What you need to know
- After several years of development, Slavic Magic solo developer Greg Styczeń has finally released Manor Lords, a medieval city-builder passion project, in Early Access on Steam, GOG, the Microsoft Store, and PC Game Pass.
- The game has been the most wishlisted game on Steam for some time now, and post-launch, has quickly become the top selling game on the platform.
- It’s also become one of Steam’s most-played games right now as well, with 158,698 concurrent players in-game at the time of writing. That puts it above both Helldivers 2 and the resurgent Fallout 4.
- Eventually, Manor Lords will come to Xbox and the console version of Game Pass. It will also be updated over time with new mechanics and fresh gameplay features while it’s in Early Access. The game is $40, though it’s discounted to $30 until May 10 as part of a launch sale.
The long-awaited, highly anticipated medieval city-builder Manor Lords from Slavic Magic solo developer Greg Styczeń is finally here, and it’s blowing up as much as you’d expect the most wishlisted game on Steam to on release. The game just came out in the morning a few hours ago, but as I write this in the early afternoon, it’s already dominating the PC gaming storefront.
Specifically, Manor Lords has catapulted to the top of Steam’s Top Sellers list, surpassing the likes of Counter-Strike 2 (a free-to-play game) and Arrowhead’s co-op PvE shooter Helldivers 2. It’s also rapidly become one of the most-played games on the platform, with 158,698 concurrent players in-game and counting; this puts it in fourth place on the charts, above Apex Legends and Bethesda’s resurgent sci-fi RPG Fallout 4.
The game’s success has no doubt been bolstered by the fact hype for Manor Lords has been building for years now, with excitement for it rising sharply after a playable demo was made available during October 2022’s Steam Next Fest. It’s also worth noting that the indie has an ongoing launch sale until May 10 that knocks its price down from $40 to $30 — a generous 25% off.
Manor Lords’ explosive launch day performance is amazing to see. It’s always great to see a breakout indie do well in general, and after falling in love with the title while playing it for review, I’m excited for everyone else to get their hands on it, too. It’s the most addicting city-builder I’ve ever played, and even though I don’t seek out games from the genre often, this one has me absolutely hooked.
You can check out my comprehensive Manor Lords FAQ for a full overview of the game, but the gist is that it’s a small-scale strategy game that blends city-building mechanics with Total War-style battle systems. There are a few different scenarios to play through, though in all of them, you’ll be tasked with building cities and towns in different regions of a map while simultaneously maintaining a militia to protect yourself from brigands and rally against a rival AI-controlled lord.
It can be pretty difficult, as you have to deal with and play around the conditions brought on by changing seasons and trade market shifts while taking care to avoid deforestation, overhunting, and poor logistics. However, the challenge is precisely what makes Manor Lords so engaging, and also why progress in it is oh so satisfying. The huge sense of accomplishment I felt after successfully building a thriving medieval city from the ground up was wonderful, and it’s got me eager to start spreading the reach of my empire to new parts of the map.
Without a doubt, Manor Lords is one of this year’s best PC games, and the good news is that it’s expected to get even better over time since it’s in Early Access. In future updates, fans can look forward to additional development upgrades to specialize the characteristics of each of their towns, along with new mechanics, a full-fledged diplomacy system, and more.
It’s only available on PC right now, though it’s eventually going to head to Xbox as well. Manor Lords’ release date announcement trailer confirmed that it would be “coming soon to consoles,” and Microsoft said in an Xbox Wire blog post that it’ll release on Xbox “shortly after” its Early Access launch on PC. Hopefully Xbox fans won’t have to wait long before they can dive into this gem.
Notably, you can play the game through PC Game Pass (and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, by extension) if you’d prefer not to purchase it directly, and it’ll be available on Xbox Game Pass too once it arrives on console. Also, in addition to Steam and the Microsoft Store, you can also get the game on GOG.
