New IPs are incredibly risky, which is why sometimes it seems the gaming industry relies too heavily on remasters and sequels. One company not afraid of this is People Can Fly, which expressed confidence in Outriders as a new IP leading into launch. When Outriders did release, it received a lot of praise, but there were a few areas where fans wanted to see improvements. Things like inventory wipes, timed endgame content, and more saw fans move on to the next title in their gaming log.
Now, however, Outriders is bringing fans back. Steam is the only platform that can be tracked, but it’s obvious there are more players on other platforms now too. Indeed, Steam Charts reveal massive leaps in player counts, with the game currently outpacing its player count back in June 2021 (which wasn’t long after its release.)
Forbes, reasonably, points out two major reasons for this huge increase. The first is the current sale on Outriders, which discounts the game from its standard full price of 59.99 to just $20. At this price, many would argue that Outriders is a steal, but that’s made even more true by the recent Outriders New Horizon update.
This massive, free update came in swinging, fixing many of the issues players had with the game since launch. More than that, though, it added new content and confirmed more of what’s to come to the game in 2022. Specifically, Outriders removed the time limit on standard Expedition runs, added a transmog system that puts Destiny 2 and other games to shame, new class rebalances (read buffs), and far, far more.
On top of all that, while bugs linger in Outriders as they do all games, Outriders’ infamous inventory wipe is no more, crossplay has been improved, AFK protection has improved matchmaking, general co-op performance has been improved, enemies have been better balanced, and the damage mitigation bug has been fixed.
Outriders is in the best health it’s been since launch, and for a game that doesn’t push microtransactions like live-service games, that’s a big deal. Everything about the New Horizon update screams consumer-friendly, and Outriders still isn’t done. A full-blown expansion for Outriders called Worldslayer is slated for 2022. There really hasn’t been a better time to hop into the game, especially since fans can be preparing their endgame builds for Worldslayer.
Outriders is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: SteamCharts (via Forbes)