Manor Lords has started flying on Steam, just hours after its Early Access release

It may not come as a huge surprise to hear – since we're talking about one of the most wish-listed Steam games of recent times – but solo developer Slavic Magic's Manor Lords is off to a great start; The medieval city-building/strategy hybrid is the fourth best-selling title on Steam Most played The game is only hours away from launch, with over 156,000 concurrent players at the time of writing.

Manor Lords has, of course, attracted admiring glances since the beta launched in 2022. That early look has led to half a million people adding the game to their wishlists on Steam, and that number has steadily increased; Another half a million people have wishlisted it this week alone, meaning it has surpassed 3 million by the time of today's Early Access release.

Since its launch this afternoon, Manor Lords has steadily worked its way up the most-played charts on Steam, overtaking big, evergreen games like Grand Theft Auto 4, Rust, Apex Legends, and Rainbow Six Siege — not to mention two bold newcomers (Helldivers 2) and returning favorites (Fallout 4 and Stardew Valley) – All the way. Right now, with 156,000 concurrent players to its name, there are only three permanently established titles – PUBG, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 – between it and the top spot.

The success of Manor Lords seems deserved; Even in its initial Early Access guise, this is an impressive achievement – ​​although there's clearly still work to be done. As Eurogamer's Robert Purches said in his Early Access review this week, “There's a confidence to Manor Lords that belies its individual sophistication, and what there can be is astonishing, but it's a pastoral idyll that still needs significant improvement.”

“The potential is there, the foundations have certainly been laid, and they now need to be built on,” Bertie concluded. Manor Lords is currently expected to remain in Early Access for approximately a year – as stated Steam page – There's still time to turn her early magic into something very special indeed.