Half-Life, the first-person shooter that put Valve on the map, has sold, on average, almost a million copies each year since its release in 1998. It's still the company's best seller—and that's just at retail.
But the figures for Valve's other games — which similarly don't include games sold via Steam — Counter-Strike, The Orange Box, Half-Life 2 and more, are just as impressive. According to a report from Gamasutra, the original Half-Life has amassed 9.3 million sales over the past decade. The sequel, released just four years ago alongside its digital distribution platform, added another 6.5 million to Valve's retail sales.
The impressive sales for the original Half-Life are at least due in some part to the enduring popularity of free mod Counter-Strike. Even with that option, however, over 4 million gamers snapped up copies of the standalone, less expensive Counter-Strike package.
Valve didn't disclose its Steam numbers, probably saving those for PowerPoint presentations for publishers interested in signing on to its digital download service. But if the drop between Half-Life and Half-Life 2 sales is an indication of the number of folks who went for the Steam version, we'd say the business is probably a success.
Last year's collection The Orange Box topped 3 million, with Gamasutra estimating that the recently released Left 4 Dead will beat that by a good 600,000. Impressive.
For more number fun, hit up the original report.
Analysis: Valve's Lifetime Retail Sales For Half-Life, Counter-Strike Franchises [Gamasutra]