Summary
Indie horror titleLethal Companybecomes the top-rated game on Steam for the year, beating out the likes ofResident Evil 4andBaldur’s Gate 3. Shortly after releasing into Early Access,Lethal Companyhas already proven a hit with fans and critics, quickly hitting 100,000 players despite only releasing in October 2023.
Developed and published by Zeekerss,Lethal Companyis a first-person horror game that sees players scavenging items from different moons to rake in profits for a massive corporation. While the game does offer a solo mode of sorts, a key driving force behindLethal Companyis the inclusion of cooperative play, as players can work together via proximity chat to achieve their goals and help enhance company profits.
At the time of writing,Lethal Companyhas an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on Steam with the vast majority of reviews praising the game. While rankings are hard to compare directly on Steam, thanks to data provided bySteamdb.info, fans can put these numbers into context with other games. It means thatLethal Companyhas come out as the top-rated game for 2023 with a rating of 97.32%. To put the feat into context, Capcom’sResident Evil 4has a similar number of total reviews but an overall score of 96.41% due to a higher proportion of negative player responses.
Some of the success can be attributed to the user reviews, but fans already considerLethal Companyone of the best horror games in 2023. This is in part due to its rare status of being both a horror and co-op game and when coupled with a modest price tag of $9.99, the game is all the more appealing to players.
It may be surprising to some to seeLethal Companybeat out the AAA experiences, but it isn’t the first time an Indie game has surpassed games with a bigger budget.Annapurna’sStrayhad a similar impact on the Steam charts in 2022as the futuristic cat simulator gained momentum thanks to strong reviews and user recommendations, which also saw it nominated for multiple Game of the Year awards.
WhileLethal Companymay have missed out on the Game of the Year nominations, it is an impressive feat that the Indie title topped the Steam charts so soon after its release. It is worth remembering that this happened in the same year thatBaldur’s Gate 3,Hogwarts Legacy,andResident Evil 4hit the platform after years of hype.
Lethal Company
WHERE TO PLAY
You are a contracted worker for the Company. Your job is to collect scrap from abandoned, industrialized moons to meet the Company’s profit quota. you may use the cash you earn to travel to new moons with higher risks and rewards–or you can buy fancy suits and decorations for your ship. Experience nature, scanning any creature you find to add them to your bestiary. Explore the wondrous outdoors and rummage through their derelict, steel and concrete underbellies. Justnevermiss the quota.These dangers prey upon the vulnerable and lonesome, and the protection of your crew may be your only hope. You can guide your crewmates from your ship, using the radar to call out traps and using the ship’s terminal to access remotely locked doors–or you can all go in together. The Company store has many useful tools for the job, including lights, shovels, walkie talkies, stun grenades, or boomboxes.Things get dangerous at night. Communicate with your crewmates to carry all valuables to the ship before things get too dangerous, and try not to leave anyone behind.
