Once Human, the upcoming third-person shooter from NetEase, has made a significant impact on Steam's Next Fest, surpassing 15 million registrations worldwide. This achievement highlights the game's popularity, but there's an interesting twist to the story. Despite the high number of pre-registrations, only 300,000 of those are wishlists on Steam. This discrepancy underscores a key point: while Once Human is gaining traction on PC, it still lags behind its mobile counterpart in terms of overall registrations.
NetEase, traditionally known for its strong presence in the mobile gaming market, has chosen a PC-first release strategy for Once Human. This move is not without merit, as evidenced by the game's performance during Steam Next Fest, where it attracted the highest number of demo players. However, the lower number of Steam wishlists compared to total registrations suggests that discoverability on PC remains a challenge, even for a well-known developer like NetEase.
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NetEase's decision to target a PC audience first is not surprising, given the game's success on Steam. However, this situation illustrates the ongoing disparity between mobile and PC gaming audiences. It's clear that even for a big developer, achieving the same level of popularity and discoverability on PC as on mobile can be challenging.
As you eagerly await the release of Once Human, why not explore other gaming options? Our comprehensive list of the best mobile games of 2024 (so far) offers a variety of titles that might catch your interest. Alternatively, our curated list of the most anticipated mobile games of the year can give you a sneak peek at what's coming up in the mobile gaming world. Both lists are handpicked to showcase the best and most promising mobile games available.