New Steam RPG Surprises Everyone and Shoots Toward the Top of Steam Charts

Baldur's Gate 3 is currently the fourth best-selling game on Steam, but not the best-selling RPG on Steam. That honor belongs to a new release that has been bouncing back and forth between being the second and the third best-selling game on Steam, unable to dethrone the king of Steam at the moment, Lethal Company. That said, outselling Baldur's Gate 3 after its Game of the Year win at The Game Awards sale bump is an impressive feat. Further, it's been going stride for stride with popular new multiplayer game The Finals -- the game it keeps going back and forth between second and third with -- which is free, so that's  impressive as well. And what's also impressive is the fact that this game didn't have much buzz going into its release, but apparently many were quietly looking forward to it. 

The mystery game in question comes the way of Owlcat Games and it released on December 7. Currently, on Steam, it has amassed 1,378 user reviews, 85 percent of which are positive, giving the game a "Very Positive" rating, the second highest rating you can earn on Steam. If you haven't connected the dots yet, the game is Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. 

"Made in a close partnership with Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is a story-rich classical RPG from Owlcat Games, developers of the critically acclaimed game, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous," reads an official blurb about the game. 

The game's story synopsis adds: "Begin your adventure aboard your personal, giant voidship, traveling between the multitude of systems within the Koronus Expanse, a barely charted and incredibly perilous region of space. Despite being considered a backwater of the Imperium, this region encompasses an enormous stretch of the void, filled with dangerous creatures and prodigious opportunities for profit and exploration."

"I have just started the prologue but am already intrigued by the depth of the story. Combat mechanics feels nice to this point. A true WH40k experience," reads one of these aforementioned user reviews. "All in all, and from the very small portion I've been exposed to, this game a triumph. Great job, once again, Owlcat," adds a second Steam user review. 

How long this game will sustain its success, remains to be seen. December is largely void of notable releases, so it could be a while, but it's hard to discern how much of that is based on its own sales and not the lack of sales of other games. Whatever the case, it's off to a great start.

Unfortunately, if you are looking to play this on Steam Deck, the game's Steam listing makes no mention of Steam Deck support, so it's unclear how well the game runs on the handheld Valve machine, if at all.