EA Sports FC — the football series formerly known as FIFA — is one of the best-selling annual franchises in gaming. This page compiles the key sales statistics for 2026.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• EA Sports FC 26 sold 12 million copies in its first month.
• It sold 1.4x faster than FC 25 over the same launch window.
• It was the best-selling game of 2025 in 16 of 17 European markets.
• PlayStation drove 67.5% of first-week sales, Xbox 26.9%, PC 5.7%.
• EA reported record US$8.03 billion net bookings in FY2026.
• Ultimate Team is the franchise’s monetisation engine — billions in extra content.

How Well Does EA Sports FC Sell?

EA Sports FC 26 sold 9 million copies in its first week, passed 10 million by day 14 and reached 12 million by the end of its first month — selling 1.4 times faster than the previous entry. It topped the charts in 16 of 17 European markets, underlining football gaming’s enormous international pull.

Ultimate Team: The Real Money-Maker

Unit sales are only half the story. EA earned around $4.4 billion in extra-content revenue in FY26, roughly half of it tied to Ultimate Team — the card-collecting mode built on randomised packs. That mechanic, closely related to loot boxes, is why football games are among the most scrutinised in the monetisation debate.

The FIFA-to-FC Transition

EA dropped the FIFA licence after 2023, rebranding to EA Sports FC. Far from hurting sales, the series has kept growing — proof that the gameplay, modes and Ultimate Team ecosystem, not the FIFA name, drive its success.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many copies did EA Sports FC 26 sell?

12 million copies in its first month — selling 1.4x faster than FC 25 and topping charts in 16 of 17 European markets.

Is EA Sports FC the same as FIFA?

Yes — EA Sports FC is the rebranded continuation of the FIFA series after EA dropped the FIFA licence in 2023. Sales have kept growing since the rename.

How much money does EA make from football games?

EA reported record US$8.03 billion in FY26 net bookings, with ~$4.4 billion from extra content — about half tied to Ultimate Team.

What platform sells the most EA FC copies?

PlayStation, at 67.5% of first-week sales, followed by Xbox (26.9%) and PC (5.7%).

Methodology & Sourcing

Sales figures are from EA disclosures and industry trackers; unit sales are as reported/estimated. Net-bookings and extra-content figures are from EA’s financial results. Rounded and updated as new data emerges.

Sources

• Electronic Arts — FY2026 financial results
• Industry trackers — EA Sports FC 26 sales
• Circana — European sales charts (2025–26)

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post EA Sports FC / FIFA Sales Statistics (2026) appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

League of Legends is one of the most-played and most-watched games in the world, 15+ years after launch. This page compiles the key LoL statistics for 2026 — players, revenue and esports.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• League of Legends has around 130 million monthly active players in 2026.
• It sustains 30–40 million daily players and ~1 million concurrent.
• Annual revenue is estimated at US$1.65–1.80 billion; lifetime ~$18.9 billion.
• The all-time peak was ~152 million MAU in 2022.
• China accounts for ~55% of the global player base.
• Worlds 2025’s final peaked at 6.75 million concurrent viewers.

How Many People Play League of Legends?

League of Legends has around 130 million monthly active players in 2026 — settling into a 120–135 million band — with 30–40 million playing daily and roughly a million concurrent at any moment. That is remarkable staying power for a game that launched in 2009; its all-time peak was about 152 million MAU in 2022.

Revenue & Esports

League earns an estimated US$1.65–1.80 billion a year, with lifetime revenue around $18.9 billion — almost entirely from cosmetic skins. It is also the crown jewel of esports: the Worlds 2025 final (T1 vs KT Rolster) peaked at 6.75 million concurrent viewers, the biggest esports moment of the year (see our esports statistics).

A Chinese-Dominated Player Base

Geographically, China accounts for roughly 55% of League’s monthly players, with South Korea second (~15%) despite its small population. This makes LoL, like much of modern gaming, a heavily Asia-Pacific-weighted phenomenon.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people play League of Legends in 2026?

Around 130 million monthly active players, with 30–40 million daily and ~1 million concurrent. Riot doesn’t publish official figures, so these are estimates.

How much money does League of Legends make?

An estimated US$1.65–1.80 billion a year, with lifetime revenue around $18.9 billion — mostly from cosmetic skins.

Is League of Legends dying?

No — at ~130 million monthly players 15+ years after launch, it remains one of the most-played games in the world, though below its 2022 peak of ~152M.

How many people watched Worlds 2025?

The Worlds 2025 grand final peaked at 6.75 million concurrent viewers, the biggest esports event of the year.

Methodology & Sourcing

Riot Games does not publish an official live player dashboard, so player-count figures are third-party estimates (Priori Data, ActivePlayer, analysts). Revenue figures are estimated. Viewership is peak-concurrent per esports trackers. Rounded and updated as data emerges.

Sources

• Priori Data / ActivePlayer — LoL player estimates
• Riot Games — revenue & Worlds figures
• Esports Charts — Worlds 2025 viewership

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post League of Legends Statistics (2026): Players & Revenue appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time and one of the most-played. This page compiles its key 2026 statistics — sales, players and revenue — from Mojang/Microsoft and industry reporting.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• Minecraft has sold over 350 million copies — the best-selling game ever made.
• It has around 212 million monthly active players in 2026.
• It peaked at 222.5 million monthly players in June 2025 — its record.
• Minecraft has generated over US$4.2 billion in lifetime sales revenue.
• The game sustains ~61.75 million daily active users.
• Minecraft still sells around 20–25 million copies a year, 15 years on.

How Many Copies Has Minecraft Sold?

Minecraft has sold over 350 million copies, making it the best-selling video game in history — ahead of GTA V and, on single-game terms, everything else. Remarkably, it still sells an estimated 20–25 million copies a year more than a decade and a half after its 2011 launch.

How Many People Play Minecraft?

Minecraft had around 212 million monthly active players in early 2026, having peaked at a record 222.5 million in June 2025. Day-to-day it sustains roughly 61.75 million daily active users and 1.3 million concurrent — extraordinary longevity for a game of its age.

Why Minecraft Endures

Minecraft’s staying power comes from its sandbox openness, cross-platform reach, education edition, and a vast modding and content community. It is a foundational title for a whole generation — see how it compares in our most-played games and best-selling games research.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many copies has Minecraft sold?

Over 350 million copies — making Minecraft the best-selling video game of all time.

How many people play Minecraft in 2026?

Around 212 million monthly active players, with roughly 61.75 million playing daily. It peaked at 222.5 million monthly in June 2025.

Is Minecraft the best-selling game ever?

Yes — at 350 million-plus copies, Minecraft is the best-selling single video game in history.

How much money has Minecraft made?

Minecraft has generated over US$4.2 billion in lifetime sales revenue.

Methodology & Sourcing

Sales and player figures are from Mojang/Microsoft announcements and industry trackers (Priori Data, Statista). ‘Copies sold’ is the best-selling single game; MAU/DAU are as reported. Rounded and updated as new figures emerge.

Sources

• Mojang / Microsoft — Minecraft sales & player announcements
• Statista — Minecraft player & revenue data
• Priori Data — Minecraft statistics

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post Minecraft Statistics (2026): Sales, Players & Revenue appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Steam is the dominant PC gaming platform. This page compiles its key 2026 statistics — concurrent-player records, active users, catalogue size and revenue.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• Steam set an all-time record of 42.04 million concurrent users on 11 January 2026.
• It has around 147 million monthly active users and 69 million daily.
• The platform hosts 117,000+ games, with ~16,800 added in 2025 alone.
• Steam’s estimated 2025 revenue was ~US$16.2 billion (up 50%).
• It controls roughly 75% of US PC digital distribution.
• Records are now set without a major game launch — organic growth.

Steam’s Record-Breaking Growth

Steam keeps breaking its own records. On 11 January 2026 it hit 42,042,778 concurrent users — its highest ever — just a week after setting the previous record, and notably without any blockbuster launch driving the spike. Valve presented the figures at GDC 2026.

A Massive, Growing Catalogue

Steam now hosts over 117,000 games, adding nearly 17,000 in 2025 alone — a firehose of releases (many from indies) that makes discovery one of the platform’s central challenges. Monthly active users grew 11.4% to ~147 million, and estimated revenue jumped 50% to around $16.2 billion.

Why It Matters

Steam is effectively the front door to PC gaming, controlling ~75% of US digital PC sales. Its concurrent-player records are a barometer for the health of PC gaming as a whole — see our games industry market size research for the bigger picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Steam’s concurrent player record?

42.04 million concurrent users, set on 11 January 2026 — an all-time high, reached without a major game launch.

How many people use Steam?

Steam has around 147 million monthly active users and 69 million daily active users in 2026.

How many games are on Steam?

Over 117,000 games, with nearly 17,000 added in 2025 alone.

How much money does Steam make?

Steam’s 2025 revenue was estimated at around US$16.2 billion, up 50% year-on-year.

Methodology & Sourcing

Figures are from Valve’s own disclosures (GDC 2026 State of Steam), SteamDB and Steam Charts, with revenue estimated by third parties (Alinea Analytics). Concurrent and user figures are as measured; catalogue counts are point-in-time. Rounded and updated as new data lands.

Sources

• Valve — State of Steam (GDC 2026)
• SteamDB — concurrent player charts
• Steam Charts — usage tracking
• Alinea Analytics — Steam revenue estimate

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post Steam Statistics (2026): Users, Concurrent Players & Games appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Call of Duty is the best-selling first-person-shooter franchise in history and one of the biggest in all of gaming. This page compiles the franchise’s sales statistics — total units, revenue and the best-selling individual games.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• The Call of Duty franchise has sold 500M+ copies — the best-selling FPS series ever.
• It has generated an estimated US$30 billion in lifetime revenue.
• Black Ops III (~43M) is the best-selling single entry.
• The original Black Ops (2010) and 2019’s Modern Warfare each sold ~30M.
• Black Ops 6 has topped recent US sales charts.
• CoD is now owned by Microsoft following the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

How Many Copies Has Call of Duty Sold?

Across the whole series, Call of Duty has sold more than 500 million units (excluding free-to-play Warzone), making it the best-selling first-person-shooter franchise of all time and one of the top-selling franchises in any genre. Lifetime gross revenue is estimated at around US$30 billion.

The Best-Selling Call of Duty Game

A court filing revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops III is the franchise’s best-selling entry at around 43 million copies — ahead of the original Black Ops and 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot (each ~30M). More recently, Black Ops 6 has led US dollar-sales charts, aided by its day-one launch on Game Pass.

Microsoft, Game Pass & the Future

Call of Duty is now a Microsoft franchise following the ~US$69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. Putting new CoD titles on Game Pass at launch has changed how the series’ ‘sales’ are measured — shifting some revenue from unit sales to subscriptions, an important caveat when comparing recent entries to older ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many copies has Call of Duty sold?

The Call of Duty franchise has sold more than 500 million units and generated around US$30 billion in lifetime revenue — the best-selling FPS series ever.

What is the best-selling Call of Duty game?

Call of Duty: Black Ops III, at roughly 43 million copies, per a court filing — ahead of Black Ops (2010) and Modern Warfare (2019).

Who owns Call of Duty now?

Microsoft, following its ~US$69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Is Call of Duty on Game Pass?

Yes — new Call of Duty titles now launch day-one on Xbox Game Pass, which shifts some revenue from unit sales to subscriptions.

Methodology & Sourcing

Franchise and per-title figures are drawn from Statista, publisher statements and legal/court filings (which revealed several exact unit figures). ‘Copies sold’ excludes free-to-play Warzone. Recent Game-Pass-era titles are harder to compare on units alone. Rounded and updated as new figures emerge.

Sources

• Statista — best-selling Call of Duty games
• Activision / Microsoft — franchise sales statements
• Court filings revealing per-title unit sales
• Circana — US sales charts (2025–26)

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post Call of Duty Sales Statistics (2026): Franchise & Every Game appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Who is winning the current console generation? This page tracks PlayStation 5 versus Xbox Series X|S sales through 2026 — the lifetime totals, market-share split, sales trends and how the generation compares to the last one.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• The PS5 has sold ~91.95 million units as of mid-2026, versus ~34.67 million for Xbox Series X|S.
• That is a market-share split of roughly 73% PS5 to 27% Xbox.
• The PS5 leads by over 57 million units — and the gap is still widening.
• Xbox Series hardware sales fell sharply across 2024–25.
• Combined, the two consoles trail the PS4/Xbox One generation’s pace at the same point.
• Microsoft has pivoted toward multiplatform releases and Game Pass over hardware.

Who Is Winning the Console War?

By hardware sales, it is not close. As of mid-2026 the PlayStation 5 has sold around 91.95 million units in 66 months on the market, while the Xbox Series X|S has sold about 34.67 million. Sony holds roughly a 73% to 27% share of the two-horse race, and its lead of over 57 million units has continued to widen.

Xbox Sales Are Falling

The trend is stark: Xbox Series annual sales dropped around 51% from 2023 to 2024, with a further steep decline in 2025. In response, Microsoft has increasingly shifted strategy — bringing former Xbox exclusives to PlayStation and Nintendo, and prioritising Game Pass subscriptions and cloud gaming over selling boxes.

How This Generation Compares

Interestingly, the current generation is running behind the last. In their first 66 months, PS5 and Xbox Series sold a combined ~126.62 million units — about 48 million fewer than the PS4 and Xbox One managed lifetime, reflecting a tougher launch (chip shortages, price rises) and the pull of mobile and PC.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the PS5 outselling the Xbox Series X?

Yes — comfortably. As of 2026 the PS5 has sold ~92 million units versus ~35 million for Xbox Series, a roughly 73% to 27% split.

How many PS5 consoles have been sold?

Around 91.95 million as of mid-2026, per VGChartz estimates.

How many Xbox Series X|S have been sold?

About 34.67 million as of mid-2026 — with sales declining year on year.

Is Xbox giving up on consoles?

Not officially, but Microsoft has pivoted toward multiplatform game releases and Game Pass, de-emphasising hardware sales as Xbox Series numbers fall.

Methodology & Sourcing

Console sales are lifetime estimates from VGChartz as of mid-2026, cross-referenced with company disclosures where available. Sony reports PS5 shipments in its financial results; Microsoft no longer discloses Xbox unit sales, so Xbox figures are third-party estimates. Figures rounded and updated as new data is published.

Sources

• VGChartz — PS5 vs Xbox Series sales comparison (2026)
• Sony Interactive Entertainment — PS5 shipment reporting
• Microsoft — Xbox / Game Pass strategy statements
• Industry sales estimates and analysis

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post PS5 vs Xbox Series Sales (2026): Console War Statistics appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Gaming is mainstream across Australasia — bigger than most other entertainment categories on consumer spend. This page gathers the headline statistics on players, spending and demographics in New Zealand and Australia, drawn chiefly from IGEA’s annual Digital New Zealand and Digital Australia research, updated to 2026.

Key Takeaways for Journalists

• Around 77% of New Zealanders and 67% of Australians play video games.
• Australians spend an estimated A$4 billion+ a year on games; New Zealanders NZ$700M+.
• The average player is aged ~35 — not a teenager.
• Close to half of all players are women (~46–48%).
• The great majority of homes have a device used to play games.
• Older adults are the fastest-growing gaming demographic in both countries.

How Many People Play Games in NZ & Australia?

IGEA’s research consistently finds gaming is a majority activity across Australasia: roughly two-thirds of Australians and an even higher share of New Zealanders — around three-quarters — play video games. The average player age sits in the mid-30s, and the gender split is close to even, dispelling the stereotype of gaming as a young-male pursuit.

How Much Do New Zealand & Australia Spend on Games?

Australia’s total consumer spend on games runs to an estimated A$4 billion or more a year across hardware, software and in-game purchases. New Zealand’s market, scaled for its smaller population, sits in the NZ$700 million-plus range. In both countries, games rival or exceed box-office and music on consumer spend.

Demographics & Trends

Two trends stand out. First, parents are gamers too — a large share play with their children, shaping attitudes to classification and screen time. Second, older adults are the fastest-growing segment: gaming among over-55s has climbed steadily, driven by mobile and casual titles.

Why It Matters

These figures make gaming one of the largest entertainment categories in both nations — essential context for coverage of game classification, in-game spending, esports investment and screen-time policy. For the regulatory angle on randomised paid rewards, see our loot box spending research.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of New Zealanders play video games?

Around 77% of New Zealanders play video games, per IGEA’s Digital New Zealand research — one of the highest participation rates in the world.

How much do Australians spend on video games?

Australians spend an estimated A$4 billion or more a year on games across hardware, software and in-game purchases.

What is the average age of a gamer in Australia and NZ?

About 35 in Australia and mid-30s in New Zealand — the typical player is a working-age adult, not a teenager.

Are most gamers male?

No — the split is close to even, with women making up roughly 46–48% of players in both countries.

Methodology & Sourcing

Figures are drawn from IGEA’s Digital Australia and Digital New Zealand reports and associated member research, expressed as the latest available findings. Spend figures are total consumer spend across hardware, software and in-game purchases; participation and demographic figures are as surveyed. Numbers are rounded and updated as new IGEA research is released.

Sources

• IGEA — Digital Australia report (latest)
• IGEA — Digital New Zealand report (latest)
• Interactive Games & Entertainment Association member data
• Aotearoa / Australia participation surveys

Have newer figures or spot an error? We keep this page current — get in touch via our Contact page.

The post Gaming in New Zealand & Australia: Statistics (to 2026) appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

The three tiers

• Essential — includes the Monthly Games, online multiplayer and cloud saves.
• Extra — adds the Game Catalog, a large library of downloadable titles.
• Premium/Deluxe — adds classics, game trials and (in supported regions) cloud streaming.

The Monthly Games are available to every tier, including Essential.

How claiming works

New Monthly Games are added on the first Tuesday of each month and stay claimable for roughly a month, until the next batch replaces them. The key rule: you must add a game to your library while it’s live to keep it. Once claimed, it’s yours to play for as long as your subscription is active — if you lapse, access pauses until you resubscribe.

Tips to get the most out of it

• Claim everything, even games you won’t play yet. Adding them to your library is free and locks in access.
• You don’t have to download to claim. Hit “Add to Library” from a browser or phone the moment they drop.
• Set a reminder for the first Tuesday. Missing the window means missing that month’s games for good.

We publish the new line-up the moment it’s confirmed each month — but if you understand the claim window, you’ll never lose a game to a missed deadline again.

The post PlayStation Plus Monthly Games: How It Works & How to Never Miss One appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

When it was first revealed at The Game Awards last December, No Rest for the Wicked quickly shot up to the top of my most anticipated games list.

Created by Moon Studios, the same developers who brought us the excellent Ori games, this attempt at a souls-inspired isometric action RPG seemed like an exciting evolution and challenge for the studio.

Given early impressions and the official trailers for the game, when it was released in early access on Steam for PC I thought I knew what to expect from the game. But the more I played, the more systems I encountered, I think I better understood what Moon Studios is attempting with the it.

The ambition on display is immense, yet I wasn’t able to shake an apprehension that it was not quite a cohesive package, at least not yet. And after a labour of six years on the title before just this initial release, what is the long-term future for the game and how might it change throughout the early access period?

After a short character creation, No Rest for the Wicked starts with you, a special warrior called a Cerim, arriving at the island of Sacra, which is experiencing a plague that needs to be halted and reversed. Amidst the death of its ruler, game of thrones-style politics and conflict between the heirs, nobles and the religious rulers plays out in gorgeous cutscenes.

Really, the whole of No Rest for the Wicked is absolutely stunning, and is what I imagine has drawn many people to the game in the first place. It uses a fully 3D environment that comes as close as anything has to looking like a moving, dark oil painting. The art style absolutely sings on an OLED panel with a strong emphasis on contrast between warm oranges of lit areas and the blackness of those in shadow. There’s a subtle, Animal Crossing style bending of the world, which helps the Isometric view feel more dynamic and alive.

The core of the game however is undoubtedly the combat.

The real-time action sword and shield combat is heavy and weighty, with a fair amount of inspiration from the Souls series. All enemies can take out serious chunks of your health so timely dodging, parrying and interrupting attacks is essential in making progress. So far, No Rest for the Wicked is not an easy game, and I died more times than I expected. You do have a pretty good variety of weapons in this early access release, including a magic staff, a massive two handed claymore, a hammer and a standard sword (I’m sure there are more that I missed). Weapons have their own skills that are activated through a limited focus metre, and there was a nice flow of battle in using normal attacks and blocks until I got to use my special moves for extra damage.

What has held back some of my fun with the combat is the unexpected influence of the game’s nascent survival mechanics. Taking unfortunate inspiration from the worst part of Demon’s Souls, you have to craft each and every health restoration item according to various recipes and ingredients you find in the environment. This makes attempting each new area or boss a frustrating experience, as you may need to run around searching for some mushroom patch that isn’t depleted before you can have another go at the part of the game you actually care about.

Item durability also plays a frustratingly large role, with your equipped items suffering rapid deterioration each time you die. To repair them, you can use a limited amount of repair kits or pay a blacksmith to repair them. Combined with having to craft health restoration items, it resulted in sometimes annoying long gaps between making actual progress and farming enemies to get back to the state you were before. The best games carefully balance difficulty with friction, but in its current state No Rest for the Wicked doesn’t seem to have found the right set of trade offs. Both Ori games smartly balanced sometimes tricky platforming against fast loading, quick restarts with an innovative save system that let you set checkpoints wherever you wanted. Perhaps Moon Studios could revisit these titles to see what worked and how, perhaps, they could influence their latest title.

In terms of performance – on PC this initial release can easily reach 30FPS but achieving a locked 60FPS is surprisingly difficult.

At least for now, there are few graphical options to play with, and the usual lifesavers features to claw back some performance such as DLSS super resolution temporal upscaling is listed as ‘coming soon’ (no word on Intel’s XeSS or AMD’s FSR2 or 3, unfortunately). The developer has noted more fine-grained options are coming, but for now you can try a few different basic general image quality settings and there is a basic resolution slider to turn down if performance is unstable.

And this is a game that truly benefits from higher frame rates. On my Steam Deck playing at 30FPS the whole experience felt sluggish and unresponsive. Only at 60FPS and above (where possible) using my gaming PC’s NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti GPU did the game feel responsive and fluid enough for me to feel confident when tackling the game’s dispiriting combat.

In this initial early access state, No Rest for the Wicked includes a decent chunk of gameplay. Included is the first chapter, a main town, some side quests and a replayable dungeon. There’s no clear roadmap from early access to a full release but developer Moon Studios has promised up to four-player co-op, PvP, new regions and even farming.

For what is still a small studio this is a wild scope of features on top of what is already there – the combat, home decoration, crafting and survival systems – and I worry that the ambition for the game is larger than what they can reasonably deliver to a decent quality level. Will it take another six years for the full release?

Will the early access release be able to maintain interest over that whole period? These are the risks of buying into the project at this point in time. It also makes me question if Moon Studios truly has a lid on what the game should be; scope creep is real and can be debilitating long-term if not addressed. I’d love to be proven wrong, but it is hard to shake some apprehension about what is trying to be achieved.

No Rest for the Wicked’s early access launch is out now on PC, and the full release is expected on Xbox Series consoles and Playstation 5.

The post No Rest for the Wicked (PC) Early Access Impressions appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Horizon: Forbidden West was the competent, graphically impressive sequel to 2017’s Horizon: Zero Dawn, which was one of the first PlayStation games released on PC in this new multiplatform era.

And now, two years after it was released on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, it is also on PC. And the port takes on the characteristics of the game itself. Competent, full-featured, relatively issue free, but ultimately unspectacular. We are now far beyond being excited at the mere prospect of a PlayStation game on Steam, and in the future porting house Nixxes and Sony may need to push their ambitions higher to regain the hype of the initial releases.

Horizon: Forbidden West continues the journey of Aloy as she seeks to discover the source of a blight threatening the land, coming up against new challenges and unexpected foes. The PC version has nothing new or specific to it in terms of the game’s narrative, but everything is here and fully featured. This means it includes the game’s Burning Shores expansion, which is a meaty addition to the main game that in my experience can be quite a bit harder (perhaps it was just my time away that made it feel trickier than it actually is).

As before, you can only access the DLC area after the very end of the main game, so unfortunately there is no concession to those who may have played through the original title on PS4 or PS5 and wanted to tackle the expansion on their PC. And again, there is no ability to transfer your Playstation save into the PC version, something I sorely missed after putting about 50 hours into it on Sony’s console. It seems like a missed opportunity, seeing as you can even link your Steam account to your PlayStation Network account. And while there is full DualSense support when using it wired, there is still no ability to get the full DualSense experience via wireless play, something Sony seems utterly uninterested in addressing.

I was happy to see though that there is a bevy of graphical options and settings to fiddle with, and there weren’t any strange exclusions of features. In terms of upscalers, there’s support for NVIDIA DLSS 3, including frame generation and DLAA, FSR2 and even Intel’s XeSS. There’s proper support for ultrawide displays, and in every other respect Horizon: Forbidden West can be configured like a true native PC port. Perhaps the only strangeness is that Nixxes continues to use a settings launcher to configure your experience prior to the game actually starting. Personally I appreciate this option but I know for some people it can be a minor annoyance.

But what about performance?

Given some of the issues with performance in recent releases of PlayStation exclusives such as The Last of Us: Part 1, I was a little trepidatious approaching Horizon: Forbidden West. Fortunately, while relatively heavy, I did not experience any strange PC performance issues in my time with Forbidden West on PC. Settings worked just as I expected them to, though I did not see as much of a boost as I was expecting with DLSS 3 Frame Generation at only around an extra 20FPS (this may be user error as I am still relatively new to using that option). Truthfully though, the game already looked excellent on PlayStation 5 and there aren’t any new options or settings that truly let your PC scale the visuals above the console version. So while it is solid, it is somewhat disappointing not to see any ray-tracing options or additions like Ground Truth Ambient Occlusion or Screen Space Directional Occlusion, both of which were added to God of War when it came over to PC.

For those who are interested in taking Forbidden West on the go with a Steam Deck, this won’t be a great experience. Even at the “Very Low” preset” and with FSR2 set to ‘Balanced’ I wasn’t able to maintain a consistent 30FPS, especially once you get into the main open world. This is a change from the first game, which just managed to run well enough to be one of the more popular titles on the Deck when it originally launched. It isn’t just the frame rate either, the frame times are unfortunately extremely inconsistent and there are big spikes relatively often.

Perhaps your tolerance for sub-30FPS gameplay is better than mine (to be fair, we did suffer through our fair share of PAL-related horrors back in the day – 17 FPS Ocarina of Time anyone?) but I imagine for most people Horizon: Forbidden West is simply too big for Steam Deck.

As game development costs spiral and the market size stagnates, publishers increasingly need to amortise the cost over more than one platform. Microsoft has been on both PC and Xbox day and date for years now, and with Sony we are finally in a somewhat regular cadence of PC releases a year or two after their console debut (Helldivers 2 – Sony published but independently developed excepted). It is just a shame that the two years between releases didn’t see Nixxes given the scope to actually expand the game’s visuals. It makes me wonder why we are left with such a long gap between drinks, seeing as there is very little reason for someone who has played the original to pick up this version – the audience is very different so releasing the PC version earlier is unlikely to cannibalise sales to any great degree. We are left with a competent, somewhat unexciting port that does exactly what it says on the tin.

If a PC release of Forbidden West is what you’ve been waiting for you can have no hesitation in picking it up but equally, there may be no reason to double dip, especially if you played it on PS5 with its impressive array of display and performance options.

The post Horizon: Forbidden West (PC) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.