Returnal Off to Slow Start on PC With Low Concurrent Player Numbers

gamerant.com:

After the recent PC release of Returnal, it appears the game is not performing as well as first hoped on the platform. Returnal is Sony's latest PC effort as the company continues to try and expand its audience.

Returnal was first released as a PlayStation 5 exclusive in April 2021 and finally made its way to PC after almost two years of waiting. While the game wasn't necessarily a system seller, it was still well-reviewed and lavished with industry awards, so a number of PC players who had never experienced Returnal were still excited about the release. The PC port of Returnalreceived praise for its improved graphics and solid performance, which is often an issue for ports. Sony deserves praise for the effort it is putting into its PC releases, as it is yet to have a title with many of the issues commonly associated with lazy PC ports.

Returnal's Hefty PC Requirements Revealed

Just four days after Returnal's PC release, the game has peaked at just under 7,000 players on Steam, according to SteamDB. This is a disappointing result for the game, with only Sackboy: A Big Adventure faring worse among Sony's recent PC ventures at 610 peak concurrent players. It should be noted that despite the awards and acclaim, Returnal isn't a huge established IP, so the company's expectations may have been low for the Steam release. On PlayStation 5 however, the game performed within Sony's expectations, selling 560,000 copies during the first two months of release.

While the performance isn't great news for Sony, the company can still look to its established franchises for a better outlook on PC. The recent Steam releases of God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Horizon Zero Dawn all performed well on the platform, and the upcoming release