Twelve people are playing Cat Simulator: Meow right now. That is not a typo. It is, however, a 1,100% increase over the game’s previous concurrent player count — which sat at precisely one lonely soul.

The math is real. The milestone is absurd. Both things are true.

Cat Studio’s feline adventure relaunched April 17 as a paid title after years as a free-to-play curiosity. It now costs $0.79 during a launch discount, down from $0.99 — a price point so low it rounds to “why not.” The Steam New Releases chart noticed. So did exactly 112 reviewers, who collectively handed the game a “Mixed” rating of 69% positive.

The top negative review is two words: “not good,” written by someone who logged 2.8 hours before tap-out. The top positive review is one word: “Meow!” — submitted after six minutes of play. Somewhere in the middle, an eight-hour veteran declared it “Great for kids.” That is the full critical spectrum.

The game’s own tagline — “To be a cat, to be a free cat” — hits differently now that being a cat costs seventy-nine cents. The developer was transparent about the shift, posting on Steam that the team needed funds “to restart the old game project” using newer engine technology. The V1.0 update, dubbed “A New Beginning,” rebuilt the game from scratch with new maps, weather systems, fishing, pet taming, and crafting.

Not everyone bought the pitch. A March Reddit thread on r/FreeGamesOnSteam flagged the transition with community pushback. One early access reviewer called it “a low-quality asset flip” in March 2026.

The all-time concurrent peak sits at 138 players, recorded in June 2022 when the game was free. Cat Studio has until May 1 — when the discount ends — to beat that number with a price tag attached.

Twelve down. One hundred twenty-six to go.

Sources