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PUBG is third highest-earning Steam game of all time, according to Gabe Newell

Valve boss points to Bluehole's phenomenon as proof of how Steam benefits the industry

Further context of the incredible success achieved by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has emerged from none other than Valve president Gabe Newell.

According to Newell, PUBG is both the third best-selling game of all time on Steam, and also comes third in the highest-earning ranks - an impressive achievement given that the game is only just approaching its one-year anniversary.

During a roundtable interview in the firm's Bellevue studio, the industry figurehead discussed how Valve's ongoing research into hardware and other technology has been an "investment in the future".

He went on to observe that Bluehole's hugely popular multiplayer title is proof that Valve's investment "does help do good things for the gaming industry", PC Gamer reports.

"So you can have a relatively new game like PUBG, and because they can capitalise on all the other multiplayer games, the technology, [and] the fact that China is now a huge market for anybody who does PC game development," he said.

"So PUBG can come out of pretty much nowhere and become the third largest selling game in Steam's history. Their gross revenue over all time is already number three in fairly short order."

Newell didn't specify which two titles have outperformed PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, but it's a safe bet Valve's own Dota 2, Team Fortress 2 and CS:GO are in the running. He also avoided disclosing specific figures when it came to number of sales or lifetime revenue.

Elsewhere in the discussion, the Valve president says this focus on investing in technology and research - thus enabling success for other games firms - has distracted the firm from shipping its own games. This is something Newell has pledged to rectify.