Civilization VII, which was released on February 10 and currently has a "Mixed" score on Steam, has failed to make the top 40 and top 100 most-played games at launch on PlayStation.
News in brief
- During launch week, Civilization VII was only the 125th-most popular title.
- Strategy games are usually more popular on PC than console, which could account for low player numbers.
- The game's woeful UI and numerous issues, which have not yet been patched on console, could also be to blame.
Civilization VII saw low player counts during its five-day Early Access period on PlayStation, but things picked up after the full launch, with almost 90% more players diving into the game.
Despite those figures, the game didn't make True Trophy's top 40 or top 100 most-played games list in its launch week, according to a gameplay data sample from Game Trends of more than three million active PSN accounts.
AC Odyssey has a higher player count than Civilization VII
More people are playing Borderlands 3 and Assassin's Creed Odyssey — which launched in 2018 — than Civilization VII. Even popular PC titles like Farming Simulator 25 (119) are ahead of the turn-based strategy title in the rankings, while Civilization VI has remained at number 263 on the list all year, despite being released on PlayStation 4 in 2019.
While it's true that strategy games can be less popular on console than on PC, is that the only reason behind the low player count? Some think the game's performance could be at fault, with early complaints on Steam concerning the terrible UI, missing features, and even criticism of the gameplay design.
Of course, it could be the game's wider multiplatform release that's responsible for lower player counts on PS4 and PS5. Perhaps more people are choosing to play Civilization VIII on a custom gaming rig rather than their console. Or it could be the fact that the game has so far seen three patches for PC despite only launching just over a week ago, while console players need to wait longer for patches to arrive, leaving them frustrated.
