Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn total player count breaks 500,000

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a Soulslite released by indie studio A44 this year, with only one other game under their belt in Ashen. The game has recently broken 500,000 total players—a monumental victory for a 60 person team. Mind you, this includes Xbox GamePass players.

To compare Flintlock to something like Elden Ring would be ridiculous, but Lies of P (another Soulslike released in September of 2023) is much more fair. Lies of P had sold over 1,000,000 copies by October of the same year, which was mind-boggling considering the teams behind it, Neowiz Games and Round8 Studios, had never attempted a Soulslike game before. Lies of P was a critical and community darling, and was nominated for two awards at The Game Awards of that year.

So why did Lies of P do so much better than Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn in the same time frame (not even counting GamePass players)? You could argue it all comes down to timing and resources. Lies of P released during a major drought for Soulslike content, and was certainly advertised as somewhat of a saving grace for all of us itching for some considerable humbling. Riding the never ending hype train of the Elden Ring DLC that was yet to release, and with considerable monetary backing from their large development team, Lies of P had every ball in its court.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn then was always somewhat at a bit of a disadvantage, releasing just after Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, while people were very much still actively playing it. This is somewhat comparable to the rather unfortunate release of Horizon: Forbidden West, which released just a week before Elden Ring and was met with somewhat stalled sales when Elden Ring did release. But still, for A44 to create a game so genuinely good (if not imperfect) is an absolutely monumental feat, and 500,000 players is frankly still less than they deserve, but it is still a testament to the team and their passion for what they have made.

In any case, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has done relatively well in terms of both critical reception (our review included) and user opinion, sitting at a 7.1 out of 10 in critic reviews on Metacritic, and a mostly positive rating on Steam with over 300 user reviews. There have been some issues though, with the game being effectively review bombed on Xbox GamePass due to some bugs specific to the platform (and the political reasons you're likely well familiar with by now).

If you're looking for some more Soulslike goodness from us here at Pro Game Guides, check out our Soulslikes Tier List!