The Game Census
Alien Swarm cover art

Alien Swarm

Valve · 2010-07-19

Steam

ActionFree To Play

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative

Releases: Jul 10, 2010 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Co-operative multiplayer game and complete code base available for free.

16
playing now
95%
positive of 22k reviews
Very Positive
steam rating
2,000,000–5,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
60/100
critic score (1 outlets, IGDB)
70/100
IGDB user rating (67 ratings)
3.9h
to beat · rushed 2h · completionist 4h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Free
steam price (US)

16 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 01:00 UTC (census sample)

Alien Swarm is a multiplayer top-down shooter video game developed by Valve. It is a remake of a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, and it was developed by the original team, who were hired by Valve during the course of the development process.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 16 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 327 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~41/week).
  • · Review velocity down 1% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 7% of 10,791 Action games in the census by review count.

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
17717720182026Week of 2018-01-01: 113 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 97 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 92 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 138 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 91 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 103 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 76 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 74 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 76 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 94 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 98 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 74 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 77 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 6 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

41202026-08-06 21:00 — 22 players2026-08-07 05:00 — 9 players2026-08-07 13:00 — 13 players2026-08-07 21:00 — 27 players2026-08-08 05:00 — 14 players2026-08-08 13:00 — 17 players2026-08-08 21:00 — 31 players2026-08-09 05:00 — 19 players2026-08-09 13:00 — 20 players2026-08-09 21:00 — 296 players2026-08-10 05:00 — 390 players2026-08-10 13:00 — 13 players2026-08-10 21:00 — 35 players2026-08-11 05:00 — 15 players2026-08-11 13:00 — 19 players2026-08-12 21:00 — 11 players2026-08-14 04:00 — 5 players2026-08-15 12:00 — 14 players2026-08-16 20:00 — 29 players2026-08-18 03:00 — 20 players2026-08-19 11:00 — 13 players2026-08-20 18:00 — 25 players2026-08-22 02:00 — 21 players2026-08-23 09:00 — 0 players2026-08-24 17:00 — 17 players2026-08-26 01:00 — 25 players2026-08-27 09:00 — 7 players2026-08-28 17:00 — 29 players2026-08-30 01:00 — 16 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Attention

140392026-05-29 — 48 pageviews2026-06-01 — 60 pageviews2026-06-04 — 80 pageviews2026-06-07 — 49 pageviews2026-06-10 — 43 pageviews2026-06-13 — 53 pageviews2026-06-16 — 47 pageviews2026-06-19 — 39 pageviews2026-06-22 — 51 pageviews2026-06-25 — 72 pageviews2026-06-28 — 61 pageviews2026-07-01 — 70 pageviews2026-07-04 — 65 pageviews2026-07-07 — 57 pageviews2026-07-10 — 52 pageviews2026-07-13 — 59 pageviews2026-07-16 — 58 pageviews2026-07-19 — 55 pageviews2026-07-22 — 47 pageviews2026-07-25 — 54 pageviews2026-07-28 — 61 pageviews2026-07-31 — 64 pageviews2026-08-03 — 48 pageviews2026-08-06 — 48 pageviews2026-08-09 — 70 pageviews2026-08-12 — 58 pageviews2026-08-15 — 61 pageviews2026-08-18 — 69 pageviews2026-08-21 — 72 pageviews2026-08-24 — 115 pageviews2026-08-26 — 79 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
55.7%
earned "Technician Secured"
20.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerCo-opSteam AchievementsCaptions availableCamera ComfortColor AlternativesCustom Volume ControlsAdjustable DifficultyStereo Sound

1 supported languages: English

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)83,1054%66

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

PvECo-opActionAliensSci-fiShooterSurvivalTop-DownTeam-BasedClass-Based

Census log

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

Players also track

Counter-StrikeHalf-LifeCall of Duty®: GhostsEnemy FrontCall of Duty®: Infinite WarfareGET EVENZiggurat

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗Reddit ↗