I still keep a messy notebook of Steam chart weeks, and the week ending April 11, 2021, is one I refuse to erase. From my desk in 2026, it reads like a time capsule: a looter-shooter on fire, a co-op fairy tale holding steady, and a publisher sale bending the revenue chart like a strong wind. I remember opening the numbers and thinking that PC players were not just buying games; they were placing bets on which live game would keep them.
At No. 1 sat Outriders, Square Enix's looter-shooter. I had friends in my Discord who jumped in during launch week, and I watched the same pattern play out: excitement, server queues, jokes about coffee, then a slow argument about endgame balance. The game had a rocky launch due to server issues, yet it still pulled almost 100,000 concurrent Steam players day-to-day more than a week after launch. That is the kind of number that makes a chart watcher sit up. But I also noted the cracks. Twitch viewership had fallen. Steam reviews were mixed because of ongoing issues. Concurrent players were not climbing. My notebook margin says: top spot now, but the floor could get slippery fast.
No. 2 was It Takes Two, and this one felt different. It was in its third week on the list, and unlike Outriders it carried an overwhelmingly positive review average. I played it with a co-op partner who normally hates puzzle games, and we spent one evening arguing about a vacuum cleaner and another laughing at a talking book. The chart backed up that word-of-mouth. In its first week, concurrent players climbed from just a few thousand to nearly 20,000, and after that it balanced around 20,000 almost every day. It was not a rocket. It was a campfire, and people kept pulling up chairs.
Then came the Xbox Game Studios surge. I remember scrolling down and seeing three titles from the same publisher stack up like Tetris blocks: Forza Horizon 4 at No. 3, Sea of Thieves at No. 4, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection at No. 6. A massive publisher sale was doing the work. Forza Horizon 4 climbed highest in revenue because it was the most recent release with a higher initial price. I had already sunk hours into Sea of Thieves with a crew that treated every storm as a personal insult, and seeing it chart again felt like running into an old friend at a festival.
| Rank | Game | What I remember |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outriders | Huge concurrent count, mixed reviews, server scars |
| 2 | It Takes Two | Third week, positive reviews, steady co-op crowd |
| 3 | Forza Horizon 4 | Xbox sale, high revenue, recent release |
| 4 | Sea of Thieves | Sale surge, pirate chaos, old crew memories |
| 5 | Horizon Zero Dawn | Continued 40 percent-off discount |
| 6 | Halo: The Master Chief Collection | Another Xbox sale win |
| 7 | Valheim | Fell from fourth to seventh, still a giant |
| 8 | Valve Index VR Kit | Hardware held its ground |
| 9 | Euro Truck Simulator 2: Iberia | New DLC for an eight-year-old powerhouse |
| 10 | The Binding of Isaac: Repentance | Cult favorite closed the list |
Horizon Zero Dawn took fifth thanks in part to its continued 40 percent-off discount. Valheim, 2021's biggest hit, dropped from fourth to seventh, which felt like watching a marathon runner finally take a water break. The Valve Index VR Kit landed at eighth, and The Binding of Isaac: Repentance at tenth. In ninth was Euro Truck Simulator 2's Iberia DLC, a reminder that a unique game can remain a powerhouse more than eight years after release. I still find that beautiful. No dragons. No battle passes. Just roads, cargo, and a community that refuses to hurry.
Looking back from 2026, I see why that week stuck with me. It was not just a list of games. It was a lesson in momentum. Outriders had the loudest engine, It Takes Two had the warmest reviews, and the Xbox sale had the sharpest discount knife. Next week's list was going to be interesting not because a major PC release was coming, but because we would learn whether Outriders and It Takes Two could maintain their sales consistency. Otherwise, Steam discounts would define the top games. I closed my notebook that week with one thought: in PC gaming, a chart is never just a chart. It is a campfire, a warning sign, and a receipt all at once.
For the record, Outriders was available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S; It Takes Two was available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. 🎮