2024 Soulslike With 'Very Positive' Reviews is Suddenly Drawing Thousands of Players on Steam

The 2024 Soulslike No Rest for the Wicked is suddenly blowing up on Steam, with tons of new players hopping into the action to see what all the fuss is about. While No Rest for the Wicked‘s sudden surge in popularity may seem random, there are a few clear factors that are causing the game’s massively increased player count on Steam.

No Rest for the Wicked launched into Early Access back in April 2024. It’s the first made by developer Moon Studios not in the Ori series, marking a significant genre shift for the studio. The developer has decided to try its hand at a Soulslike for the first time, a difficult genre to tackle. So far, Moon Studios has made great use of Early Access to improve the game, which players rewarded with strong sales numbers. No Rest for the Wicked hit the 1 million sales milestone earlier this month, an impressive figure for the self-published title. Gamers are clearly happy with the game, too; No Rest for the Wicked currently has “Very Positive” reviews on Steam, with 86% of the game’s reviews being positive at the time of writing.

Best Early Weapons in No Rest for the Wicked

No Rest for the Wicked is pretty challenging until you get the right weapon in your hands.

No Rest for the Wicked is Blowing Up On Steam

Over on SteamDB, gamers can take a look at No Rest for the Wicked‘s crazy player charts over the last week. The game has suddenly gone from strength to strength, averaging anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 concurrent players prior to January 22. After this date, the Soulslike game has enjoyed a sudden, massive surge in popularity, setting a new all-time concurrent peak player count of 61,978 at the time of writing. However, that number is still rising right now, and could be even higher in the coming days.

No Rest for the Wicked Servant of God Quarry entrance

Although it may seem a little random that No Rest for the Wicked is enjoying this player count increase around a year and a half after its launch, it’s actually easily explained. No Rest for the Wicked is currently free-to-play on Steam until January 26, meaning players can jump in completely free of charge and give it a try. During this period, it is also available at a 40% discount, bringing it down to just $23.99, which may also be impacting the player count numbers right now.

It being free helps, obviously. But the situation surrounding No Rest for the Wicked is actually the perfect storm for success. As the free-to-play promotion began, Moon Studios released No Rest for the Wicked‘s co-op mode, which allows up to four players to hop in together and tackle the game’s challenges as a group. The game is fully rebalanced in co-op mode, so it doesn’t necessarily get any easier. Players have access to free private realms, too, so there’s no paywall involved with co-op. This means that players are getting their friends together to try No Rest for the Wicked‘s co-op mode while it’s free, resulting in some seriously impressive player count figures. It will be interesting to see how many players stick around and purchase the game after the free promotion ends.

No Rest for the Wicked Servant of God oubliette mechanism

As No Rest for the Wicked is still in Early Access, there’s still plenty more to come from the game. Developer Moon Studios has yet to reveal the official release date for the game, with an Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 launch also planned further down the line. More planned features for Early Access can be found on the game’s Steam page, including PvP, expanded story content, more map regions, and additional Crucible floors in No Rest for the Wicked.