Risk of Rain 2 has emerged as one of the biggest surprise hits of 2019 thus far. The game released towards the end of last week but still managed to become the top selling game for the week. Risk of Rain 2 impressively ousted From Software’s latest Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice from the top spot. The game is also flying high on Steam’s chart for current player count, sitting just outside the top 10.
Risk of Rain 2 is a follow-up to Hopoo Games 2013 roguelike platformer. The studio recently went to its Steam Community page to voice its excitement about the game’s performance. “HOLYMOLY,” opens the post. “First, I just wanted to say from the whole team how absolutely floored we are with the reception so far. I was personally hoping for something to match at least half of the original game: apparently[,] we’re doing a LOT better. It’s absolutely surreal – thank you all again.”
Far from dwelling on its successes, Hopoo Games continues by listing how it intends to improve the game, from progression rates, customer support, and difficulty levels. The post concludes with a shoutout to the game’s publisher Gearbox Software.
The increased interest in Risk of Rain 2 is evidenced by the huge increase in search traffic for the game. On Google, searches for Risk of Rain 2 are nearly matching those of the most popular recent releases. In the below Google graph, Risk of Rain 2 (yellow) is shown competing with or beating searches for Anthem (red), The Division 2 (blue), Apex Legends (green), and Devil May Cry 5 (purple):
The performance of Risk of Rain 2 is particularly impressive when weighed up against its competition. Along with overtaking Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice as the top seller for last week, the game has shot up Steam’s “top games by current player count” chart to just beating Team Fortress 2. Risk of Rain 2 currently sits at 22,537 players with a peak count today of 47,764. The roguelike has overtaken titles like Sid Meier’s Civilization 6, Borderlands 2, and Garry’s Mod on its way to the number 11 position.
Risk of Rain’s performance adds to a whirlwind week for Gearbox Software. The publisher recently revealed Borderlands 3 as well as a Borderlands Game of the Year edition. Yesterday, the release date for the upcoming sequel seemed to be accidentally revealed along with the prospect of the game being an Epic Game Store exclusive.
