Once Human Steals Spotlight at Steam Next Fest, Boosting Demand

NetEase's upcoming third-person shooter, Once Human, has achieved remarkable success, boasting over 15 million global pre-registrations. This follows a strong showing at Steam Next Fest. However, a closer examination reveals a significant contrast between its performance on PC and mobile platforms.

While the overall pre-registration numbers are impressive, only 300,000 of these are Steam wishlists. This highlights the disparity between NetEase's established mobile presence and its PC-first approach with Once Human, despite the game's popularity on Steam during Next Fest. The game attracted the most demo players during the event.

This situation underscores the inherent challenges in achieving comparable levels of discoverability and popularity on PC compared to mobile, even for a major developer like NetEase. While the company's PC focus is understandable and not necessarily negative, the data clearly illustrates the differing audience sizes and engagement levels between these two platforms.

For those seeking mobile gaming options while awaiting Once Human's release, we recommend exploring our curated lists of the best and most anticipated mobile games of 2024. These lists provide a handpicked selection of high-quality titles.