Given that PC gamers are generally a bit harsh when it comes to reception of generic, AAA schlock, I fully expected Dead Rising 4's migration to Steam to be met with a deluge of negative reviews. Surprisingly enough, it was actually much worse. As they say, the only thing worse than bad press is no press.
So, while the Steam reviews for Dead Rising 4 have been mostly positive, there also aren't that many reviews, period. As of publication, a mere 177 people across all languages have reviewed the latest zombies-in-a-mall romp. Ownership numbers from SteamSpy and player count numbers from Githyp reveal even more dismal truths.
Just over 5,000 (give or take 3,000) Steam users own Dead Rising 4, according to Steam Spy, a modest figure for a game of this size even considering we're only on the second day of availability. Like box office success for movies, video game purchases are often front-loaded, with games seeing the majority of their sales on a given platform during the initial release period, with periodic spikes depending on if the game goes on sale.
As for debuts, though, Dead Rising 4's is still quiet, and it underscores a general lack of engagement gamers have with the latest title. Like anything that's negatively reviewed, Dead Rising 4 will have its fair share of apologists who want to ignore the general watered-down nature of the latest installment, but the fact of the matter is that Capcom had to publicly respond to the negative reception and disappointing sales of the game, so don't pretend those who don't like it are an insignificant minority.
Comparing Dead Rising 4 to another game that just came out, Styx: Shards of Darkness has more owners and more concurrent players on Steam than Dead Rising 4. Yes, Dead Rising 4 has already been out, but Shards of Darkness is a much smaller game and is also competing with its other platform versions.
As Capcom themselves noted, Dead Rising 4 will need to change up some aspects in order to stay relevant, but it doesn't appear that a shift to Steam is the antidote.
