Manor Lords, Developed By One Person, Is Putting Up Huge Numbers On Launch Day

Manor Lords, the medieval strategy game developed by a single person, is out now on PC after much anticipation, and the game is putting up big numbers, even in its unfinished state.

According to Steam's publicly available data, the game has reached nearly 160,000 concurrent users, putting it inside the top five for Steam's most-played games today. Only the free-to-play games PUBG, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2 have reached more players on Steam today.

By comparison, the AAA game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which was released in February, reached a peak of 202 players today.

The game is also playable via PC Game Pass and can be purchased via the Windows PC store, GOG, and the Epic Games Store, so the player count from Steam represents just a piece of the game's overall market opportunity for players.

Manor Lords is also the No. 1 top-selling game on Steam right now. The game is marked down by 25% for its first two weeks, bringing the price down to $30 until May 10.

Player sentiment is strong, too. Manor Lords has more than 2,000 user reviews on Steam already, with an aggregate rating of "very positive."

Looking ahead, Manor Lords is likely coming to Xbox, but it remains to be seen if the game will be released on PlayStation or Switch.

Manor Lords is available via Early Access/Game Preview, and its developer is encouraging people to submit their feedback to help improve the game. Publisher Hooded Horse acknowledged that playing an unfinished game is not for everyone and said it understands if people want to delay their purchase until later.

Manor Lords was one of the most wishlisted games on Steam, reaching 3.2 million player wishlists, according to Hooded Horse. The publisher is promising regular updates to the game.