"Once Human: A Smash Hit at Steam Next Fest, Yet Wishlists Lag Behind"

Once Human, the highly anticipated third-person shooter from NetEase, has made waves across platforms, surpassing 15 million global registrations. The game’s performance during Steam’s Next Fest was nothing short of impressive, drawing significant attention and becoming the most-played demo title. However, beneath the surface lies an intriguing detail: only 300,000 of those registrations represent Steam wishlists.

This discrepancy highlights a key challenge for PC developers compared to their mobile counterparts. While Once Human remains popular on Steam, its strong mobile presence—where NetEase has traditionally excelled—is less prominent in the PC market. The game’s desktop version is set for a closer release, suggesting a PC-first strategy, yet this approach underscores the difficulty of achieving comparable discoverability on PC versus mobile.

Despite this, NetEase’s efforts shouldn’t be underestimated. Once Human continues to captivate audiences, proving that even major developers face hurdles when transitioning between platforms. For those eager to explore other titles while waiting for Once Human’s release, consider checking out our comprehensive list of the best mobile games of 2024. Alternatively, dive into our growing collection of anticipated mobile releases for 2024 to discover what else is on the horizon.

Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on NetEase