Steam Deck · News
Top 25 Steam Deck Most Played Games in July 2026
Summary
Palworld jumped 41 places to No. 1 after its July 10 Version 1.0 launch. Slay the Spire 2 fell to second, but the top 25 kept its familiar mix of roguelikes, readable RPGs, and catalog games. SteamCharts data is overall-Steam context, not Deck player counts.
Palworld jumped 41 places to first in July, Slay the Spire 2 slipped to second, and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth held third. The chart kept its usual handheld favorites underneath one large relaunch: Palworld left Early Access with Version 1.0 on July 10, giving existing owners and holdouts a new reason to return.
This July 30 snapshot uses Steam's rolling last-30-days Deck chart, not a formal July 1-31 report. Its first nine days overlapped the Steam Summer Sale, so older catalog movement may mix discounts and renewed visibility with Deck suitability. Valve does not publish Deck-only player counts. The SteamCharts figures later are overall-Steam context, not Deck counts or ranking inputs.
Palworld broke the top of the chart
Palworld's move pushed Slay the Spire 2 to second and Stardew Valley to fourth. The jump coincided with its 1.0 release, although the chart cannot separate returning owners from new buyers.
Palworld is more demanding than many of the Deck's usual chart leaders. I would read its first-place finish as strong interest around the relaunch, not a performance endorsement.
What stayed underneath
The rest of July's top 10 stayed familiar: Slay the Spire 2, The Binding of Isaac, Stardew Valley, Baldur's Gate 3, DAVE THE DIVER, Cyberpunk 2077, Balatro, Brotato, and Red Dead Redemption 2.
The Binding of Isaac held third during Palworld's Version 1.0 launch. A decade after release, its quick loading, clean pause behavior, and short sessions still fit Deck.
The same pattern shows up lower in the top 25. Hades II rose five places to 11th. Hades rose eight places to 12th. Megabonk moved up one place to 16th. Vampire Survivors stayed in the top 20. The original Slay the Spire remained at 21st. Count those with Slay the Spire 2, The Binding of Isaac, Balatro, and Brotato, and nine of the top 25 are roguelikes, roguelites, or adjacent short-run games.
Monthly rank watch
What moved in July
A source-backed read on the July top 25: Palworld's relaunch, sale-tail catalog movement, durable Deck regulars, one new entry, and several June spikes cooling off.
- Biggest climb
- Palworld, up 41 placesPrior period to July
- Largest drop
- Forza Horizon 6, down 12 placesPrior period to July
- New entries
- 1 joined the July listCompared with Prior period
- Held No. 1
- No held top rankNo held top rank
Steam Deck rank from Valve's rolling last-30-days list. Previous position uses Valve's prior-period indicator.
Scroll horizontally for prior period and status.
| July rank and game | Move | Prior period | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| July rank 1: Palworld | Moved up 41 places | Prior period rank 42 | Up |
| July rank 2: Slay the Spire 2 | Moved down 1 place | Prior period rank 1 | Down |
| July rank 3: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | Held rank | Prior period rank 3 | Held |
| July rank 4: Stardew Valley | Moved down 2 places | Prior period rank 2 | Down |
| July rank 5: Baldur's Gate 3 | Moved up 2 places | Prior period rank 7 | Up |
| July rank 6: DAVE THE DIVER | Moved down 2 places | Prior period rank 4 | Down |
| July rank 7: Cyberpunk 2077 | Moved up 2 places | Prior period rank 9 | Up |
| July rank 8: Balatro | Moved up 2 places | Prior period rank 10 | Up |
| July rank 9: Brotato | Moved up 2 places | Prior period rank 11 | Up |
| July rank 10: Red Dead Redemption 2 | Moved up 8 places | Prior period rank 18 | Up |
| July rank 11: Hades II | Moved up 5 places | Prior period rank 16 | Up |
| July rank 12: Hades | Moved up 8 places | Prior period rank 20 | Up |
| July rank 13: ELDEN RING | Moved up 1 place | Prior period rank 14 | Up |
| July rank 14: DELTARUNE | Moved down 6 places | Prior period rank 8 | Down |
| July rank 15: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Moved down 2 places | Prior period rank 13 | Down |
| July rank 16: Megabonk | Moved up 1 place | Prior period rank 17 | Up |
| July rank 17: Forza Horizon 6 | Moved down 12 places | Prior period rank 5 | Down |
| July rank 18: Vampire Survivors | Moved down 3 places | Prior period rank 15 | Down |
| July rank 19: Diablo IV | Moved up 4 places | Prior period rank 23 | Up |
| July rank 20: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition | Moved up 4 places | Prior period rank 24 | Up |
| July rank 21: Slay the Spire | Moved down 2 places | Prior period rank 19 | Down |
| July rank 22: MECCHA CHAMELEON | Held rank | Prior period rank 22 | Held |
| July rank 23: Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! | Moved down 11 places | Prior period rank 12 | Down |
| July rank 24: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | New entry in July | Not ranked in Prior period | New |
| July rank 25: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition | Moved up 16 places | Prior period rank 41 | Up |
- Held position
- Moved up
- Moved down
- New in July
Older games climbing around the sale
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the clearest top-10 example, up eight places to 10th. Cyberpunk 2077 climbed two places to seventh. The Witcher 3 stayed in the top 15 after slipping two spots. Skyrim Special Edition moved up four places to 20th. Grand Theft Auto IV jumped 16 places into 25th.
Grand Theft Auto IV stands out here: an older PC release returned to the top 25 during a window that included the sale. That could reflect people picking it up or returning to their backlog, but the chart does not distinguish those groups.
These moves do not show that the games became better suited to Deck. Sale visibility may have prompted reinstalls, while Deck convenience made them easier to resume.
New arrivals and near-misses
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced entered 24th after its July 9 release. The large open-world remake reached the Deck top 25 despite modern rendering demands, but it did not approach Palworld's No. 1 relaunch.
Moonlight Peaks reached 26th after its July 7 launch. Its cozy pacing, controller support, and life-sim structure suit short sessions, but it still finished behind the larger Black Flag launch.
MECCHA CHAMELEON held 22nd after its June launch. Unlike most single-player games around it, it is a modest-hardware multiplayer hide-and-seek game, showing that the Deck chart also carries social PC titles.
What July gave back
Forza Horizon 6 fell 12 places to 17th, DELTARUNE dropped six to 14th, and Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! fell 11 to 23rd. Their June launch and update bumps cooled, but all three remained in the top 25.
Outside the top 25, Mina the Hollower fell 46 places to 52nd, Path of Exile 2 fell 50 places to 71st, and Subnautica 2 dropped 65 places to 95th. Those June spikes did not persist through July.
DELTARUNE remained higher than those three at 14th, following its June chapter release. Two top-25 appearances show continued chart presence, not player retention or a measured advantage on Deck.
Overall Steam player context
What the player numbers actually show
The ranks are from Steam's Deck chart. The player counts are SteamCharts overall-Steam context only, useful for scale and direction but not a measure of Steam Deck play.
- Highest July avg
- Palworld, 404K averageOverall Steam average, not Deck-only
- Highest July peak
- Palworld, 957K peakOverall Steam peak, not Deck-only
- Biggest avg gain
- Palworld, +1406%previous 30 days to July
- Best review share
- Stardew Valley, 98% positiveLifetime Steam review share
Player counts are overall Steam activity, not Steam Deck activity. Counts are rounded to the nearest thousand; exact values remain available in each count cell.
Scroll horizontally for change and reviews.
| July Steam Deck rank and game | July average overall Steam players | previous 30 days to July overall Steam player-count change | Lifetime Steam reviews positive |
|---|---|---|---|
| July Steam Deck rank 1: Palworld | 404,338 average overall Steam players | +1405.6% overall Steam player-count change | 94% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 2: Slay the Spire 2 | 67,785 average overall Steam players | -17.3% overall Steam player-count change | 61% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 3: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | 94,312 average overall Steam players | +236.1% overall Steam player-count change | 97% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 4: Stardew Valley | 67,319 average overall Steam players | +14.9% overall Steam player-count change | 98% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 5: Baldur's Gate 3 | 44,874 average overall Steam players | +13.6% overall Steam player-count change | 97% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 6: DAVE THE DIVER | 14,901 average overall Steam players | -8.3% overall Steam player-count change | 97% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 7: Cyberpunk 2077 | 54,101 average overall Steam players | +57.3% overall Steam player-count change | 87% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 8: Balatro | 7,501 average overall Steam players | +7.2% overall Steam player-count change | 98% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 9: Brotato | 8,100 average overall Steam players | +1.1% overall Steam player-count change | 96% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 10: Red Dead Redemption 2 | 32,859 average overall Steam players | +32.2% overall Steam player-count change | 92% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 11: Hades II | 5,315 average overall Steam players | +26.4% overall Steam player-count change | 96% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 12: Hades | 4,724 average overall Steam players | +48.1% overall Steam player-count change | 98% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 13: ELDEN RING | 29,187 average overall Steam players | -7.5% overall Steam player-count change | 93% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 14: DELTARUNE | 12,800 average overall Steam players | -24.2% overall Steam player-count change | 98% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 15: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 17,269 average overall Steam players | +6.4% overall Steam player-count change | 97% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 16: Megabonk | 3,485 average overall Steam players | -2.2% overall Steam player-count change | 94% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 17: Forza Horizon 6 | 29,096 average overall Steam players | -62.8% overall Steam player-count change | 83% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 18: Vampire Survivors | 3,315 average overall Steam players | -15.8% overall Steam player-count change | 98% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 19: Diablo IV | 18,077 average overall Steam players | +83.1% overall Steam player-count change | 65% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 20: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition | 25,541 average overall Steam players | +2.2% overall Steam player-count change | 92% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 21: Slay the Spire | 7,623 average overall Steam players | -13.6% overall Steam player-count change | 97% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 22: MECCHA CHAMELEON | Average player count not available | Change not available | 87% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 23: Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! | 5,649 average overall Steam players | -35.2% overall Steam player-count change | 95% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 24: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced | Average player count not available | Change not available | 79% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
| July Steam Deck rank 25: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition | 4,650 average overall Steam players | +55.9% overall Steam player-count change | 83% lifetime Steam reviews positive |
- Positive change
- Negative change
- Missing previous 30 days comparison
- Held No. 1 or top review share
The SteamCharts columns are overall-Steam figures, not Steam Deck figures. They are included for scale and direction only. The review column is the lifetime positive-review share calculated from Steam's public all-language user review summaries, rounded to the nearest whole percent and accessed July 30, 2026. Where SteamCharts did not return comparable rows, the player-count fields stay marked as n/a.