Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a tough game, but that’s not scaring away players on Steam. The latest release from developer From Software launched today, and it has shot up the charts on Valve’s PC-gaming store. Based on peak concurrent players, it had the best launch on Steam so far this year.
Sekiro peaked at 108,000 simultaneous players earlier today. That is the most concurrent players for any game that has come out on Steam since the beginning of 2019. That puts it ahead of Devil May Cry 5, which had 89,000 people on at the same time on its launch day. It is also ahead of Resident Evil 2, which had a launch-day peak of 74,000 players.
It’s worth noting that all of the biggest new releases on Steam so far are from Japanese developers. Many Western studios have launched large games since January 1, but releases like Metro: Exodus, Anthem, and The Division 2 are only available on other stores like EA’s Origin or Epic Games Store.
Steam’s huge audience for Japanese games
But Sekiro isn’t just a success relative to other 2019 Steam releases. It is actually the third-best launch for any Japanese game on Steam ever. That puts it ahead of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which had 91,000 concurrents.
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Sekiro is behind only Monster Hunter: World and Dark Souls 3.
When Monster Hunter: World launched on Steam in August, it set a record as the best Japanese launch ever on Steam. It did that by reaching a massive 207,000 concurrent players. That also made it the top Steam release for all of 2018.
Dark Souls 3, of course, is another From Software game. It had 129,000 simultaneous players on its launch day.
But Sekiro’s success comes without the Dark Souls brand recognition. And it is a departure from Souls games in a number of other ways. In the end, Sekiro hasn’t popped quite as high as its predecessor. But so many people on Steam love Japanese games, and they showed up to support this release.
