Sonic Team’s most recent game in the long-running franchise,Sonic Frontiers, has surpassed the last peak record of concurrent players on the Steam platform. After a five-year gap since the last mainline 3DSonicgame,Sonic Forces,Sonic Frontiersis finally in the hands of players. While the franchise’s first foray into an open-world setting was seen as an ambitious step, it left some fans worried about its transition. With the game gradually being revealed over the year, impressions were much brighter than when it was first revealed in June.
While critical reception of the game is mixed, many fans have had a more positive reaction. This includes praise for theSonic Frontiers’exploration, sense of speed, and storytelling, while there have been criticisms for some technical aspects such as the pop-in or gameplay loop. Despite these negatives, the game is becoming one of the more belovedSonicgames in recent memory – so much so that the peak ofSonic Frontiers' concurrent players has surpassed the franchise’s previous record.
RELATED:Sonic Frontiers Video Compares Graphics on PS5 and Switch
SteamDB is a database for Valve’s platform, where it provides analytics and other information about the games sold on it. These include charts regarding the number of players that have been concurrently playing at one time. According to this website,Sonic Frontiershas managed to hit over 19,000 concurrent players, right at the time of its release. In comparison, the last peak record was set bySonic Mania5 years ago, with a concurrent peak of nearly 12,000 players.
This is quite an impressive number for the game, especially considering the critical and fan reception ofSonic Maniabeing much higher than the previous 3DSonicgame. It’s likely due to the surroundinghype ofSonic Frontiersthat the general fan reaction is quite positive right now. This is even evident with the Steam rating, which contains reviews that have been left by users of the Steam platform. While critics have been mixed on the game, the reviews on Steam forSonic Frontiershave been overwhelmingly positive, with more glowing and positive reviews than negative ones.
While there is quite a bit that the developers ofSonic Frontierscan improveupon for the next game, many fans and critics note this is a good step in the right direction for the blue hedgehog. Many are hoping that with this new bar that is set byFrontiers, Sonic Team and Sega can use the feedback given to refine the formula and make it better.
Sonic Frontiersis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:The Way Sonic Frontiers Battles Motion Sickness Could Pave the Way for Future Games
