‘Street Fighter 6’ Enters Top 10 PC Game Sellers Ahead of Launch | Chart

Though horror title “The Outlast Trials” remained the No. 1 paid game on PC games storefront Steam since its debut last week, newcomers entered the top 10: “Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun” and “Street Fighter 6.”

At a retail price of $30, “The Outlast Trials” only dropped a single slot to become the third best-selling game of the week, which is still impressive given that the two games to top it are free-to-play titles (“Destiny 2” in second place and “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” at No. 1). It’s no small feat to stay within the top three slots two weeks in a row as a $30 indie game.

Fourth place went to Valve’s Steam Deck, a handheld system designed to capture the Nintendo Switch zeitgeist for the PC crowd. To note, Sony recently announced it’s attempting something similar, albeit more limited, with its Wi-Fi enabled streaming handheld “Project Q,” which will enable remote play for PS5 games.

Also Read:
‘The Outlast Trials’ Spookily Dominates PC Game Sales | Chart

Fifth place went to the brand-new “Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun,” the second paid game to rank among this week’s top 10 sellers. The title is an old-school first-person shooter set within the universe of the popular tabletop miniatures wargame. Clocking in at just under $20 and rapidly approaching 5,000 reviews with a cumulative rating of “very positive,” the game’s off to a respectable start.

Last week’s co-op shooter “Starship Troopers: Extermination” remains on the board at spot six, maintaining a $25 price tag. It’s climbed to almost 13,000 reviews, approximately 4,500 more than last week. However, it dropped three notches in sales ranking since then.

Slots seven and eight went to free-to-play titles “Apex Legends” and “Lost Ark,” respectively.

Coming in at No. 9 is “Street Fighter 6,” which has yet to even launch. It releases on Friday, retailing for $60. It’s been on Steam’s top 100 best sellers list for six weeks thanks to preorders, but this marks its entry into the top 10. This will be an interesting one to watch, as the game’s review embargo is over and it’s doing very well critically (including our own review, which called the title “the most accessible fighting game in years”). Whether the positive word of mouth bumps “Street Fighter” up the ladder going into next week, once it’s formally launched, remains to be seen.

What could help “Street Fighter 6” exceed past entries in sales is two-fold. Not only does the game have a far heftier single-player experience than previous titles, but it has the benefit of being newcomer friendly. If the general buzz surrounding its release emphasizes that solo players will have something to do in addition to being a great stepping-on point for both franchise newbies as well as people fresh to fighting games in general, it could have staying power beyond other fighting games.

To round off the top 10 is “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” which has been within the top 100 selling Steam games for 45 weeks and counting. It dropped to 10th place from last week’s comfy position at spot seven, even though there’s currently a sale on the game slashing its price from $70 to a little below $40. It seems the 45% discount wasn’t enough to keep it higher on the list against the week’s newcomers and “The Outlast Trials,” though any game with middling reviews and a hefty price tag rocking top 10 status this long after release is still a feat in and of itself.

Also Read:
‘Street Fighter 6’ Review: The Most Accessible Fighting Game in Years

On the flip side, games that haven’t done a great job maintaining their positions include “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor,” which fell out of the top 10 last week and is now down to slot 16. It seemed likely the game would continue its downward trend what with its ongoing technical woes (poor technical performance being an easy way to attract the ire of PC players), and sure enough, it has.

To note, EA PC games also release on Origin, a much smaller storefront compared to Valve’s Steam. The former doesn’t disclose sales data, so keep in mind “Jedi: Survivor” might have a small sales buffer over there, despite Steam’s report likely being the most accurate depiction of the bigger picture and the game’s PC platform fate.

“Mortal Kombat 11,” a game long since past its release window prime, also crawled back into the upper echelons of PC sales, hitting No. 17. It’s been on the top 100 list for two weeks now, following the announcement of “Mortal Kombat 1.” In other words, it sounds like Warner Bros. Games is squeezing some extra sales juice out of the “MK11” lemon thanks to hype for the upcoming sequel, which arrives on current-gen consoles and PC on Sept. 19. Between “MK1” and “Street Fighter 6,” it’s looking to be a good year for big-budget fighters.

Also Read:
Big AI Implications Lurk in the Supreme Court’s Andy Warhol Verdict | Analysis