Lethal Company is an independent horror game that has rapidly amassed over 100,000 continuous players by capitalizing on the anarchic humor that cooperative online games can provide.
There are a few independent multiplayer games with unique gameplay that have gone viral, but they are unusual. Two excellent examples of independent games where the majority of the marketing is done by enthusiastic players and content developers are BattleBit Remastered and Among Us.
Lethal Company appears to be the next multiplayer game to experience broad success following the massive distribution of player-generated films of their errors and antics on social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter. Not surprisingly, more than 100,000 gamers wanted to join in on the action.
The youthful coder applauded his accomplishment on Twitter and expressed excitement about building on Lethal Company’s wildly popular model.
Lethal Company takes Steam charts by storm
Players obviously adore what creator Zeekerss created, as seen by the over 97% favorable Steam reviews for Lethal Company out of over 18,000 reviews. The intentionally straightforward horror game finds depth in the ways in which players engage with the environment and one another, resulting in a memorable experience that fosters friendships and memorable scenarios.
The objective for players is to search randomly generated levels for enough rubbish, trinkets, and scrap metal to meet their profit target. The player will survive as long as they find enough items to make a profit; if they find fewer than that, they will perish.
Despite the game being less than a month old, the high-stakes race for riches, special in-game tools, and a well-executed proximity chat have all contributed to several viral moments in the game.
Whether you’re in the action with your crewmates or observing from afar, Lethal Company maintains enough tension to be a genuinely scary horror experience while being light-hearted and comedic enough in presentation to be approachable for those who aren’t typically into horror.
As more and more players log in to try the game for themselves, this broadcast and Charlie’s later YouTube video showcasing some of their greatest moments helped push the game to even greater heights.
The overwhelming amount of support for the game astounded Dev Zeekerss. They were celebrating 1000 reviews a week after the game’s release. With over 100,000 players playing at once, it is now at 18,000.
As of the time of writing, Rainbow 6 Siege has a 24-hour peak of 78k, whereas Apex Legends has a top of 438k. This little independent effort has overtaken a long-running live-service game in less than a month to rank among Steam’s most played titles. As of this writing, its 24-hour high ranks it 12th out of all the titles on Steam.
Even though Counter-Strike 2 has a far larger player base, Lethal Company’s quick ascent from a relatively unknown indie game to one of the most popular Steam titles cannot be disputed.