Steam: A Week In Review For 3/7


We look at the things that happened in Steam this week.

This is an article I want to start running on Saturdays, but I didn’t think of it until today. I’ve been trying to figure out ways to consolidate my non-MMO articles into the weekends because this isn’t mmorpg.com, so I haven’t abandoned the “MMO” part of the website name to dedicate huge amounts of time to discussing single player titles and getting bribed with expensive hardware to promote. Since nothing happens in the MMO industry on weekends, I’ve decided to dedicate Saturday to a week in review and Sunday to the week ahead.

The week in review is my way of cutting out the clutter the Steam articles have been having on the front page.

Just pretend this came out on Saturday.

Releases

  • Ranch Simulator: Literally everyone wanted Ranch Simulator last week as it was the top followed item, and since its launch on March 4 the response has been mostly positive. Sitting at a 70% approval rating on Steam with 427 reviews. Positive reviews seem focused around the game’s potential as an early access title while critics have focused on the repetitive nature of the game as well as barebones content and empty world.
  • Loop Hero: Loop Hero meanwhile is sitting at an insane 95% overwhelmingly positive review score with 4,123 reviews in so far. Almost everyone loves this game. Almost. Positive reviews praise how easy it is to lose hours engaged in the title while critics pointed to a high level of grind, the not-so-interactive nature of the game, and limited options for creativity.
  • Foregone: A very positive 81% rating from 135 reviews as of this publishing, Foregone hasn’t become any less beautiful since we talked about it last week. Positive reviews praise the title for its graphics, combat, and similarities to Dead Cells. Critics meanwhile have taken issue with a shallow loot system, lack of feedback when taking damage, and lack of diversity in movesets.
  • The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante: This one has an 89% very positive rating from 448 reviews. Positive reviews praise Sir Brante for its hardcore difficulty, world building, and player choice. Critics have described player choice as an illusion, options thinning as the game progresses, and little effect on the game for increasing your stats.
  • Scrapnaut: A very positive 92% rating from 66 players as of this publishing. Scrapnaut fans are enjoying the base building and crafting while critics have taken issue with the hunger system and controls. Developer SpiffyBit has been responding to just about every review.

Retired Apps

This week’s list of retired items is rather small. Perhaps the most notable among the list is that Brawlhalla retired a few limited time DLC packs. A post on the forums for Infinite Versus notes that the game is playable offline now that the servers are down if you block the executable from connecting to the internet.

Steam Bans

Two titles banned from Steam this week. The first is “The Not So Silent Assassin,” which was banned after the developer wiped the store page and turned it into this:

Don’t buy the game. Well now nobody can. The second ban fell on the title Mirt. Tales of the Cold Land by Emanon Studios. Mirt showcases how poorly Valve vets the games they allow on Steam, as the title was already banned from Steam in November 2019 during the massive ban wave. What did Mirt change to sneak back onto Steam? Nothing. Neither the developer name or game title were changed, yet it took Valve nine months to figure it out.

Finally while not a complete ban, the newest relisting of The Sinking City found itself booted from Steam following a DMCA complaint from the game’s own developer Frogwares. More information on that here.