Graveyard Keeper and its upcoming sequel have recently been blowing up on Steam. Graveyard Keeper is a management simulator heavily inspired by Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon. The player’s tasks include tending to graves, keeping the cemetery tidy, and completing quests from various NPCs. In addition to activities related to the titular profession, the game also features farming, smithing, fishing, crafting, and even multi-level dungeons and basic combat.
When it was released in 2018, Graveyard Keeper received mostly mixed or average reviews from critics and players. Following a less-than-expected reception, the developers began working on expansions to enhance the gameplay and lore of this title set in a medieval world. Over the years, four DLCs have been released, introducing features such as the ability to resurrect corpses, expanded investigation options, and a new ending. Efforts to maintain players’ interest in the game continued into 2026, when a sequel titled Graveyard Keeper 2 was announced.
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The Sudden Popularity of Graveyard Keeper and Its Sequel on Steam
Along with the release of the trailer announcing Graveyard Keeper 2, the developers also decided to let players on various consoles grab the original Graveyard Keeper for free until April 13. Alex Nichiporchik, CEO of tinyBuild, commented on the results of this move on Twitter, sharing screenshots of a graph showing a significant increase in the number of players during the free giveaway, as well as data indicating that over 46,000 people were in the game at the time the screenshot was taken. The CEO also noted that at that time, Graveyard Keeper was ranked 39th among the most-played games on Steam, while the announced sequel had garnered as many as 400,000 wishlist entries. At the end of the post, the author admitted that, as a result of the campaign, the company earned nearly $250,000 from sales of DLC for the original game, with the figures coming directly from Steam and not including console sales.
In the comments section of the CEO’s post, players praised the chosen sales strategy, noting that it was a win-win approach that monetized not the core game content but its expansions. Some commenters also noted that giving away the original game for free would allow new players to get acquainted with Graveyard Keeper as beginners, both in terms of the game itself and its DLCs, as well as the announced sequel. Most users expressed excitement about the series’ continued development, hoping that Graveyard Keeper 2 will be available as soon as possible this year.
Although it has been nearly eight years since the release of Graveyard Keeper, its developers have continued to find new ways to keep the gaming community interested in this unconventional management simulation video game. It’s not unusual for creators to give away games for free for a limited time, but in this case, the combination of the giveaway and the focus on DLCs is intended to highlight the potential for expanding and improving the game, which is set to be realized in the announced sequel.
Graveyard Keeper 2 has officially joined the lineup of games releasing in 2026, and recent efforts to boost players’ interest in this title have had a noticeable effect. It remains to be seen to what extent this brief event will translate into long-term engagement from gamers and whether the sequel will meet their expectations.
- Released
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August 15, 2018
- ESRB
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E For Everyone: Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
- Publisher(s)
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tinyBuild
