Gray Zone Warfare, a new tactical FPS, launched in early access on Steam yesterday, and so far looks to be a success for developer Madfinger Games. While user reviews are split on its quality, enough players have put money down for the game for it to top Steam’s best-sellers list.
At the time of writing,Gray Zone Warfareis outperforming bothManor Lords(another recent early access title that’s proving incredibly popular) andTotal War: Warhammer 3, whichdropped a new batch of DLCon April 30, the same day asGray Zone Warfare‘s launch. The game is even outselling the Steam Deck, which you may see for yourself over onSteam’s website.
It’ll be interesting to see how longGray Zone Warfarekeeps up this momentum given the mixed response from players. A quick glance through some of themore negative user reviewspoint to a game that simply doesn’t run very well, with poor performance and frequent crashes being common complaints, which has prompted more than a few refunds.
Themajority of the reviews, however, are positive, and judging by some of them,Gray Zone Warfareis benefiting from the recent backlash towardsEscape from Tarkov. Both games feature similar extraction gameplay, as well as PvE and PvP, butEscape from Tarkovmanaged to upset its entire community bycharging $250 for its PvE mode. This happened less than a week beforeGray Zone Warfare‘s launch, so it appears to have scooped up some ofEscape from Tarkov‘s disgruntled fans. Theuser review voted to be the most helpfulis even an unsubtle jab atEscape from Tarkov, praisingGray Zone Warfarefor not costing $250.
Still,Gray Zone Warfarecan’t rely onEscape from Tarkov‘s unpopular business decisions forever. While you should expect it to feel unfinished by virtue of it being early access, Madfinger Games needs to ensure it gets updates out regularly, particularly regarding the performance, if it wants to maintain an audience and attract more players.
