Plus example: Outpost: Infinity Siege blends genres like a champ
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[The GameDiscoverCo game discovery newsletter is written by ‘how people find your game’ expert Simon Carless. This newsletter - co-written by our data/ops co-ordinator Alejandro - is normally exclusive to GameDiscoverCo Plus subscribers, but we’re making this one free as an example.]
It’s almost the weekend, folks. And in Europe, many of you are probably chillin’ for an extended Easter weekend. But out here in the U.S., we are keepin’ on keepin’ on, in many cases. (Some of us have a ‘holiday week’ coming up soon…)
So we’re happy to go through the latest releases and top trends on recent games for all you fine GameDiscoverCo Plus subscribers. Please read it while eating your giant Cadbury’s Easter Eggs, and don’t get too much chocolate on the phone or keyboard…
[Plus benefits? This weekly newsletter. But also: here’s the GameDiscoverCo Plus back end (use your Plus email address to log on), including lots of Steam interactive features, EGS/console data & seven (!) eBooks. And here’s the GameDiscoverCo Plus-exclusive Discord.]
This week: Outpost: Infinity Siege hybridizes its way to win
We’ll get to the other games in a sec, but the breakout new title on Steam this week - and the one that was #1 on our Steam Hype chart from last week, btw, is Outpost: Infinity Siege ($25-40) from Team Ranger and Lightning Games.
74% of this game’s reviews are in Simplified Chinese, which makes sense since it’s a Chinese publisher/dev. But it also has a lot of Western interest, and it looks to be growing going into the weekend, with >13,000 CCU - concurrent users - and scaling.
How to explain this game? In Splattercat’s video (above) he notes: “Very difficult game to describe to people… it’s a game that wears a lot of hats. It was marketed as a tower defense game, and it is, but it’s also a roguelite, it’s also an extraction shooter, it’s also a… quasi-open world game where you harvest and find things to upgrade your base.”
What’s clear is that it has a lot of depth and things to do, and has very playable co-op modes. But it lacks co-op progression sharing, which is leading to negative reviews - and it seems on the grind-y side, yet also on the ‘fun if you like grinding’ grind-y side?
Outpost: Infinity Siege also pretty decent visually, and the team is rushing to polish out some of the jank and bugs that still seem to populate it right now - as ambitious as it is. But we recommend you all looking at the game for hybrid genre inspiration?
Anyhow, looking at the other top new releases of the week on Steam by peak CCU (interactive chart), looks like we have the following:
Singularity 6’s Palia ($0+IAP, also on Nintendo Switch and Epic Games Store) also had a pretty good F2P debut with 11,500 CCU, but 1,900 Mixed reviews. The gameplay loop is what users wanted - a cozy but fun farming experience with exploration and crafting. Some users do feel like the microtransactions are too aggressive, tho. (Unclear how ‘vocal Steam MTX complaints in reviews’ affects the organic download arc for more casual games, frankly. We’ll see how it scales from here.)
Next up, 4x Civ-like Millennia ($40-60) from C Prompt Games & Paradox Interactive had a good, if not giant debut, with 8,400 CCU (decent!), and 800 Mixed reviews. The gameplay loop & systems are well-crafted, but the UI/art is a bit underwhelming, and work is needed on polish/balance. The pricing seems to be irking some players - but it’s clearly a big, complex game that should have legs.
Question and THQ Nordic’s South Park: Snow Day! ($40-60, also on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch) had a surprisingly big debut with 6,700 CCU, and 1,200 Mixed reviews. The genre shift of this new game - to ARPG - basically worked, though quite a lot of fans of the previous South Park RPGs bought it and were a bit underwhelmed by length of game and scope. For IP fans, it works, tho!
This week’s ‘positive fan response’ winner is Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist ($20) from Adglobe, Live Wire & Binary Haze Interactive, the Metroidvania follow-up to the super-popular Ender Lilies (~700k units sold on Steam.) Ender Magnolia has >2,700 CCU, and 1,600 Overwhelmingly Positive reviews, even in Early Access, and it’s clearly a top-quality continuation of the franchise. (Like Outpost, it’s a Chinese dev & majority Simplified Chinese reviews, but global appeal.)
Lastly, Alawar’s ‘Vampire Survivors but tower defense’ sequel Necrosmith 2 ($8) had a good debut, with 2,200 CCU and 170 Mostly Positive reviews. It’s the same general concept as the original, which was very well constructed (and sold well!), with more active player control and a number of QoL and other improvements. It’s another game in the ‘cheap, good, and cheerful’ bucket, right?
Also worth mentioning:
Two games released yesterday have yeeted themselves into the charts: Omega Crafter ($25, 1,400 CCU), which is a survival crafting game with a cute programmable robot sidekick, and Knowledge (or Know Lady) ($6, 7,000 CCU), which is another
attempt to get Steam in trouble with the Chinese governmentLove Is All Around-style Chinese FMV dating game. What a world!Finally, Tomas Sala and Wired Productions’ solo-indie ‘open-world builder’ Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles ($20) had a good debut, with >800 CCU and >200 Very Positive reviews: “Really, really enjoying just building for the fun of it, without the grind. The feeling reminds me of the early stages of Civilization - you know, the fun bit.”
Of the games we mentioned as Hyped last week that didn’t quite make it higher up the chart, Sentry (240 CCU, 165 Very Positive reviews) is a very well-done game that isn’t scaling quite to Hype estimates, and Gaijin’s Enlisted: Reinforced has already pulled their Early Access off Steam due to confusion over it being a paid beta for a F2P game, problems linking to War Thunder accounts, and other painfulness.
On a larger scale, there’s also a lot of interesting things happening in the Steam worldwide top-grossing charts. Among them, Helldivers 2 and Dragon’s Dogma II are still riding super-high, Supermarket Simulator is now outgrossing Balatro - but both doing super well - and Stardew Valley’s 1.6 patch has taken it way up the charts.
Next week: Sons Of Valhalla, Monsters Domain lead Hype…
Turning our attention to next week’s most Hyped games on Steam - and that link goes to an interactive Plus-exclusive chart, don’t forget - we’d like to focus on these:
Firstly, Sons of Valhalla (Price TBD) from Pixel Chest & Hooded Horse lands on the platform with 24,600 followers. This is a pixelated side scroller action roguelike with base-building elements. And yes, on the surface, it looks quite similar to the hit Kingdom franchise. But the game has a bigger emphasis on strategy around both combat and base fortification. We think this one should do decently, due to the (relative) lack of subgenre competition? Also Vikings…
G-DEVS and CreativeForge’s Monsters Domain (Price TBD) will arrive on Steam with 20,200 followers. This is a first-person swordplay action adventure with a medieval fantasy setting, and you should expect all the signature PlayWay-adjacent signs: good underlying idea, presents well via ‘target gameplay’ trailer, possibly very janky under the surface - at least if you believe Prologue reviews.
Next, Pixel Gun 3D: PC Edition (Free to play, also on iOS and Android) from Cubic Games Studio is a first person multiplayer shooter with a very familiar visual style for younger audiences (a mix between Roblox and Minecraft) and PvP-centric gameplay. This game has been giant on mobile - 100 million downloads on Google Play alone, and the PC version will come with 18,000 Steam followers and cross-platform data import. Seems like a sensible additive move for the creators?
Mike Klubnika & Critical Reflex’s Buckshot Roulette ($5) arrives with over 6,000 followers. This is a short horror game based around a macabre 1 vs. 1 ‘Russian roulette’ tournament, and it’s been doing incredibly well with influencers. Why? It’s a genuinely clever concept with an interesting ruleset, and is huge/cheap on Itch.io already. More cheap/hook-y games, huh?
Otherwise, just picking from those with >4k followers, Astra: Knights Of Veda (8,300 followers) is a F2P gacha 2D sidescrolling RPG aimed mainly at the Asian market, Pathless Woods (4,400 followers) is a cozy open-world survival title, and Anonymous Hacker Simulator (4,200 followers) is a first-person exploration/hacking game. Phew.
Console charts: Dragon’s Dogma 2 kicks rivals off a cliff…
Let’s finish out here by taking a look at the top non-Steam charts for ‘recent’ games (in most cases!), looking at various public rankings charts on websites, actual game platforms, etcetera. It’s a good ‘at a glance’ hint into what seems to be doing well:
Observing our U.S. PlayStation ‘recent’ top selling charts, we can see that Dragon’s Dogma 2 climbed up to the top of the chart (at #2 in all games!) with baseball game MLB The Show 24, open-world ninja adventure Rise of the Ronin and Helldivers 2 all also in the Top 10. Next, South Park: Snow Day! got a decent debut at #20, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hangs in there at #21, and Planet Zoo: Console Edition is just inside the Top 30. The Outlast Trials and Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection are still in the Top 40, while horror adventure Alone in the Dark is lurking at #49.
Checking out the Xbox ‘recent’ game charts (U.S. paid downloads only by unit #, ignoring Game Pass), Dragon’s Dogma 2 SKUs also go hard, hanging out in the Top 5. Following that, MLB The Show 24 SKUs are in the Top 10, while Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection and The Outlast Trials sit at #11 and #14 respectively. Elsewhere, WWE 2K24 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy are within the Top 40, while long-standing MMO Final Fantasy XIV - finally on Xbox - starts off at #40.
Next, our Switch eShop charts (only recent, paid, third-party, U.S. by download #), shows Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection still topping the chart, and inside the Top 10 for all games. (Reminder: these are 14-day charts, so its launch window is still counted!) It’s followed by Vanillaware’s tactical RPG Unicorn Overlord and Balatro, both inside the Top 50. MLB The Show 24 debuted at #53, South Park: Snow Day! had a great debut at #74, and narrative adventure sequel Not Tonight 2 is starting in the Top 80. Way further down, Suika Game’s multiplayer DLC is just outside the Top 100, while Contra: Operation Galuga hangs out at #120.
Examining the Epic Games Store top-grossing chart (for all games except Fortnite), EA Sports FC 24 tops the chart again, with Alan Wake 2 and Hogwarts Legacy also inside the Top 10. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora got boosted up to #9, while Horizon Forbidden West slows down a bit just outside the Top 10. Next, Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones and Prince of Persia The Lost Crown continue to perform decently at #12 and #14 respectively, partly due to not being on Steam, of course.
Moving on, our ‘recent’ Meta Quest VR game chart (ranked by new star ratings), shows 3D platformer Max Mustard and the self-explanatory Lawn Mowing Simulator VR topping the ‘recent’ chart, as they debuted with a decent 143 and 68 total ratings, respectively. If we keep looking, Paint the Town Red VR continues to perform with +56 new ratings, while Underdogs and Humanity stay healthy with +25 & +13 new ratings respectively. Other debuts-wise: painting app Gesture VR - not so game-y - got a decent start, with 36 total ratings.
Finally, a monthly look at our Apple Arcade game chart (by U.S. number of new user reviews per month) sees Hello Kitty Island Adventure continues topping the chart, with +3,830 new ratings this month (73,278 in total, whoa!). Following that, NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition and Lego Duplo World+ continue to perform well with +3,803 and +3,633 new ratings respectively. Next, Sneaky Sasquatch and Solitaire by MobilityWare+ stay evergreen with +2,028 & +1,996 new ratings. Debut-wise: Oh BiBi’s family friendly 3 vs. 3 shooter BEAST: Bio Exo Arena Suit Team started with 1,006 total ratings, while Red Games’ Crayola Adventures (700 ratings), Gamious’ Words in Progress (600 ratings) and Midjiwan AB’s The Battle of Polytopia+ (130 ratings) are also on the newer side.
And that’s about it for today. Have a great (holiday?) weekend, and catch you all next week with many words of helpful game discovery babble. Toodles…
[This newsletter is handcrafted by GameDiscoverCo, an agency based around one simple issue: how do players find, buy and enjoy your PC or console game? Thanks for supporting us by subscribing to GameDiscoverCo Plus.]