Ever stumbled upon a game that’s wildly popular yet kinda divides its own community? That’s exactly what’s happening with Russian Fishing 4, a fishing sim that’s been quietly reeling in thousands of players on Steam since its 2021 launch there. But the real catch? Its bizarre $2,000 lifetime subscription has folks torn between love and hate. Intrigued? You should be.
Thanks to PC Gamer’s Wes Fenlon pointing out its strange Steam success, I only heard about this game. Despite being out since 2018 and hitting Steam in late 2021, Russian Fishing 4 steadily grew its audience, hitting over 20,000 concurrent players daily, with a peak of 25,352 just nine days ago. That’s massive for a fishing sim! Remember, Steam is just part of the picture since the game is also available directly from the developer.
What’s so special about it? Well, the gameplay itself is pretty chill and satisfying. I jumped in, played the tutorial, and found the atmosphere super peaceful. The mechanics are simple enough, and the visuals mostly look nice. A cool feature is seeing other players’ catches pop up live on your screen, which adds some friendly competition while waiting for a bite.
Though, heads up: my fishing luck was limited to carp and roaches, probably because of my low level. And here’s the twist—the grind is painfully slow. You catch fish, sell them, and slowly upgrade your gear to tackle bigger fish, but leveling up takes forever. Some spots won’t even let you fish unless you’re at the right level. It’s a real test of patience.
That grind ties into the game’s monetization, which is where opinions get heated. Russian Fishing 4 is free-to-play but really leans into microtransactions. There’s a Premium membership that basically smooths out the experience. It doubles your XP gains, boosts skill improvements, and unlocks important features that make the game less of a slog.
Prices for Premium? Three days cost $3.50, a month is $15, and it goes up to $40 for 90 days or $130 for a year. But then you hit the eyebrow-raising option: a lifetime subscription for $2,000. Yeah, two grand. Yikes! I’m honestly curious who drops that kind of cash on a fishing sim, and whether it’ll even matter if a Russian Fishing 5 ever comes out (spoiler: probably not).
The steep monetization is why the Steam reviews are mixed. Many players love the sim but hate the grind or feel the game nickel-and-dimes too hard. Interestingly, there’s a vocal group of Chinese players giving negative reviews, complaining about bans for cheating (they say unfairly), lack of fish, and greedy developers. One player said, “If you want to play this game, please keep your computer like a newborn, do not try any uncommon programmes,” which sounds like a weird warning, right?
Another review from a Russian player cracked me up: “After this shit, friends become bastards.” I can’t help but wonder what drama happened there!
Ultimately, Russian Fishing 4 is a strange success story. It’s clearly a solid fishing sim that hooks a lot of people, but its monetization approach leaves many frustrated, even those who have logged hundreds of hours. The grind-and-paywall combo makes it a love-hate relationship for sure. I’m more of a Get Bass fan myself, but I get why some folks keep coming back.
So what do you think? Would you fork over serious cash for a lifetime Premium pass, or is the grind more your style?
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