Once Human Breaks Steam Next Fest, But Wishlists Still Lag

NetEase's upcoming third-person shooter, Once Human, boasts over 15 million global pre-registrations, a significant achievement highlighted by its success at Steam Next Fest. However, a closer look reveals a disparity between its mobile and PC performance.

While pre-registrations are impressive, only 300,000 translate to Steam wishlists. This contrasts with NetEase's mobile-centric history and their prioritization of a PC-first release for Once Human. This strategy, while not necessarily misguided given the game's Steam Next Fest popularity (drawing the most demo players), underscores the considerable difference in reach and discoverability between the PC and mobile gaming markets. The mobile platform still significantly outperforms PC in terms of player acquisition for NetEase.

NetEase's focus on the PC market, while understandable, highlights the challenges even major developers face in achieving comparable visibility and player engagement on PC compared to mobile.

Meanwhile, while waiting for Once Human's release, explore our curated lists of the best and most anticipated mobile games of 2024. These lists offer handpicked selections of top-tier mobile gaming experiences.