The Game Census
Defense Grid: The Awakening cover art

Defense Grid: The Awakening

Hidden Path Entertainment · 2008-12-08

SteamEpic Games Store

IndieStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Sep 02, 2009 (Xbox 360), Dec 08, 2008 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Jun 08, 2010 (Mac), Nov 12, 2015 (Xbox One)

Defense Grid: The Awakening is a unique spin on tower defense gameplay that will appeal to players of all skill levels. A horde of enemies is invading, and it's up to the player to stop them by strategically building fortification towers around their base.

Defense Grid: The Awakening is a 2008 Indie and Strategy game priced at $9.99, with an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 5375 reviews).

38
playing now
96%
positive of 5.4k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
86/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
71/100
IGDB user rating (42 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$9.99
steam price (US)

38 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 12:00 UTC (census sample)

Defense Grid: The Awakening is a tower defense video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment for Windows and Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360. The game was one of the titles promoted by Microsoft during their Game Developers Conference keynote speech on February 20, 2008. The game was released for Microsoft Windows on December 8, 2008, and for Xbox 360 on September 2, 2009. The OS X version shipped from Virtual Programming on July 7, 2010.

Trailer

Defense Grid: The Awakening trailer thumbnail

Defense Grid: The Awakening Video Game Launch Trailer - PC

≈88,644 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 38 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 103 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~13/week).
  • · Review velocity up 1% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 4% of 49,602 Indie games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 215k–430k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 5,375 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $1.49 at Steam (2014-12-19) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $9.99 · on sale 4 of 8 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
525220182026Week of 2018-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 5 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

76162026-09-15 13:00 — 39 players2026-09-16 21:00 — 37 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 43 players2026-09-19 12:00 — 37 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 69 players2026-09-22 03:00 — 43 players2026-09-23 11:00 — 37 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 41 players2026-09-26 02:00 — 45 players2026-09-27 09:00 — 41 players2026-09-28 17:00 — 50 players2026-09-30 00:00 — 46 players2026-10-01 08:00 — 38 players2026-10-02 15:00 — 59 players2026-10-03 23:00 — 71 players2026-10-05 07:00 — 40 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 60 players2026-10-07 22:00 — 49 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 33 players2026-10-10 13:00 — 52 players2026-10-11 21:00 — 62 players2026-10-13 04:00 — 41 players2026-10-14 12:00 — 38 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
31843Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 253 · peak 431Dec 2012 — avg 152 · peak 277May 2013 — avg 318 · peak 820Oct 2013 — avg 143 · peak 253Mar 2014 — avg 117 · peak 216Aug 2014 — avg 153 · peak 320Jan 2015 — avg 107 · peak 246Jun 2015 — avg 69 · peak 118Nov 2015 — avg 70 · peak 143Apr 2016 — avg 66 · peak 119Sep 2016 — avg 67 · peak 112Feb 2017 — avg 74 · peak 126Jul 2017 — avg 78 · peak 142Dec 2017 — avg 88 · peak 162May 2018 — avg 74 · peak 138Oct 2018 — avg 70 · peak 128Mar 2019 — avg 71 · peak 124Aug 2019 — avg 67 · peak 112Jan 2020 — avg 70 · peak 137Jun 2020 — avg 74 · peak 133Nov 2020 — avg 77 · peak 136Apr 2021 — avg 62 · peak 106Sep 2021 — avg 63 · peak 104Feb 2022 — avg 63 · peak 113Jul 2022 — avg 67 · peak 114Dec 2022 — avg 57 · peak 98May 2023 — avg 62 · peak 101Oct 2023 — avg 57 · peak 99Mar 2024 — avg 60 · peak 113Aug 2024 — avg 66 · peak 153Jan 2025 — avg 61 · peak 100Jun 2025 — avg 54 · peak 105Nov 2025 — avg 54 · peak 95Apr 2026 — avg 53 · peak 97Aug 2026 — avg 43 · peak 74
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$16.99$0.002015-01-012026-07-092015-01-01 — best price $2.492015-08-25 — best price $2.492015-12-22 — best price $2.492016-06-23 — best price $2.492016-11-23 — best price $2.492017-01-05 — best price $3.402017-08-15 — best price $7.992017-10-26 — best price $2.492017-11-29 — best price $9.992018-01-01 — best price $2.002018-04-13 — best price $9.992018-05-21 — best price $9.992018-11-01 — best price $9.992018-12-20 — best price $2.492019-02-04 — best price $2.492019-10-28 — best price $2.492019-12-20 — best price $2.492020-04-30 — best price $2.492020-11-20 — best price $2.492020-12-20 — best price $0.002021-01-07 — best price $9.992021-07-08 — best price $9.992021-11-01 — best price $9.992022-07-07 — best price $9.992023-07-13 — best price $9.992023-11-28 — best price $9.992024-03-21 — best price $9.992024-08-05 — best price $9.992025-01-02 — best price $9.992025-07-10 — best price $9.992026-01-05 — best price $9.992026-03-26 — best price $9.992026-07-09 — best price $9.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

39122026-05-31 — 29 pageviews2026-06-04 — 27 pageviews2026-06-08 — 19 pageviews2026-06-12 — 18 pageviews2026-06-16 — 17 pageviews2026-06-20 — 18 pageviews2026-06-24 — 22 pageviews2026-06-28 — 39 pageviews2026-07-02 — 29 pageviews2026-07-06 — 20 pageviews2026-07-10 — 21 pageviews2026-07-14 — 29 pageviews2026-07-18 — 25 pageviews2026-07-22 — 28 pageviews2026-07-26 — 21 pageviews2026-07-30 — 30 pageviews2026-08-03 — 26 pageviews2026-08-07 — 14 pageviews2026-08-11 — 12 pageviews2026-08-15 — 18 pageviews2026-08-19 — 23 pageviews2026-08-23 — 16 pageviews2026-08-27 — 17 pageviews2026-08-31 — 24 pageviews2026-09-04 — 28 pageviews2026-09-08 — 28 pageviews2026-09-12 — 17 pageviews2026-09-16 — 14 pageviews2026-09-20 — 20 pageviews2026-09-24 — 32 pageviews2026-09-28 — 30 pageviews2026-10-02 — 22 pageviews2026-10-06 — 19 pageviews2026-10-09 — 19 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
93.3%
earned "First Blood"
51.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsRemote Play on TVFamily Sharing6 DLC

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

Post-launch support: 6 DLC released, first 2010-06-02, latest 2013-01-23 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)28,2302%87

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

IndieActionAliensSci-fiStrategyAddictiveAdventureControllerFuturisticReplay Value

Census log

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

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

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