got to see you become part of the number one ranked team in the world and make the semi-finals of the world championship. He saw his little brother making something of his career. That's what an older brother dreams of.
Want something new and shiny to show off on your CSGO display page? Don’t worry, Valve has finally introduced the CSGO Service Medal 2022 that’s completely free to obtain and can be easily equipped on your CSGO profile’s display.
The 2022 Service Medal will be available to obtain for free starting January 1, 2022. The new Service Medal is an inspectable display item that will be visible wherever your avatar is shown.
How to Get the 2022 Service Medal in CSGO?
Players can simply get their hands on the 2022 Service Medal by playing the game itself. If you’re having trouble redeeming the Service Medal, follow these steps:
Level up your CSGO account to level 40. You can get XP by playing matches in Casual, Competitive, Deathmatch and other official game modes.
Once you reach level 40 in CSGO, you’ll see an option to reset your account level and redeem the new Service Medal.
Once you successfully redeem it, your CSGO level will be reset to 0 and you’ll get the Service medal in your Inventory.
The service medal can be further upgraded by reaching level 40 multiple times in the same year.
That’s all you need to know about the 2022 Service Medal in CSGO. Now hop into the game and start levelling up your account before the new year.
