The new pirate hit Windrose has only been available for a few days in Early Access on Steam. In the first weekend, over 130,000 landlubbers set sail simultaneously at times, which is multiple times more than the players who played the AAAA blockbuster Skull and Bones from Ubisoft.
How is Windrose doing currently? Within just 3 days, Windrose has fought its way up to become the new hit on Steam. While almost 70,000 pirates set sail simultaneously on release night, the survival game with a pirate setting set a player record of 135,700 concurrent players on Friday, April 17, nearly doubling the player count (steamdb.com).
Why the comparison with Skull and Bones? At a time when there are not many pirate games of this magnitude, Windrose is a ray of hope for fans of the setting. A major “pirate hit” was also supposed to be Skull and Bones from Ubisoft, but the game only managed to reach 2,615 concurrent players on Steam, which is about 50 times less than Windrose’s new record (steamdb.com).
Especially the promises made beforehand were not fulfilled for many players, as Ubisoft announced Skull and Bones as a AAAA title for €79.99, “which will convince in the long run.”
Some players drew an initial conclusion after the release and wondered what Ubisoft had actually been doing for the 10 years of development. Of course, there are also positive opinions about Skull and Bones, but negative ones prevail.
Windrose excites players despite minor weaknesses
Why are players celebrating Windrose so much? On Steam, Windrose has been rated positively by nearly 10,000 players at 87%. Many praise the world and the pirate feeling while their crew sings merry sea shanties on the high seas.
The Steam user Aptiryp has already played 20 hours and believes that while Windrose does not reinvent the wheel, the mechanics work really well together. He specifically mentions the food system with various buffs, the intuitive building system, and the population that can settle in your home port and provides various bonuses.
As a highlight, he also mentions sailing with your own pirate ship. The ships are beautifully and intricately designed, and the wave action as well as the thunder of the cannons are said to feel really good. However, the Steam user criticizes that the wind direction has no effect on the ship. For an Early Access title, Windrose has had a very good start.
MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus is also thrilled with Windrose. He was actually supposed to write his first impression of the new pirate hit, but instead chose to play another round on his ship.
Are there negative opinions? Yes, some reviews on Steam mention the clunky combat system. Furthermore, the start of Windrose seems to cause some issues, as players reportedly die early to enemies. MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus has also experienced this and has gathered some tips for the beginning.
Grind and progression are also lightly criticized, as the required resources are said to be too much, especially for solo players. However, one must not forget that Windrose is still in Early Access and has just been released. Not only Windrose is currently in the spotlight, but also the other survival games on Steam are doing well at the moment. MeinMMO has created an overview for you about the golden age of survival games on Steam that is currently taking place: There is currently a golden age for survival games on Steam, and not only thanks to Windrose
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