Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Is The Biggest New Steam Release Of 2020

After a seven year wait, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord finally launched on Steam Early Access today, and it’s already proving popular. By player count, the medieval action RPG is now the biggest new Steam launch of 2020, mere hours after its release.

The sequel’s current peak sits at 165,470 concurrent players, according to SteamDB. That puts it firmly in Steam’s top 10 over the past 24 hours, trailing only perennial favorites such as Rainbow Six Siege, Grand Theft Auto V, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. For comparison, the last entry in the series, Mount & Blade: Warband, reached a peak of 33,054 back in 2014.

There’s been some stiff competition already this year, too. Doom Eternal’s player count peaked at 104,891, while Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem hit 127,452. It helps that a lot of people are stuck at home right now, but Mount & Blade II’s numbers are impressive, and they’re sure to rise throughout the week as more people hop in.

Originally scheduled to release tomorrow, developer TaleWorlds Entertainment decided to launch Mount & Blade II a day early. During its first two weeks on sale, you can purchase it for 10% off, with an additional 10% discount applied if you already own another game in the series.