The Game Census
Act of War: Direct Action cover art

Act of War: Direct Action

Eugen Systems · THQ Nordic · 2008-03-12

SteamGOG

Action

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Apr 01, 2005 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Tomorrow's War Is NOW Ripped from today's headlines, Act of War: Direct Action™ is a frightening tale of suspense, international intrigue and geopolitical military conflict. This real-time strategy experience puts you squarely in control of counterterrorist forces and delivers a first look at tomorrow's war.

Act of War: Direct Action is an Action game released in 2008 for $2.99, with an estimated 100,000 .. 200,000 owners and Very Positive (91% of 626 reviews).

10
playing now
91%
positive of 626 reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
100,000–200,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
80/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
70/100
IGDB user rating (16 ratings)
1.1h
to beat · rushed 1.2h · completionist 1.3h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Unsupported
$2.99
steam price (US)

10 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 15:00 UTC (census sample)

Act of War: Direct Action is a real-time strategy game developed by Eugen Systems and published by Atari. The game was released in March 2005 and features a detailed story written by Dale Brown, a retired captain of the United States Air Force and a bestselling author. An expansion pack called Act of War: High Treason was released in March 2006 in Europe and Australia, and in May 2006 in North America. The original game and expansion were later released as Act of War: Gold Edition, on 28 September 2007 in Europe. In September 2015 Eugen Systems released Act of Aggression which is considered a spiritual successor to Act of War.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 10 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 34 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~4/week).
  • · Review velocity up 42% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 19% of 27,841 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 25k–50k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 626 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Gamesplanet$1.04-65%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.52 at GameBillet (2018-08-10)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $2.99 · on sale 54 of 79 observed days · $0.52 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
131320172026Week of 2017-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2017-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1702026-09-15 16:00 — 12 players2026-09-17 01:00 — 4 players2026-09-18 08:00 — 2 players2026-09-19 16:00 — 15 players2026-09-20 23:00 — 5 players2026-09-22 07:00 — 5 players2026-09-23 14:00 — 4 players2026-09-24 22:00 — 6 players2026-09-26 05:00 — 5 players2026-09-27 13:00 — 15 players2026-09-28 20:00 — 12 players2026-09-30 04:00 — 4 players2026-10-01 11:00 — 6 players2026-10-02 19:00 — 13 players2026-10-04 03:00 — 6 players2026-10-05 11:00 — 7 players2026-10-06 18:00 — 6 players2026-10-08 02:00 — 4 players2026-10-09 09:00 — 9 players2026-10-10 17:00 — 15 players2026-10-12 00:00 — 5 players2026-10-13 08:00 — 10 players2026-10-14 15:00 — 10 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
121Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 1 · peak 5Dec 2012 — avg 1 · peak 6May 2013 — avg 1 · peak 5Oct 2013 — avg 1 · peak 6Mar 2014 — avg 2 · peak 8Aug 2014 — avg 2 · peak 7Jan 2015 — avg 1 · peak 5Jun 2015 — avg 7 · peak 25Nov 2015 — avg 6 · peak 20Apr 2016 — avg 6 · peak 19Sep 2016 — avg 6 · peak 16Feb 2017 — avg 7 · peak 20Jul 2017 — avg 7 · peak 20Dec 2017 — avg 7 · peak 20May 2018 — avg 8 · peak 23Oct 2018 — avg 7 · peak 21Mar 2019 — avg 7 · peak 22Aug 2019 — avg 7 · peak 20Jan 2020 — avg 8 · peak 25Jun 2020 — avg 8 · peak 25Nov 2020 — avg 8 · peak 19Apr 2021 — avg 7 · peak 18Sep 2021 — avg 9 · peak 25Feb 2022 — avg 9 · peak 23Jul 2022 — avg 9 · peak 21Dec 2022 — avg 7 · peak 21May 2023 — avg 7 · peak 18Oct 2023 — avg 7 · peak 18Mar 2024 — avg 9 · peak 28Aug 2024 — avg 9 · peak 22Jan 2025 — avg 8 · peak 23Jun 2025 — avg 8 · peak 22Nov 2025 — avg 8 · peak 19Apr 2026 — avg 8 · peak 24Aug 2026 — avg 8 · peak 20
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$11.13$0.692015-01-012026-10-122015-01-01 — best price $7.512015-05-18 — best price $8.952015-09-21 — best price $4.992016-02-16 — best price $11.132016-09-22 — best price $2.992017-04-12 — best price $1.022017-09-21 — best price $2.992018-02-02 — best price $2.352018-08-23 — best price $2.992018-11-30 — best price $2.992019-04-08 — best price $2.602019-08-04 — best price $2.062019-10-30 — best price $2.122020-01-11 — best price $2.512020-04-10 — best price $0.822020-07-04 — best price $2.592020-11-30 — best price $1.202021-04-08 — best price $1.192021-07-19 — best price $1.192021-10-29 — best price $1.192022-01-08 — best price $2.512022-04-30 — best price $1.012022-08-11 — best price $0.892022-11-18 — best price $1.192023-01-30 — best price $0.992023-05-08 — best price $1.192023-08-06 — best price $2.992023-12-02 — best price $2.992024-03-21 — best price $2.992024-07-01 — best price $1.992024-11-01 — best price $1.192025-01-13 — best price $1.062025-05-21 — best price $2.992025-09-09 — best price $2.992025-12-18 — best price $1.012026-04-20 — best price $1.992026-07-25 — best price $1.992026-10-12 — best price $1.04
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

99132026-05-31 — 33 pageviews2026-06-04 — 20 pageviews2026-06-08 — 21 pageviews2026-06-12 — 66 pageviews2026-06-16 — 44 pageviews2026-06-20 — 34 pageviews2026-06-24 — 99 pageviews2026-06-28 — 31 pageviews2026-07-02 — 26 pageviews2026-07-06 — 31 pageviews2026-07-10 — 23 pageviews2026-07-14 — 26 pageviews2026-07-18 — 22 pageviews2026-07-22 — 24 pageviews2026-07-26 — 23 pageviews2026-07-30 — 19 pageviews2026-08-03 — 28 pageviews2026-08-07 — 25 pageviews2026-08-11 — 32 pageviews2026-08-15 — 27 pageviews2026-08-19 — 21 pageviews2026-08-23 — 30 pageviews2026-08-27 — 27 pageviews2026-08-31 — 24 pageviews2026-09-04 — 24 pageviews2026-09-08 — 32 pageviews2026-09-12 — 29 pageviews2026-09-16 — 24 pageviews2026-09-20 — 32 pageviews2026-09-24 — 24 pageviews2026-09-28 — 28 pageviews2026-10-02 — 21 pageviews2026-10-06 — 13 pageviews2026-10-09 — 16 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Player tags

3DRTSWarGoreActionMilitaryPoliticsStrategyTop-DownPolitical

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Players also track

Knights of HonorWorld War III: Black GoldBreach & ClearBANNERMENCommand & Conquer™ Generals

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗