People have been clamouring about Manor Lords, a new medieval city builder and management sim, for quite some time now. Only three days ago, it hit 3 million wishlists on Steam, and it seems as if that number wasn't an empty promise, as the game has seen some incredibly impressive numbers within hours of its release.
Only an hour after Manor Lords opened its Early Access doors, it reached 100,000 concurrent users on Steam. Now, a couple of hours later, it's sitting pretty at just under 130,000—and it keeps on rising. It's also managed to beat Stardew Valley, Helldivers 2, and Fallout 4, as it sits as the eighth most-played game and the global top seller on Steam right now.
It's an incredibly impressive start to Manor Lords' run in early access and one that's well deserved. Created by a sole developer, Greg "Slavic Magic" Styczeń, this city builder has been almost four years in the making, and from what I've played of it so far, it was definitely worth the wait. It's very competent—beautiful landscapes and changing seasons, as well as a really great soundtrack, which I'd love to listen to by itself.
Just before Manor Lords released, Styczeń made an announcement to all his fans and prospective players on Reddit, thanking everyone for all the support and asking just one thing. "Please leave a review. And I understand it's going to be a mix of positives and negatives, especially in that first month. I'm prepared! The game is early access for a reason, and I'm very confident that it will only get better. I promise to work hard."
He goes on to explain that this will help him improve the game and will also help more players find and enjoy Manor Lords. "You know how YouTubers always ask to 'like and subscribe,' and the simple fact of asking raises their subscriptions? Turns out it happens in game dev as well. Most players don't leave reviews. Or worse, people who had a bug will leave a negative review, while people who just had a great, good, or even OK time, won't leave a review," Styczeń says.
While I'm not sure any positive reviews are needed to raise the current player count or popularity of Manor Lords, it's still good practice, and if it can help a sole developer out in his quest to perfect what is already a great game, then it seems like a no-brainer.
