Ready or Not: Player Numbers Soar Despite Review Bombing on Steam
The realistic and tactical first-person shooter Ready or Not has been flooded with negative reviews on Steam for the past two weeks. These negative reviews came after the developer Void Interactive announced plans to censor certain content for the console release. However, despite all the negative criticism, player numbers have surged massively in recent weeks.
Ready or Not is a tactical and realistic SWAT FPS game. The title is scheduled to release in just a few days, on July 15, 2025 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. For the console launch, some censorship guidelines had to be followed. These were also announced for Steam so that the same updates could be developed for both platforms.
Of course, this upset many fans, leading to very negative reviews. In the last 30 days, only 23% of reviews have been positive, coming from 19,000 players. But despite all this criticism, player numbers have increased.
Ready or Not: Dramatic Increase in Player Count Despite Criticism
Even though reviews for Ready or Not have become very negative lately, this hasn’t negatively affected player numbers—quite the opposite. Player counts before the scandal were around 5,000–6,000. Now they range between 12,000 and 16,000, marking a player increase of over 200%.
Another factor besides the increased visibility was likely the Steam Summer Sale. During the sale, the price dropped from about €50 to around €25. Thanks to this attractive offer combined with the media attention, the game was tried and played by many more people.
Console Release and Market Expansion
Ready or Not is now ready to finally launch on consoles. From July 15, Ready or Not will also be available for PS5 and Xbox Series. Even during preorders, the game reached 2nd place among top PlayStation titles. So it looks like a very successful console release is just days away. Void Interactive deliberately chose to keep both versions (console and PC) identical to ensure technical consistency and reduce development effort.
Conclusion
Ready or Not clearly shows that negative feedback doesn’t automatically mean a game will fail—in fact, it sometimes proves the opposite. An effective discount combined with controversial publicity can achieve significant growth even amid a review bombing. But whether players will stay for the long term depends on how the game evolves going forward.
Hey, I’m Kilian, but online you’ll probably know me as “Tux1243.” I've been part of the team for almost two years now, always trying to keep you in the loop with the latest and coolest gaming news. I also have a huge passion for doing deep dives and detailed analyses of entire game series and franchises. I love getting to the bottom of things and exploring the little details and backstories that make game worlds so fascinating.
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it means that... players don't get easily influenced. Good news