Two major games launched on PC recently, with both scoring very different reactions from the ‘PC master race’ crowd.
One of the few ways to measure a game’s popularity is by the number of concurrent players a game draws on its first day. On that front, “Baldur’s Gate III” has been one of the biggest hits of the year.
The anticipated D&D role-player, which has been in early access for some time, has become one of Steam’s most successful games ever. The title launched to more than 472,000 people in its first day on sale and hit a peak of 814,666 yesterday – putting in the Top Ten most played games of all time on the service.
That latter peak figure is the second highest seen for a new release game this year, behind only “Hogwarts Legacy” which peaked at 879,308.
Meanwhile, Sony’s former PS5-exclusive “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart” has proven a bit of a dud. Plenty of reviews have praised the port as one of the better ones from console-to-PC in 2023 (though it still has a few issues), whilst the game itself is getting a ‘Very Positive’ reaction overall.
The reaction marks a major improvement on the disastrous “The Last of Us Part I” launch which has taken months to fix. Steam players, however, have shown indifference when it comes to shelling out time and money on the game. The title hit an all-time peak of just 8,757 players on release day – the third-worst launch for a first-party Sony title on Steam to date.
The best PlayStation-turned-PC title remains “God of War” at 73,529, “Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered” at 66,436 and “Horizon Zero Dawn” at 56,557.