We’ve been hearing about games moving their release dates to get out of the way of a major release. For over a year now, the gaming landscape has talked about the looming release of Grand Theft Auto VI and how so many games want to stay out of its path. More recently, we saw a trend of games moving their release dates when Hollow Knight: Silksong announced its release date. This pattern isn’t anything new because developers and publishers know general consumers only have a limited amount of money to spend on entertainment. Besides, it’s really hard to play more than one game at a time.
By all accounts, Marathon launching to over 80,000 concurrent players and sustaining that number throughout the day is a pretty big success. But if you had told me years ago that the latest title from the original creators of Halo and Destiny would be trumped by an indie developer that made a roguelike deckbuilder, I would have thought you were crazy. If you asked me last year, though, I would have confidently told you that Slay the Spire 2 was going to break records out of the gate.
And it has. Both Slay the Spire 2 and Marathon launched today, causing the Steam store to have major issues. I had to wait nearly an hour before my transaction for Slay the Spire 2 went through. Many would believe it’s because of Marathon, but turns out, it’s probably Slay the Spire 2’s fault. As I write this article, the game’s concurrent players on Steam continue to increase. The all-time peak keeps changing, and it’s over 180,000 now. Having done a few runs now, it’s obvious why. Slay the Spire 2 follows very much in the footsteps of Monster Train 2, with the sequel delivering more of what players should expect, and it’s better refined with more depth. I’ve been enjoying my time figuring out the playstyles of the new characters and look forward to unlocking more content throughout the weekend.
I’ve said it before. We’re entering a golden age of indie games, and it’s going to be an interesting few years as AAA titles start to lose their luster. Sure, the big hitters like Call of Duty and Battlefield will continue to exist, but seeing Slay the Spire 2 more than double Marathon’s concurrent players on Steam is impressive. Granted, Marathon also has players across console, but I have no doubt Slay the Spire 2 will also capture a lot of those buyers when the game exits Early Access.
Look for my Slay the Spire 2 Early Impressions early next week. But if you are curious now, just buy it. It’s everything the first game was, and more.
