Steam week in overview: One other on-line shooter winds down weeks after launch, as robotic cowboys take over

It’s been a tough yr for brand new multiplayer video games however then, the identical was true in 2025. By now it is taken as a right {that a} lengthy in-development challenge launched by main publishers shouldn’t be assured success. Not solely that, what hits is wildly unpredictable—exemplified by the likes of Peak and Phasmophobia—and success not often corresponds with the event price range concerned.

This week’s living proof: Far Far West. It’s an early entry cooperative shooter taking cues from Left 4 Dead and Vermintide, and whereas it does not have a yee-haw button folks appear to like it. (It in all probability helps that it has a singleplayer element as nicely.)

It’s developed by Evil Raptor, a small eight individual studio from France. Its Steam web page does not scream “big hit” but it surely however has been, in its launch week at the least: at time of writing it is the third finest promoting recreation on Steam by way of income, crushed solely by Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era and Counter-Strike 2. As I write, 47,300 individuals are enjoying it. It’s but extra proof that huge indie hits do not comply with the form of logic taken as a right 5 years in the past.

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Take Last Flag as an illustration, a third-person 5v5 shooter with MOBA components launched on April 15. Unfortunately for its creators Night Street Games, it hasn’t discovered an viewers. Its all-time concurrent gamers document is 558 and it is at present sitting on 35 gamers. That’s not a win.

I daresay if you happen to’d proven an enormous indie writer or blockbuster exec Far Far West and Last Flag subsequent to one another in 2015, the latter would counsel itself because the “hit” whereas the previous a non-starter.

Apparently Last Flag’s loads of enjoyable (I do know a few of my PC Gamer colleagues loved it), but it surely’s not confirmed profitable sufficient to warrant ongoing help: the studio announced at the weekend that “our player count is not currently where we need it to be to support additional development beyond our upcoming planned patches”.

In 2026 it is laborious to take a look at one thing like Last Flag and see success. The artwork model channels Pixar and Fortnite in a manner that screams “we don’t have an art style” or, “we’re making this game for everyone / no one”. Of course, it is practically unattainable to develop huge video games with a data of the place the zeitgeist shall be in three or 4 years, which is a part of the rationale why the likes of Peak show so profitable: it was made in 4 weeks by a bunch of enthusiastic devs who did not must depend on big early takings.

In a uncommon and welcome transfer, Night Street Games needs to maintain Last Flag playable even when main updates aren’t doubtless. “Our focus will shift to replayability, community support, and empowering our players to write the next chapter of Last Flag with persistent lobbies and unique game rules inspired by some of the games we love like GoldenEye, Team Fortress 2, and Super Smash Bros. We don’t want to kill our game—we want to give it to the community who helped us get here.”

Top Steam video games by income (April 21 – 28)

Steam releases its high sellers charts on Wednesdays, so it is too early to see how Far Far West and the brand new HoMM did throughout their full launch weeks. The April 21-28 interval under is, nicely, just about as you’d anticipate:

Aside from Far Far West and the brand new HoMM recreation there have been just a few different huge first week hits: Gamble With Your Friends is a testomony to the continuing relevance of friendslop, whereas Invincible Vs—a 3v3 2.5D fighter—can also be doing decently.

Notable for its absence within the rolling income listing is s&field, the brand new recreation creation platform from the creators of Garry’s Mod and Rust. It made $1 million on launch day in accordance with Facepunch Studios, however I’m a contact shocked it hasn’t achieved higher than a zany four-player shooter by an unknown studio. Morgan Park has some fascinating ideas on how the panorama has modified for the reason that heady days of GMod.

Last week’s Steam deep cuts

Best Steam consumer overview of the week

Does what it says on the tin. Also you’ll be able to Tokyo Drift a piglet. – Gargaj on Adorable Adventures