The Game Census
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak cover art

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

Blackbird Interactive · Gearbox Publishing · 2016-01-20

SteamGOGEpic Games Store

Strategy

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer

Releases: Jan 20, 2016 (Mac), Jan 20, 2016 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

A ground-based RTS prequel to the classic Homeworld games. Assemble your fleet and lead them to victory on the shifting sands of Kharak in this compelling strategy game for PC from Blackbird Interactive.

32
playing now
79%
positive of 8.9k reviews
Mostly Positive
steam rating
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (7 outlets, IGDB)
79/100
IGDB user rating (30 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$49.99
steam price (US)

32 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 02:00 UTC (census sample)

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a real-time strategy video game developed by Blackbird Interactive and published by Gearbox Software. The game was released on January 20, 2016, and is a prequel to the 1999 space-based real-time strategy video game Homeworld.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 32 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 197 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~25/week).
  • · Review velocity down 12% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 8% of 5,887 Strategy games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 223k–535k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 8,913 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

lowest across shops (ITAD)$2.95-90%
GameBillet$3.95-92%
Gamesplanet$4.85-90%
GOG$4.99-90%
Humble Store$4.99-90%
IndieGala$4.99-90%
Steam$4.99-90%
GOG$4.99-90%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $2.69 at GameBillet (2021-08-28) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $49.99 · on sale 104 of 152 observed days · $1.26 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
14714720182026Week of 2018-01-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 147 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 84 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 105 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 125 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 78 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 90 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 93 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 86 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 50 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 40 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 68 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

48112026-08-06 22:00 — 13 players2026-08-07 06:00 — 20 players2026-08-07 14:00 — 26 players2026-08-07 22:00 — 21 players2026-08-08 06:00 — 24 players2026-08-08 14:00 — 26 players2026-08-08 22:00 — 45 players2026-08-09 06:00 — 40 players2026-08-09 14:00 — 31 players2026-08-09 22:00 — 35 players2026-08-10 06:00 — 13 players2026-08-10 14:00 — 30 players2026-08-10 22:00 — 18 players2026-08-11 06:00 — 16 players2026-08-11 14:00 — 19 players2026-08-12 22:00 — 26 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 17 players2026-08-15 13:00 — 37 players2026-08-16 21:00 — 38 players2026-08-18 05:00 — 16 players2026-08-19 12:00 — 17 players2026-08-20 20:00 — 27 players2026-08-22 03:00 — 20 players2026-08-23 11:00 — 24 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 26 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 33 players2026-08-27 10:00 — 24 players2026-08-28 18:00 — 37 players2026-08-30 02:00 — 32 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$49.99$2.802015-12-162026-08-302015-12-16 — best price $49.992017-07-07 — best price $16.492018-02-27 — best price $49.992018-11-27 — best price $49.992019-05-23 — best price $49.992019-11-01 — best price $49.992020-04-09 — best price $49.992020-12-16 — best price $4.502021-03-02 — best price $42.392021-04-23 — best price $42.252021-06-09 — best price $4.992021-09-03 — best price $4.992021-12-02 — best price $49.992022-02-24 — best price $43.992022-07-01 — best price $4.992022-09-26 — best price $4.992022-12-19 — best price $4.292023-03-23 — best price $49.992023-07-17 — best price $49.992023-10-04 — best price $39.492023-12-02 — best price $49.992024-02-05 — best price $49.992024-04-01 — best price $49.992024-10-16 — best price $4.302025-02-10 — best price $4.992025-05-12 — best price $12.492025-08-14 — best price $4.992025-11-03 — best price $49.992026-01-28 — best price $4.302026-03-27 — best price $4.992026-05-21 — best price $3.922026-07-23 — best price $2.952026-08-25 — best price $3.992026-08-30 — best price $3.95
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

60162026-05-27 — 38 pageviews2026-05-30 — 60 pageviews2026-06-02 — 55 pageviews2026-06-05 — 21 pageviews2026-06-08 — 38 pageviews2026-06-11 — 30 pageviews2026-06-14 — 34 pageviews2026-06-17 — 37 pageviews2026-06-20 — 32 pageviews2026-06-23 — 21 pageviews2026-06-26 — 27 pageviews2026-06-29 — 29 pageviews2026-07-02 — 27 pageviews2026-07-05 — 34 pageviews2026-07-08 — 37 pageviews2026-07-11 — 40 pageviews2026-07-14 — 34 pageviews2026-07-17 — 45 pageviews2026-07-20 — 35 pageviews2026-07-23 — 31 pageviews2026-07-26 — 26 pageviews2026-07-29 — 24 pageviews2026-08-01 — 26 pageviews2026-08-04 — 31 pageviews2026-08-07 — 30 pageviews2026-08-10 — 29 pageviews2026-08-13 — 37 pageviews2026-08-16 — 34 pageviews2026-08-19 — 24 pageviews2026-08-22 — 40 pageviews2026-08-23 — 40 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

48
achievements tracked
75.2%
earned "Epsilon Base"
0.4%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSSingle-playerMulti-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsCustom Volume ControlsAdjustable DifficultySave AnytimeSteam CloudStatsSteam Leaderboards4 DLC

6 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Russian

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)9,9930%48

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

RTSSpaceActionSci-fiStrategyTacticalAdventureReal-TimeFuturisticStory Rich

Census log

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

Recent updates

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗Reddit ↗Speedruns ↗