Returnal is the latest PlayStation title to launch on PC, and so far Housemarque's game has been off to a pretty slow start on the platform. According to stats, Returnal is now one of the worst performing PC ports from PlayStation in terms of player numbers on Steam.
Returnal launched on February 15, and so far has failed to attract as many players as you'd expect from a former Sony exclusive. According to SteamDB (via VGC), Returnal's concurrent player numbers peaked at only slightly above 6,600 simultaneous players on Saturday, and it is unlikely the title will surpass that number anytime soon. This puts the recent roguelike shooter in the second-to-last position among all PC ports from PlayStation, surpassing only Sackboy: A Big Adventure.
Sony's former console exclusives usually launch to much more impressive numbers on PC, reaching as high as 73,529 concurrent players in God of War one year ago. However, it's not unusual for the publisher to release titles with notably smaller figures, like Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection back in October. The bundle amassed 10,851 simultaneous players at launch.
The reason behind such an unimpressive performance for Returnal might be the busy gaming slate that is not uncommon during this season of the year. In that same week, for example, Wild Hearts released across the console and PC, with a peak of 28,511 players. And that's despite all the technical issues Koei Tecmo's title has been facing ever since. On the other hand, Returnal's is getting much higher scores from players, as this port isn't suffering from performance issues like Wild Hearts.
Another possible reason is that Returnal belongs to a rather niche genre, and is not your typical third-person cinematic action game Sony is known for. Housemarque's project is an unforgiving roguelike experience, that demands high skill from its players - even if it's easier to control with a mouse and keyboard. In addition, Returnal is a new IP that hit the market only a couple of years ago, so it's a bit unfair to compare it with God of War and Uncharted.
Sony's next PC port is The Last of Us Part 1 launching on March 28. Considering the huge success of the recent adaptation, will it dethrone God of War or Spider-Man? Only time will tell.