Free Steam demo for highly anticipated action RPG pulls nearly 20,000 players in hours
A newly released free demo for an unreleased action RPG is already drawing attention on Steam. Within just 6 hours of release, the game demo has pulled over 19,000 concurrent players, and the all-time peak is rising every hour.
The free game demo under the spotlight gives access to the opening sections of Nioh 3. It's Team Ninja's latest entry in the dark samurai action RPG series, and this entry is one of the highly anticipated games of 2026 (available to pre-order on Humble Bundle).
Set in a demon-infested version of Japan's Sengoku period, Nioh 3 blends supernatural horror with historical figures. Players are tasked to cut through yokai-infested regions and clear the corrupted domains known as the Crucible. The free game demo starts from the very beginning of the story, and it offers a representative slice of both the exploration and combat parts of the title.
Players can also experience the less linear environments that the game has to offer, and there are optional challenges. Interestingly, Team Ninja has enabled multiplayer in the demo, which allows online co-op for up to three players.
Another good part about this free demo is that the progress made here will be carried over to the full game. Players who complete it before February 15, 2026, will get an in-game item as a reward. This incentive and the unrestricted multiplayer access are probably the reasons why the demo is getting strong engagement numbers.
Of course, Nioh 3 does have the potential to be a proper successor to the second entry of the series, which launched in 2020. The full launch is set for February 06, 2026, and it will be interesting to see what the early players have to say about the game after playing the demo.
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