Highly anticipated roguelike deckbuilder launches on Steam with over 175,000 players in hours

Slay the Spire 2 was first announced back in April 2024, and at the time, the plan was to release it in early access sometime in 2025. However, as the developers needed more time to polish the game, they pushed the launch to 2026 instead. Today, Slay the Spire 2 was finally launched in early access on Steam, and the early player numbers are already extremely impressive. 

According to data from SteamDB, the game reached over 175,000 concurrent players on Steam just a few hours after release. This is a very strong start, especially for an early access title. For comparison, the original Slay the Spire reached a peak player count of 57,025 players around three months ago. That means the sequel has already surpassed its predecessor’s peak by almost three times within only a few hours of launch.

Since the game has only just released, it only has around 487 reviews on Steam. However, 93% of them are positive, which suggests that early players are enjoying what the developers have built so far. And given how fast the player count is increasing, it would not be surprising to see the game cross 200,000 concurrent players later today.

If you’re planning to try Slay the Spire 2, you must keep in mind that this is an early access version, which means you’ll face bugs, glitches, and broken features. The main goal of this version is to allow players to experience the game early and provide feedback to the developers. That feedback will help the team refine mechanics, fix issues, and improve the overall experience before the full release. According to the developers, the game could remain in early access for one to two years, during which they plan to add more gameplay content, new modes, additional cards, and other features over time.