The Game Census
Alien Swarm cover art

Alien Swarm

Valve · 2010-07-19

Steam

ActionFree To Play

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

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

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

Alien Swarm is an Action and Free To Play game released in 2010, priced as free-to-play, with an estimated 2,000,000 .. 5,000,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (95% of 21624 reviews).

8
playing now
95%
positive of 22k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
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)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
Free
steam price (US)

8 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 10:00 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.

Trailer

Alien Swarm trailer thumbnail

Alien Swarm

≈507,509 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 8 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 3% of 27,531 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

3152026-09-14 20:00 — 15 players2026-09-16 04:00 — 8 players2026-09-17 11:00 — 18 players2026-09-18 19:00 — 16 players2026-09-20 02:00 — 21 players2026-09-21 10:00 — 14 players2026-09-22 18:00 — 20 players2026-09-24 01:00 — 18 players2026-09-25 09:00 — 10 players2026-09-26 16:00 — 28 players2026-09-28 00:00 — 20 players2026-09-29 07:00 — 8 players2026-09-30 15:00 — 28 players2026-10-01 22:00 — 17 players2026-10-03 06:00 — 18 players2026-10-04 14:00 — 20 players2026-10-05 21:00 — 11 players2026-10-07 05:00 — 14 players2026-10-08 12:00 — 17 players2026-10-09 20:00 — 14 players2026-10-11 03:00 — 17 players2026-10-12 11:00 — 13 players2026-10-13 19:00 — 31 players2026-10-14 10:00 — 8 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
52312Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 347 · peak 568Dec 2012 — avg 245 · peak 484May 2013 — avg 200 · peak 403Oct 2013 — avg 204 · peak 501Mar 2014 — avg 167 · peak 428Aug 2014 — avg 201 · peak 350Jan 2015 — avg 173 · peak 377Jun 2015 — avg 159 · peak 384Nov 2015 — avg 122 · peak 294Apr 2016 — avg 152 · peak 383Sep 2016 — avg 134 · peak 302Feb 2017 — avg 154 · peak 310Jul 2017 — avg 76 · peak 145Dec 2017 — avg 71 · peak 217May 2018 — avg 54 · peak 1,087Oct 2018 — avg 35 · peak 82Mar 2019 — avg 41 · peak 94Aug 2019 — avg 42 · peak 216Jan 2020 — avg 26 · peak 55Jun 2020 — avg 38 · peak 211Nov 2020 — avg 31 · peak 79Apr 2021 — avg 53 · peak 187Sep 2021 — avg 25 · peak 91Feb 2022 — avg 64 · peak 102Jul 2022 — avg 91 · peak 229Dec 2022 — avg 61 · peak 146May 2023 — avg 58 · peak 96Oct 2023 — avg 47 · peak 103Mar 2024 — avg 516 · peak 949Aug 2024 — avg 16 · peak 41Jan 2025 — avg 13 · peak 35Jun 2025 — avg 17 · peak 56Nov 2025 — avg 15 · peak 50Apr 2026 — avg 16 · peak 42Aug 2026 — avg 25 · peak 416
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Attention

140392026-05-29 — 48 pageviews2026-06-02 — 63 pageviews2026-06-06 — 74 pageviews2026-06-10 — 43 pageviews2026-06-14 — 56 pageviews2026-06-18 — 49 pageviews2026-06-22 — 51 pageviews2026-06-26 — 76 pageviews2026-06-30 — 56 pageviews2026-07-04 — 65 pageviews2026-07-08 — 67 pageviews2026-07-12 — 64 pageviews2026-07-16 — 58 pageviews2026-07-20 — 49 pageviews2026-07-24 — 48 pageviews2026-07-28 — 61 pageviews2026-08-01 — 67 pageviews2026-08-05 — 64 pageviews2026-08-09 — 70 pageviews2026-08-13 — 69 pageviews2026-08-17 — 68 pageviews2026-08-21 — 72 pageviews2026-08-25 — 140 pageviews2026-08-29 — 75 pageviews2026-09-02 — 77 pageviews2026-09-06 — 68 pageviews2026-09-10 — 71 pageviews2026-09-14 — 77 pageviews2026-09-18 — 80 pageviews2026-09-22 — 66 pageviews2026-09-26 — 86 pageviews2026-09-30 — 100 pageviews2026-10-04 — 78 pageviews2026-10-07 — 82 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.

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

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.

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