More than two million people grabbed Guntouchables, a slapstick co-op roguelike, when it was offered free for 24 hours on Steam. This move by developer Game Swing was quite a gamble, but it brought a lot of attention to the game.
Despite being from a relatively unknown studio, Guntouchables managed to peak at over 16,000 concurrent players according to SteamDB. That’s a solid number for a niche co-op roguelike. Although I haven’t played it myself, I couldn’t resist grabbing the free copy, being Scottish and frugal, that’s kinda how I roll. Plenty of others have fired up the game and left nearly 1,800 reviews, with many praising it as a great buy even at full price.
While the free launch succeeded in pulling in players, it didn’t quite match the success of some other games that took a similar approach. For example, Content Warning, a horror-themed YouTuber parody, attracted over 200,000 players on its first day and benefited from riding the wave of popularity of Lethal Company. Plus, it gained a lot of talk on the very platform it parodied, which probably helped its numbers.
Currently, Guntouchables is still relatively affordable at £4.49/$4.99. The player base appears active enough that finding co-op partners shouldn’t be a problem. Wonder if the game will keep this momentum going or settle into a quieter groove? It’s always interesting to see how these things pan out.
Have you tried Guntouchables yet? What do you think about free launches as a strategy to boost player numbers? Let’s chat about it in the comments below.
