You might be forgiven for wondering if the gaming world really needs more survival games. After all, it has become a staple genre especially on PC. Heavy hitters like Rust, Ark, Valheim, and Sons of the Forest have led the pack so successfully you might think there’s no room for anyone else. Thankfully, it appears that’s not the case with recent newcomer Soulmask hitting a stunning number of copies sold in an incredibly short amount of time.
What’s probably driving those sales, at least in part, is the sheer ambition of Soulmask. Not only offering a staggering amount of gameplay, even in this early access version, there’s also plenty of neat twists on the survival game formula to make this a fresh proposition. The standout feature of course is the titular mask system, where you can hop bodies into NPCs to steal their abilities and skills, letting you choose how you play.
Along with the game’s commitment to offering an authentically hard survival experience, you can begin to see why Soulmask has managed to hit the sales numbers it has. With over 200,000 copies sold since launch, which was only five days ago, it’s definitely making bank at a time when many games are struggling to have an impact.
What’s also helping the game’s community have a positive atmosphere is the developer’s approach to both getting hotfixes out and answering player questions. Today a big series of fixes has been released, with the game seeing improvements in nearly every aspect. These range from making the UI feel more responsive and intuitive, to smoothing out the game’s combat and helping tribespeople work a little more logically.
The developer has also taken to Steam to do a brief Q&A. The majority of the answers relate to issues either currently being worked on or suggestions that may be implemented in the future, but it does also offer an indication of the game’s future direction. The developer is definitely focused on ensuring Soulmask remains both realistic, albeit in a world full of magic, and punishing, at least when starting out. This isn’t meant to be a game you play for a little bit, it’ll take time and commitment to get the most out of it, and it’s great to see the developer make that clear right from the start.
Soulmask is out now and you can grab it with 10% off until Thursday, June 6. You can head over to Steam to check it out for yourself where you can also see the full patch notes for today’s hotfixes and the answers to the recent Q&A session.
You can also head over to our best RPG guide to find something meaty to play, as well as our guide to the best upcoming PC games for a glimpse of the future.
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