The Game Census
DEFCON cover art

DEFCON

Introversion Software · 2006-09-29

SteamGOG

IndieStrategy

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

Releases: Sep 29, 2006 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Dec 11, 2012 (Linux), Apr 19, 2007 (Mac)

Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare.

DEFCON is an Indie, Strategy game released in 2006, priced at $11.99, with an estimated 200,000 .. 500,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (87% of 4334 reviews).

3
playing now
87%
positive of 4.3k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
77/100
IGDB user rating (31 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$11.99
steam price (US)

3 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 13:00 UTC (census sample)

DEFCON is a real-time strategy game created by independent British game developer Introversion Software. The gameplay is a simulation of a global nuclear war, with the game's screen reminiscent of the "big boards" that visually represented thermonuclear war in films such as Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, and especially WarGames.

Trailer

DEFCON trailer thumbnail

DEFCON Trailer 2020

≈1,000,000 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 3 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 98 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~12/week).
  • · Review velocity down 20% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 4% of 49,836 Indie games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 173k–347k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 4,334 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$5.99-50%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.99 at Steam (2014-11-26) · bundled 5×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $11.99 · on sale 59 of 92 observed days · $5.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
484820182026Week of 2018-01-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

13732026-09-15 14:00 — 8 players2026-09-16 22:00 — 16 players2026-09-18 05:00 — 10 players2026-09-19 13:00 — 12 players2026-09-20 20:00 — 17 players2026-09-22 04:00 — 5 players2026-09-23 12:00 — 7 players2026-09-24 19:00 — 12 players2026-09-26 03:00 — 10 players2026-09-27 10:00 — 8 players2026-09-28 18:00 — 11 players2026-09-30 01:00 — 74 players2026-10-01 09:00 — 38 players2026-10-02 16:00 — 37 players2026-10-04 00:00 — 44 players2026-10-05 08:00 — 14 players2026-10-06 15:00 — 22 players2026-10-07 23:00 — 16 players2026-10-09 06:00 — 5 players2026-10-10 14:00 — 11 players2026-10-11 22:00 — 16 players2026-10-13 05:00 — 17 players2026-10-14 13:00 — 3 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
577Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 57 · peak 233Dec 2012 — avg 41 · peak 358May 2013 — avg 15 · peak 42Oct 2013 — avg 21 · peak 90Mar 2014 — avg 18 · peak 44Aug 2014 — avg 16 · peak 31Jan 2015 — avg 35 · peak 118Jun 2015 — avg 38 · peak 127Nov 2015 — avg 23 · peak 94Apr 2016 — avg 16 · peak 42Sep 2016 — avg 18 · peak 42Feb 2017 — avg 17 · peak 39Jul 2017 — avg 21 · peak 62Dec 2017 — avg 21 · peak 53May 2018 — avg 13 · peak 30Oct 2018 — avg 12 · peak 34Mar 2019 — avg 11 · peak 27Aug 2019 — avg 17 · peak 33Jan 2020 — avg 31 · peak 71Jun 2020 — avg 21 · peak 75Nov 2020 — avg 25 · peak 68Apr 2021 — avg 19 · peak 44Sep 2021 — avg 13 · peak 27Feb 2022 — avg 22 · peak 71Jul 2022 — avg 15 · peak 41Dec 2022 — avg 16 · peak 45May 2023 — avg 10 · peak 30Oct 2023 — avg 11 · peak 33Mar 2024 — avg 15 · peak 40Aug 2024 — avg 13 · peak 32Jan 2025 — avg 14 · peak 37Jun 2025 — avg 11 · peak 23Nov 2025 — avg 11 · peak 28Apr 2026 — avg 9 · peak 28Aug 2026 — avg 8 · peak 19
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$11.99$0.992015-01-012026-10-152015-01-01 — best price $0.992015-06-14 — best price $9.992015-11-25 — best price $1.492016-06-22 — best price $9.992016-12-12 — best price $9.992017-11-01 — best price $9.992018-06-19 — best price $9.992018-12-13 — best price $1.992019-09-18 — best price $1.492019-12-19 — best price $1.992020-06-15 — best price $9.992021-01-05 — best price $9.992021-06-24 — best price $1.492021-12-22 — best price $1.992022-04-14 — best price $1.492022-08-22 — best price $1.992022-12-22 — best price $1.992023-05-02 — best price $1.992023-08-21 — best price $1.992023-11-29 — best price $9.992024-02-14 — best price $1.992024-06-27 — best price $2.992025-01-08 — best price $3.492025-03-19 — best price $9.992025-06-18 — best price $3.992025-09-11 — best price $11.992025-10-20 — best price $4.792026-01-21 — best price $11.992026-03-11 — best price $2.392026-05-25 — best price $3.592026-08-16 — best price $3.592026-09-04 — best price $11.992026-09-14 — best price $11.992026-09-24 — best price $3.592026-10-04 — best price $3.592026-10-14 — best price $5.992026-10-15 — best price $5.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

119222026-05-30 — 50 pageviews2026-06-03 — 39 pageviews2026-06-07 — 22 pageviews2026-06-11 — 47 pageviews2026-06-15 — 31 pageviews2026-06-19 — 41 pageviews2026-06-23 — 39 pageviews2026-06-27 — 62 pageviews2026-07-01 — 42 pageviews2026-07-05 — 35 pageviews2026-07-09 — 45 pageviews2026-07-13 — 70 pageviews2026-07-17 — 31 pageviews2026-07-21 — 51 pageviews2026-07-25 — 46 pageviews2026-07-29 — 51 pageviews2026-08-02 — 38 pageviews2026-08-06 — 60 pageviews2026-08-10 — 47 pageviews2026-08-14 — 49 pageviews2026-08-18 — 47 pageviews2026-08-22 — 48 pageviews2026-08-26 — 38 pageviews2026-08-30 — 67 pageviews2026-09-03 — 39 pageviews2026-09-07 — 35 pageviews2026-09-11 — 57 pageviews2026-09-15 — 49 pageviews2026-09-19 — 55 pageviews2026-09-23 — 31 pageviews2026-09-27 — 44 pageviews2026-10-01 — 94 pageviews2026-10-05 — 51 pageviews2026-10-09 — 65 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

22
achievements tracked
11.8%
earned "Merry Christmas"
2.6%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPLAN PvPCo-opOnline Co-opLAN Co-opCross-Platform MultiplayerSteam Achievements

5 supported languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish - Spain

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)13,3011%22

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

2DPvPRTSCo-opWargameCold WarMilitaryStrategyTacticalTop-Down

Census log

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

Recent updates

Players also track

Supreme Ruler UltimateLife is Feudal: Forest VillageAnother Brick in The MallMashinkyStartup CompanyBronze Age - HD EditionBad North: Jotunn EditionBANNERMEN

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗