TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Slay the Spire 2 has been averaging over a million users per day since launch.
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Slay the Spire 2 was an immediate success, delivering a top-selling launch day performance. But as more data emerges, it's become increasingly clear that Slay the Spire 2's launch is a historic record-setter. According to Newzoo, PC Gamer's official data partner, StS 2 is the best-performing deckbuilder of all time—and it's leading by a massive margin.
Steam peak concurrent users, while a flawed metric for a game's ongoing health, provide the clearest image of how Slay the Spire 2 is separated from other card game heavy hitters by orders of magnitude. Balatro peaked at 44,000 concurrent users in January 2025, Slay the Spire 1 at 57,000 in December 2025, and Monster Train 2 at 18,500 shortly after its May 2025 launch. Three days after its early access launch, Slay the Spire 2 peaked at 575,000 concurrents.
"That is more than 13 times Balatro's peak, and this is a $24.99 paid Early Access title with no console version yet. Mega Crit confirmed 3 million copies sold in the first week. At that price point, that implies roughly $75M gross before Valve's cut," Newzoo analysts told PC Gamer.
Meanwhile, Newzoo's proprietary tracking of active users across PC and console shows Balatro leading other deckbuilders and card battlers with approximately 1.76 million monthly active users between January 2025 and February 2026. Early daily active user figures for Slay the Spire 2, however, "suggest it will lead the category by a substantial margin."
With only a Steam player base to work with, Slay the Spire 2 "averaged 1.08 million users per day across the first 11 days with no sign of decay" according to Newzoo data.
"On concurrent players and first-week sales, this is the best-performing deckbuilder on record," Newzoo says.
Newzoo attributes Slay the Spire 2's unprecedented launch to a number of factors—chief among them being the fact that it benefited from seven years of player anticipation. Slay the Spire "had no sequel, no spin-off, no dilution," which meant "every player who finished StS1 and wanted more was still waiting, with nowhere else to go."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
And there were likely more of those players than anyone had ever realized. Newzoo notes that, as a purely solo game, StS1 "does ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Slay the Spire 2 was an immediate success, delivering a top-selling launch day performance. But as more data emerges, it's become increasingly clear that Slay the Spire 2's launch is a historic record-setter. According to Newzoo, PC Gamer's official data partner, StS 2 is the best-performing deckbuilder of all time—and it's leading by a massive margin.
Steam peak concurrent users, while a flawed metric for a game's ongoing health, provide the clearest image of how Slay the Spire 2 is separated from other card game heavy hitters by orders of magnitude. Balatro peaked at 44,000 concurrent users in January 2025, Slay the Spire 1 at 57,000 in December 2025, and Monster Train 2 at 18,500 shortly after its May 2025 launch. Three days after its early access launch, Slay the Spire 2 peaked at 575,000 concurrents.
"That is more than 13 times Balatro's peak, and this is a $24.99 paid Early Access title with no console version yet. Mega Crit confirmed 3 million copies sold in the first week. At that price point, that implies roughly $75M gross before Valve's cut," Newzoo analysts told PC Gamer.
Meanwhile, Newzoo's proprietary tracking of active users across PC and console shows Balatro leading other deckbuilders and card battlers with approximately 1.76 million monthly active users between January 2025 and February 2026. Early daily active user figures for Slay the Spire 2, however, "suggest it will lead the category by a substantial margin."
With only a Steam player base to work with, Slay the Spire 2 "averaged 1.08 million users per day across the first 11 days with no sign of decay" according to Newzoo data.
"On concurrent players and first-week sales, this is the best-performing deckbuilder on record," Newzoo says.
Newzoo attributes Slay the Spire 2's unprecedented launch to a number of factors—chief among them being the fact that it benefited from seven years of player anticipation. Slay the Spire "had no sequel, no spin-off, no dilution," which meant "every player who finished StS1 and wanted more was still waiting, with nowhere else to go."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
And there were likely more of those players than anyone had ever realized. Newzoo notes that, as a purely solo game, StS1 "does ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?