- Windrose, a new pirate indie on Steam, is winning gamers. It already boasts an all-time peak of 222k.
- The game has drawn bitter comparisons to Skull and Bones.
- Windrose had a significantly smaller team and budget, yet it embodies the pirate experience gamers wanted.
We already know that Ubisoft’s ‘AAAA’ Skull and Bones failed to hold a steady momentum. The $70 title had dropped to just $10 in just half a year. It also launched on several platforms to attract as many players as possible, but that still couldn’t stop the fallout.
New indie Windrose appears to have had the exact opposite launch on PC despite falling into the same genre. The pirate experience has already gained over 220k all-time high peak Steam players, and the number continues to grow since its launch.
Why it matters: Many gamers have argued that Windrose is exactly what Skull and Bones should have been, yet the former was developed by barely over a dozen developers and a fraction of the $850 million+ budget of the latter.
SteamDB’s climbing graph shows that Windrose’s early access launch is a staggering success, with tens of thousands of players at any given time. In comparison, Skull and Bones barely saw over 2k players on Steam.
Ubisoft’s venture was also abandoned by over 90% of gamers on Xbox three months after launch. The results were shockingly similar on PlayStation in the same time period, especially after Sea of Thieves became available there. Windrose is only available on PC.
Windrose has already sold over a million copies within days after launch on a single platform. Meanwhile, Skull and Bones reportedly failed to hit that milestone during its launch days, even after including the free-trial players.
Kraken Express’ indie has a ‘Very Positive’ rating on Steam, 89% at the time of writing. The reviews shared above also speak for themselves. Skull and Bones has a mixed score in contrast.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that many players have already accepted Windrose as the superior piracy experience over Skull and Bones.
Do you think Windrose scratches the itch that Skull and Bones failed to do? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devotedly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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