The Game Census
Cartel Tycoon cover art

Cartel Tycoon

Moon Moose · tinyBuild · 2022-07-26

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

ActionIndieSimulationStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Mar 14, 2024 (Xbox Series X|S), Mar 18, 2021 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Mar 14, 2024 (PlayStation 5)

Cartel Tycoon is a survival business sim inspired by the ‘80s and '90s narco trade. Expand and conquer, fight off rival thugs and evade the authorities. Earn people's loyalty and strive to overcome the doomed fate of a power-hungry drug lord.

Cartel Tycoon is an Action, Indie, Simulation, and Strategy game released in 2022, priced at $29.99, with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 owners and a Mostly Positive review sentiment (76% of 3810 reviews).

33
playing now
76%
positive of 3.8k reviews
Mostly Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
62/100
IGDB user rating (6 ratings)
3.44★
PlayStation Store rating (543 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$29.99
steam price (US)

33 players in-game as of 2026-10-15 04:00 UTC (census sample)

Set in the fictionalized '80s Latin America, Cartel Tycoon tells the story of a time when the cocaine took over first the US, and then the whole world. Ridiculously rich drug kingpins rule over glorious empires, creating thousands of jobs. But a maelstrom of violence threatens this criminal underworld from within.(Storyline via IGDB)

Trailer

Cartel Tycoon trailer thumbnail

Cartel Tycoon - Official Trailer | Summer of Gaming 2020

≈859,795 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 33 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 130 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~16/week).
  • · Review velocity up 13% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (398 reviews).
  • · Top 8% of 27,808 Action games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 76k–172k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 3,817 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

IndieGala$7.49-75%
WinGameStore$7.49-75%
GameBillet$7.50-75%
GamersGate$7.50-75%
GOG$29.99
Microsoft Store$29.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $4.49 at Fanatical (2026-07-23) · bundled 6×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $29.99 · on sale 129 of 165 observed days · $3.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
29629620212026Week of 2021-03-01: 296 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 102 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 147 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 121 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 54 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 185 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 102 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 98 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

124292026-09-15 14:00 — 98 players2026-09-16 22:00 — 89 players2026-09-18 05:00 — 50 players2026-09-19 13:00 — 124 players2026-09-20 20:00 — 120 players2026-09-22 04:00 — 65 players2026-09-23 12:00 — 70 players2026-09-24 19:00 — 98 players2026-09-26 03:00 — 51 players2026-09-27 10:00 — 86 players2026-09-28 18:00 — 97 players2026-09-30 01:00 — 48 players2026-10-01 09:00 — 48 players2026-10-02 16:00 — 70 players2026-10-04 00:00 — 60 players2026-10-05 08:00 — 37 players2026-10-06 15:00 — 83 players2026-10-07 23:00 — 52 players2026-10-09 06:00 — 38 players2026-10-10 14:00 — 74 players2026-10-11 22:00 — 66 players2026-10-13 05:00 — 29 players2026-10-14 13:00 — 53 players2026-10-15 04:00 — 33 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
74645Mar 2021Aug 2026Mar 2021 — avg 746 · peak 1,591May 2021 — avg 119 · peak 261Jul 2021 — avg 130 · peak 336Sep 2021 — avg 91 · peak 178Nov 2021 — avg 76 · peak 150Jan 2022 — avg 66 · peak 150Mar 2022 — avg 51 · peak 112May 2022 — avg 45 · peak 97Jul 2022 — avg 289 · peak 2,240Sep 2022 — avg 172 · peak 411Nov 2022 — avg 104 · peak 267Jan 2023 — avg 105 · peak 255Mar 2023 — avg 85 · peak 178May 2023 — avg 87 · peak 192Jul 2023 — avg 108 · peak 221Sep 2023 — avg 151 · peak 782Nov 2023 — avg 169 · peak 428Jan 2024 — avg 108 · peak 285Mar 2024 — avg 187 · peak 482May 2024 — avg 88 · peak 197Jul 2024 — avg 89 · peak 189Sep 2024 — avg 71 · peak 156Nov 2024 — avg 63 · peak 158Jan 2025 — avg 74 · peak 162Mar 2025 — avg 78 · peak 232May 2025 — avg 71 · peak 219Jul 2025 — avg 70 · peak 156Sep 2025 — avg 64 · peak 164Nov 2025 — avg 67 · peak 155Jan 2026 — avg 88 · peak 203Mar 2026 — avg 83 · peak 194May 2026 — avg 64 · peak 140Jul 2026 — avg 65 · peak 145Aug 2026 — avg 58 · peak 131
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$29.99$5.722021-03-162026-10-152021-03-16 — best price $20.992021-06-08 — best price $18.892021-09-16 — best price $29.542021-11-12 — best price $16.022021-12-22 — best price $12.472022-04-13 — best price $20.992022-06-27 — best price $17.492022-08-13 — best price $29.992022-11-30 — best price $17.992023-01-30 — best price $29.992023-05-03 — best price $22.042023-06-26 — best price $12.592023-08-28 — best price $17.992023-11-06 — best price $12.572024-01-06 — best price $23.892024-02-24 — best price $26.992024-04-03 — best price $24.972024-05-05 — best price $19.992024-06-20 — best price $11.992024-08-03 — best price $19.992024-09-15 — best price $24.972024-11-21 — best price $9.172025-02-02 — best price $29.992025-03-31 — best price $29.992025-06-03 — best price $29.992025-08-19 — best price $6.242025-10-26 — best price $29.992025-12-12 — best price $7.502026-03-04 — best price $7.492026-05-08 — best price $23.892026-07-14 — best price $22.482026-09-02 — best price $7.492026-09-26 — best price $7.492026-10-15 — best price $29.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

19
achievements tracked
65.2%
earned "Our Man"
7.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsPartial Controller SupportSteam CloudFamily Sharing7 DLC

9 supported languages: English, Russian, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Turkish

Post-launch support: 7 DLC released, first 2021-03-18, latest 2024-03-14 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)2,7441%19
PS5 (PlayStation)3973%19
Xbox Series (Xbox)1622%18

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

RTSEconomySandboxBuildingStrategySurvivalTop-DownManagementSimulationSoundtrack

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsSurvivalistSol 0: Mars ColonizationMedieval Kingdom WarsForce of NatureDude SimulatorRise of IndustryJunkyard Simulator

Similarity via IGDB.

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