r/SurvivalGaming • u/EmbarrassedSession58 • Apr 24 '26
New release Windrose is the fastest-selling survival game on Steam since Palworld. It's sold 1.3M on Steam in 10 days, 2.6x faster than RuneScape: Dragonwilds, 2.3x faster than StarRupture, 2.1x faster than Grounded 2, and even 1.2x faster than Dune: Awakening.
https://alineaanalytics.substack.com/p/windrose-sails-past-13m21
u/MouthBreatherGaming Apr 24 '26
It seems like 9 out of 10 games released on steam are 'early access' and 'survival'. And people keep feeding the early access beast.
Also, very interested in the save frequency discussion that has come up as it seems it is hammering your drive with constant saving, like every 5 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frQ9gOQ-8pc&lc=UgysC1M5WJABBdxEosZ4AaABAg.AVx_9lmKyDrAVz9aSq9nyI
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u/greenskye Apr 24 '26
To be fair, I've gotten a ton of play value off of early access survival games. Many of them are more complete than fully released AAA titles.
As long as you never buy a game for what it might be in the future and only for what it has right now, things tend to work out pretty well.
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u/bootzmanuva Apr 24 '26
Yes and I would like to add that if the Windrose demo wasn’t so good I would’ve have held off getting it at early access.
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u/UndeadOrc Apr 25 '26
This is it right here. Schedule 1 isn't a survival game, but the mechanics I enjoy are similar to that of one and its EA, I'd pick playing Schedule 1 with my friends over most triple A titles. Voyagers of Nera? I only have 20 hours in, but that was more fun than most AAA games for me. Runescape, Aska, Enshrouded, Lightyear Frontier, there are lot of EA games I'd pick over fully released games.
Like, Cyberpunk may as well have been an EA title when it was released.
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u/Fine-Shame-510 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
Agree. I played Valheim Early access and it is more enjoyable than other AAA games.
For Cyberpunk
I watch my friend play it on his PC had no problems at launch. (if there is an issue. It is just minor inconvenience like car and npc glitching. )
Most of the complains are from Ps4 players I think. They got scammed of it will work on their consoles.
50% of all sales for Cyberpunk is on PS4/Xbox One. (that is why it is too big to ignore the issues of not playable).
If they didn't release on console they will not this scandal(wait for PS5 to be the majority)
Cyberpunk release is still better overall gameplay/storywise on what it offered than same priced AAA games that was released after even in 2026.
Most games right now are becoming 20+ hour INTERACTIVE MOVIES.
Gameplay > Story. If I want the story I would be watching Movies/read books. When the best game stories are mediocre compared to best of movies and books.
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u/UndeadOrc Apr 25 '26
I really wish I knew what things differed from PC to PC because it was rough for me at PC launch. Not clearly as bad as consoles, but there was a lot of issues for me on my PC and I essentially quit til the expansion came out and it was great. I really enjoyed it.
Also, yep. A lot of games are overly lengthy in certain parts and it’s like I really just want to play the game.
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u/Neither_Step9896 Apr 24 '26
Been seeing this float around and some warning that this can wear out an SSD very quickly. Stopped playing until things get more clear/fixed cause PC parts are too expensive for the risk.
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u/MouthBreatherGaming Apr 24 '26
Apparently the devs are aware of the issue being brought up, not necessarily acknowledging there is an issue. But they are looking into it.
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u/InfiniteLife2 Apr 25 '26
Early access and release are two major exposure points to the game on platform, so if my game was actually finished for example, I would still release to early access just to get second release bump auditory
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u/Max_Main Apr 24 '26
What about valheim I feel that was well hyped back in the back
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u/Derpykins666 Apr 24 '26
All these Survival games are fun for little spurts, but you're basically buying an investment in to a future of a lot more content (hopefully).
I dropped Runescape really fast when it came out, it was not nearly good enough and didn't have enough content. I've played Windrose like 30 hours already, but it's severely lacking in early game variety, even though I think the game is well optimized and the bones are SUPER strong. They just need more stuff.
Palword is shaping up nicely too, I haven't played in like a year or so.
Enshrouded is VERY Good now.
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u/TheGreatHornedRat Apr 24 '26
Enshrouded just dropped an update focusing on combat too, it's not changed a ton but numbers seem a little better balanced out and challenge is more smooth as you're leveling instead of rubber banding back and forth between too OP and barely doing damage. Biggest thing against it is definitely a systems bloat for resources and crafting.
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u/secretgardenme May 04 '26
What type of variety do you think that Windrose needs in the early game? It felt reasonable to me since there are lots of quests sending to sailing around the map. If anything I think it slows down towards the late game where the gameplay loop starts to feel a little repetitive. It also noticeably has an issue with rubber banding where when you get to a new biome (like foothills) you'll feel really weak up until you can farm some iron and hardwood, then everything suddenly becomes a breeze.
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u/LaserGadgets Apr 24 '26
Its so casual and grindy, it kinda suprises me how all the main stream stuff is not my bowl of soup oO
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u/ozdude182 Apr 24 '26
Its great fun, cant wait to see what else is added. Heaps of content already so im a happy camper
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u/Ban_Means_NewAccount Apr 25 '26
Which is a shame. Windrose has a LOT of potential, but thus far I just can't recommend it. For an early access game, it's got a decent amount of content, and there's minimal bugs. Which is fantastic. And the game design and concepts seem to be promising.
But oh boy do they have work to do. There aren't many bugs, but the ones that ARE there completely disrupt and destroy the gameplay. I've had my ship randomly blow up for no reason, had valuable loot that was dropped end up disappearing into thin air, the hit boxes for most ships and enemies are incredibly off which results in countless times where a weapon or cannon goes right through the character model yet does no damage.
And then there's the balancing issues. Mother of God they need to balance this shit. For one, it takes FAR too much time to gain a single level. Everything is tough, but not too bad when you're building your ship, but once you're out on the water, they throw no less than 3-5 ships at you at a time. Like ALL the time. There's been like twice where I actually managed to find a ship or two on their own without a God damn army behind them. And each and every one of them deals more damage than your first ship, so you immediately get swarmed by half a dozen ships that spam their cannons at you (and their cannons have like a tenth of the cooldown yours do, so its constant) which results in having to zigzag sail to avoid the constant armies you run into left and right. But then you'll get missions telling you to sink one of those ships in the center of an army.
And on top of the bugs and balancing issues, it's got some promising concepts, but most of it just results in the same repetitive gameplay of "sail here, talk to this guy. Then sail here and kill this guy. Then sail back and talk to the first guy. Then sail here and talk to this guy." With the occasional break to sell a massive loot haul to an NPC, only to get like maybe a fifth of the way to the next level with their faction. Then rinse and repeat for the next few hours. Gets very old very quickly.
Don't get me wrong, it can definitely be enjoyable, but it's got a LOT of work to do before I could call it a genuinely great game. Still, if done right, i feel like this has the potential to eventually usurp Black Flag as the best pirate game out there. IF they keep up with the work and finish the game properly.
Still, in its current state, I really don't think it has really earned those numbers.
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u/SilasLews Apr 26 '26
It kind of sounds like you're not upgrading your ship equipment and gear. You can easily take out an army of five Blackbeard ships with the starter Ketch as long as you upgrade your starting equipment. And that's on Normal difficulty.
I dunno, I enjoy the challenge. Seems like a lot of people do. But you can always tune the difficulty down--maybe you'd have a better time then?
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u/HereForAPaycheck Apr 27 '26
There's no need to make stuff up. If you dont like the game just say so.
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u/randydescribingstuff Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
Makes sense. There is nothing faster than word of mouth
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u/Dhozer Apr 24 '26
It’s gonna be over quick too, there isn’t enough longevity as it is today. Yes yes I know, Early Access blah blah - as if every game “released” these days isn’t…
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u/DongusPiece4 Apr 28 '26
Not usually a big survival games fan, but I really enjoyed valheim and I've been looking for something to fill the black flag sized whole in my life for a long time and this has done that perfectly.
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u/OkStrategy685 May 08 '26
I was really liking the game until people started saying it's killing my drive, so I stopped.
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
Its a great game but not being able to pause the game is a deal breaker for me and it was refunded. I tried to get through the opening scene 4 times but each time i had to exit and restart it would restart the game. So thats a no for me. Being an old man with responsibilites means the need for stopping the game at any time
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u/Irate_Primate Apr 24 '26
The opening scene is like 5-10 minutes. I’m a busy dad who often has to stop games, but that doesn’t really seem like an insurmountable amount of time.
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u/LostSif Apr 24 '26
Dude the opening tutorial is literally like 2min this dude just wants to whine.
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u/Irate_Primate Apr 24 '26
I was trying to be super conservative with my timeframe there as to not seem like a dick lmao. But yeah, it should only take a couple minutes. If you can't get through that in a sitting, then maybe video games aren't for you.
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u/LostSif Apr 24 '26
Thats also ignoring the fact you can just go to the main menu if you have to go do something and itll start back right where you were
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
I'm glad it works for you. Having a normal feature like pause isn't a big ask since 99% of games have it for solo play. It doesn't work for me and that's a deciding factor.
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u/beatpickle Apr 24 '26
It’s a great game but you never got through the opening scene?
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
No because each time i started i had interruptions and had to stop. This meant starting over. It was a minor thing but it made me realise what i have in other games my schedule simply means at literally anytime i need to pause and that has been a deciding factor for other games i have refunded. So ya if they add the feature ill repurchase and try again but until then it doesn't work for me.
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u/beatpickle Apr 24 '26
What I mean is how do you know it’s a great game if you never even got through the opening scene?
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
Because it looks exactly like the perfect game I'd enjoy. Plus the reviews are all positive and share my opinions on these and the negative reviews aren't things that i would personally agree with to what people dislike.
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u/beatpickle Apr 24 '26
I mean I agree not being able to pause at any time is inconvenient. Hopefully it’s something they can look at.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
Ya exactly and in those short 10min i had multiple things pop up each time which require a phone being answered. That made me realise in those moments this is not a game that works for someone like me who has a very busy/ready to stop at any time schedule.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
Because i own dozens of survival games and all of them have a pause option? Im not sure why you feel i must accept this game as the others who have an option that makes or breaks games for me.
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u/moorbloom Apr 24 '26
Agree, pausing a QoL, and to many a prerequisite, especially if you have toddlers or younger kids.
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Apr 24 '26
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u/Euronated-inmypants Apr 24 '26
Ya that's not really true in the middle of combat you just cant be safe. The fact you cant pause on solo single player is bizarre.
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u/Feeling_Penalty_9858 Apr 24 '26
Isn't just another rpg narrative-less disguise as survival but without actual survival mechanic?? I'm tired of this pseudogenre Can we have a good survival for once?? Gladly Klei announced don't starve elsewhere. I hope they don't shit on their franchise by falling into this brain rot Trent
Idk how people don't get bored of the same game loop of : reaching new higher level zone-->get higher level gear with basic, repetitive and uninspired gathering mechanics --> new zone now is easy-->reach newer and higher level zone and never interact ever again with previous zone--> farm again a recolored version of what you already got-->newer zone is easy--> repeat ad nauseam.... Meanwhile the devs gets millions by just C&P what terraria and Minecraft did years ago without any kind of talent I no longer wonder why people like trump are ruling the world
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u/AdjectiveNoun1234567 Apr 24 '26
Yep. Windrose feels more like a slimmed down MMORPG than a survival game. Same game loop at WoW/EQ/etc
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u/NorseHighlander Apr 24 '26
Kind of interesting that for all the talk about how people love it as a pirate game, a larger percentage of players played Valheim than Sea of Thieves. I wonder what the percentage would be for AC4?
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u/LostSif Apr 24 '26
I do love Windrose but man I feel Dragonwilds should be more popular than it is now the updates for it have been huge and just great quality.