175,348 concurrent players. $108 million in March revenue. A 94% positive rating across nearly 58,000 reviews. Slay the Spire 2 isn’t finished — and it’s been sitting in Steam’s Top 10 for nearly three months.

Right beside it at #10 is R.E.P.O., a $9.99 co-op horror game from developer semiwork. It’s pulling 79,061 concurrent players and holds an Overwhelmingly Positive rating from more than 163,000 reviews. Together, these two Early Access titles are drawing over a quarter-million players at any given moment — more than most AAA launches manage at their peak.

Early Access used to be a caution sign. Now it’s a competitive advantage.

The Spire’s Second Ascent

Mega Crit’s sequel launched into Early Access on March 5, 2026, and immediately detonated expectations. According to Alinea Analytics data reported by Fextralife, Slay the Spire 2 sold 5.3 million copies in March alone, generating $108 million in Steam revenue. For context, Crimson Desert — a big-budget open-world title from Pearl Abyss — moved 1.9 million units in the same period. Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem moved 1.2 million units at $70 million in revenue but still fell short. A deckbuilder out-earned a Resident Evil game on its own turf.

The original Slay the Spire basically invented the roguelike deckbuilder genre. The sequel carries the weight of those expectations, and at 94% positive from 57,867 reviews, it’s delivering for the vast majority. But the 3,501 negative reviews expose a real debate about design direction.

“Its totally RNG based game..,” writes one player with 19 hours logged. Another at the same playtime argues that bosses and encounters are “very overtuned” and that certain character decks “require very specific cards every run, it feels like the odds are constantly stacked against you.” A third player with nearly 184 hours switched their review to negative after Mega Crit removed a custom mode that had served as their difficulty workaround.

The friction peaked in March when a beta patch made sweeping changes to the Silent class and the new Necrobinder. High-level players revolted. Reviews briefly dipped into Mixed territory. Mega Crit rolled back the controversial changes almost immediately — no corporate spin, just a fast correction.

Building Without a Blueprint

Mega Crit’s first roadmap arrived in April 2026 via the studio’s “Neowsletter,” and it came with a deliberate absence: release dates. Steam Workshop support, a new character, alternate Acts, a bestiary, and experimental game modes are all incoming. None have timelines.

Developer Casey Yano was blunt about the reasoning: “Exacting deadlines produce sloppy uninspired work and I don’t want Sloppy Spire 2, I want Slay the Spire 2.”

The studio evaluates priorities weekly and leaves room for spontaneous additions — including dialogue sequences with Ancients and a Room Full of Cheese. Console ports, Steam achievements, and a “True Victory” ending are listed as “further off in the future.” The Early Access window is estimated at one to two years, and Yano made clear the team won’t expand to rush it.

The $10 Phenomenon

While Slay the Spire 2 carries genre-defining expectations, R.E.P.O. is the quieter explosion. At $9.99 with 163,238 reviews sitting at 97% positive, its review volume dwarfs most finished games.

R.E.P.O. — Retrieve, Extract, and Profit Operation — sends up to six players into physics-based horror environments to grab valuables and escape while being hunted. Proximity voice chat and a fully physics-driven engine turn every session into organized chaos. One player’s entire review reads: “hehe KABOOM.” Another captures the appeal directly: “Horror game? Yes. Comedy game? Also yes.”

It’s the latest in a run of indie breakouts — Palworld, Balatro, Blue Prince — where small teams have outperformed studios with nine-figure budgets on Steam’s own charts. But the success has caught semiwork off guard. In a Q&A video, the developer explained that administrative work from the surprise breakout has slowed their first major update. The team joked they “slept once and (has) been awake ever since.”

The Real Score

Two unfinished games — one $25, one $10 — are topping charts that AAA studios spend years and hundreds of millions trying to crack. The formula isn’t complicated: honest pricing, clear communication, and gameplay loops that respect the player’s time and wallet.

One studio refuses to set deadlines. The other can barely keep up with demand. Both are winning anyway.

The big-budget machine isn’t going anywhere. But right now, the top of Steam’s charts tells you everything about where the audience is placing its bets.

Sources