Right now, if you’re one of the countless gamers diving into Monster Hunter Wilds or anxiously waiting to see if Assassin’s Creed Shadows lives up to expectations, you might have missed another significant release this month.
I’m talking about the PC debut of Rise of the Ronin, the game that was once only available on the PS5 from the talented folks at Team Ninja, known for their work on Nioh and Ninja Gaiden. It finally hit Steam on Tuesday but didn’t exactly make a big splash.
Rise of the Ronin’s arrival on PC comes a full year after it first launched on the PS5. As Team Ninja’s latest ambitious project and a potential cornerstone for a new series under publisher Koei Tecmo, there was much anticipation. However, the game has left many fans of Team Ninja unimpressed because it didn’t deliver on what they expect. On the other hand, it also struggled to captivate the more casual audiences. If you were hoping the PC release would breathe new life into this game, prepare for disappointment.
According to SteamDB, Rise of the Ronin hit a peak of just 12,105 players post-launch, which is a stark contrast to the impressive numbers that Team Ninja’s recent hits like Nioh 2 and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty have pulled in. This lackluster performance seems even more bewildering when you consider Dynasty Warriors: Origins—a game that recently won big for Koei Tecmo, peaking at a remarkable 69,483 concurrent players when it launched in January.
Player reviews aren’t painting a pretty picture either, with less than 1,000 reviews on Steam giving the game a Mixed rating overall. Aside from the typical complaints about performance issues, many gamers are bemoaning its Assassin’s Creed-like feel.
Sure, there’s still a glimmer of hope that things could take a turn for the better as the week progresses and maybe see an uptick over the weekend. We’ve certainly witnessed other games gaining traction after a slow start as word spreads. However, those usually launch with much stronger player numbers from the get-go.
This optimism is dampened by the timing of Ronin’s release, sandwiched between heavyweights like Monster Hunter and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which explores similar settings and gameplay elements.
