The new MMO “Atlas” is heavily criticized. Nevertheless, the sales figures on Steam and the viewer numbers on Twitch are excellent. The new MMO seems to have real hit potential.
Here’s how harshly Atlas is criticized: Since the launch of Atlas, the MMO has faced some criticism – even many of the positive reviews on Steam were meant to be sarcastic. The main point of criticism is that many see the game as just a “reskin of ARK Survival Evolved”, the developers’ previous game.
The criticism has become louder, after a hidden ARK menu was found within the game. Additionally, the performance, the graphics, and difficulties in logging into the game are criticized.
Currently, Atlas has 10181 reviews on Steam, which are “mostly negative”. Only 24% are positive.
So successful is Atlas though: One could think, with all the negative voices, that the game is doing poorly, but the numbers on Twitch and Steam tell a different story.
- On Steam, Atlas is currently the top seller.
- Additionally, according to Steam-charts, it has been among the 15 most played games on Steam in the first days. Currently at 13.
- At the moment, Atlas is number #2 on Twitch, just behind Fortnite and ahead of League of Legends and Dota 2.
What do people who really like Atlas say? If you follow the Discord and comments on MeinMMO, you can see that Atlas has some core fans who see a lot of good in the game. They have no problem with Atlas being so close to ARK. For $20, buying an Ark 2.0 with pirate flair is okay for these fans.
- As MeinMMO reader Sunface says: “I’m glad I got it for 20 euros […] I find it rather good than bad that it’s a reskin of ARK.”
- Denis Hock says: “I’m thrilled with Atlas, but they completely messed up the launch. However, the game offers so much cool content. It is really complex. Especially sailing over water with your crew is something epic. It is an ARK 2.0 but with many innovations and improvements.”
- Dave says: “All the bad reviews are mainly from false expectations. Atlas includes assets from ARK. Oh wow, you wouldn’t have expected that from a small developer like Wildcard.”
Why is Atlas so successful? Surely the timing of the release is cleverly chosen. At Christmas, no new games are released, and Atlas has almost completely captured the public eye during the Christmas period.
The idea of allowing streamers to play the open-world game exclusively for a few hours prior to launch attracted top streamers like Summit1g or Lirik. Although they didn’t like it, the game managed to get into the spotlight of thousands.
The core concept of Atlas, exploring and conquering a world, is a niche that offers its appeal to fans, which others often find difficult to grasp. ARK was also a game that people either loved or couldn’t get into at all.
Obviously, Atlas is also an ARK 2.0 in this respect
