Lethal Company challenges BG3 for Steam top spots as popularity surge continues

Lethal Company continues down the road of success, soaring past two major esports titles to secure a spot in Steam’s top five most-played games. Not only that, the game managed to beat Baldur’s Gate 3 in peak numbers, solidifying itself as the king of the mainstream.

Lethal Company has steadily increased its peak player numbers by about 10,000 per day in the last two weeks. Today, on Nov. 27, it’s achieved the coveted Steam top five with a peak count of 177,368 concurrent players, according to SteamCharts. To put that into perspective, Baldur’s Gate 3 (arguably the most significant gaming release of 2023) clocked in a bit over 171,000 players at its 24-hour peak, and even though it’s a few months old, Lethal Company‘s success is no less impressive.

The game also soared past two highly active, live-service esports titles, Apex: Legends and PUBG. Steam’s most-played games are usually competitive esports, and whenever a single-player game enters the list, it becomes a talking point. But indie titles seldom climb to such a high spot, especially those made by a single person, and Lethal Company deserves all the praise in the world for managing to do so.

Lethal Company recently became the top-selling game on Steam and continues to hold that spot even in the wake of the Steam Autumn Sale. Lethal Company isn’t even participating in the sale, seeing as it only costs $10 and is a title fresh out of the oven. At full price, during a massive seasonal store-wide discount, Lethal Company sits above industry giants such as Cyberpunk 2077, EA Sports FC 24, and Red Dead Redemption 2—all of which are on sale at a 50 percent discount or more.

The game is slowly becoming a household title, with its community growing exponentially each day. At nearly 75,000 reviews on Steam, it’s one of the biggest releases of 2023, despite having a solo developer who has announced big plans for their larger-than-life co-op horror. I’m excited to see what’s next and hope that Lethal Company will follow Baldur’s Gate 3 to the pinnacle of gaming.