The Game Census
Hyper Light Drifter cover art

Hyper Light Drifter

Heart Machine · 2016-03-31

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

ActionAdventureIndieRPG

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative

Releases: Mar 31, 2016 (Linux), Mar 31, 2016 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Jul 26, 2016 (Xbox One), Jul 26, 2016 (PlayStation 4), TBD (Wii U), TBD (PlayStation Vita)

Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies.

67
playing now
93%
positive of 19k reviews
Very Positive
steam rating
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
89/100
critic score (11 outlets, IGDB)
80/100
IGDB user rating (254 ratings)
7.8h
to beat · rushed 5h · completionist 35h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$19.99
steam price (US)

67 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 01:00 UTC (census sample)

Hyper Light Drifter is an action role-playing game developed and published by Heart Machine. The Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X versions were released in March 2016, and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions in July 2016. A Special Edition port of the game, featuring additional content, was released by Abylight Studios for the Nintendo Switch in September 2018, for iOS devices in July 2019 and for Android devices in June 2024.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 67 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 779 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~97/week).
  • · Review velocity up 3% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 7% of 10,791 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-27

Estimated sales: 478k–1.1M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 19,124 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$19.99
Microsoft Store$19.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.99 at GOG (2020-03-18) · bundled 5×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 3 of 11 observed days · $16.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
27527520182026Week of 2018-01-01: 237 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 118 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 221 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 159 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 151 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 275 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 76 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 50 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 144 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 149 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 117 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 121 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 94 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 111 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 107 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 137 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 74 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 80 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 103 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 104 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 69 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 84 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 233 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 44 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 50 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 111 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 91 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 87 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 50 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 83 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 95 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 102 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 117 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 141 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 87 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 102 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 89 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 132 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 162 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 19 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

127322026-08-06 21:00 — 95 players2026-08-07 05:00 — 69 players2026-08-07 13:00 — 87 players2026-08-07 21:00 — 77 players2026-08-08 05:00 — 67 players2026-08-08 13:00 — 97 players2026-08-08 21:00 — 114 players2026-08-09 05:00 — 83 players2026-08-09 13:00 — 103 players2026-08-09 21:00 — 111 players2026-08-10 05:00 — 45 players2026-08-10 13:00 — 86 players2026-08-10 21:00 — 99 players2026-08-11 05:00 — 48 players2026-08-11 13:00 — 89 players2026-08-12 21:00 — 95 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 48 players2026-08-15 12:00 — 78 players2026-08-16 20:00 — 102 players2026-08-18 04:00 — 49 players2026-08-19 11:00 — 48 players2026-08-20 19:00 — 58 players2026-08-22 02:00 — 48 players2026-08-23 10:00 — 45 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 74 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 46 players2026-08-28 01:00 — 40 players2026-08-29 09:00 — 32 players2026-08-30 01:00 — 67 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$19.99$0.002015-01-012026-08-302015-01-01 — best price $15.002016-03-22 — best price $17.992016-07-04 — best price $19.992016-09-27 — best price $13.392016-11-14 — best price $19.992016-11-29 — best price $19.992017-02-10 — best price $11.992017-03-28 — best price $9.992017-06-23 — best price $9.992017-10-14 — best price $19.992017-11-28 — best price $19.992018-01-11 — best price $9.992018-02-23 — best price $19.992018-05-10 — best price $9.992018-07-02 — best price $7.992018-10-30 — best price $19.992019-01-04 — best price $19.992019-11-22 — best price $11.992019-12-19 — best price $9.992020-03-18 — best price $3.992020-05-21 — best price $19.992020-07-29 — best price $7.992020-10-24 — best price $19.992021-02-18 — best price $9.992021-05-24 — best price $19.992021-10-08 — best price $7.992022-04-19 — best price $19.992022-11-18 — best price $7.992023-03-03 — best price $7.992023-04-20 — best price $19.992024-04-10 — best price $7.992025-02-10 — best price $9.992025-09-01 — best price $19.992026-07-30 — best price $4.992026-08-30 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

2981042026-05-29 — 181 pageviews2026-06-01 — 163 pageviews2026-06-04 — 179 pageviews2026-06-07 — 203 pageviews2026-06-10 — 193 pageviews2026-06-13 — 175 pageviews2026-06-16 — 181 pageviews2026-06-19 — 188 pageviews2026-06-22 — 155 pageviews2026-06-25 — 167 pageviews2026-06-28 — 193 pageviews2026-07-01 — 158 pageviews2026-07-04 — 115 pageviews2026-07-07 — 165 pageviews2026-07-10 — 109 pageviews2026-07-13 — 150 pageviews2026-07-16 — 115 pageviews2026-07-19 — 138 pageviews2026-07-22 — 163 pageviews2026-07-25 — 128 pageviews2026-07-28 — 164 pageviews2026-07-31 — 175 pageviews2026-08-03 — 136 pageviews2026-08-06 — 149 pageviews2026-08-09 — 206 pageviews2026-08-12 — 155 pageviews2026-08-15 — 143 pageviews2026-08-18 — 145 pageviews2026-08-21 — 145 pageviews2026-08-24 — 142 pageviews2026-08-26 — 124 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

23
achievements tracked
48.7%
earned "Dummy"
5.4%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPShared/Split Screen PvPCo-opShared/Split Screen Co-opSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsRemote Play on Phone1 DLC

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

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)17,3613%23
PS4 (PlayStation)2,2525%23
PS4 (PlayStation)1,6385%23
Xbox One (Xbox)1,5222%23
PS4 (PlayStation)25912%23

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

2DRPGIndieActionColorfulTop-DownAdventureDifficultAtmosphericExploration

Census log

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

Players also track

Legends of EisenwaldENDLESS Legend™ZigguratChasmChildren of MortaHollow KnightImmortal: UnchainedBorderlands 3

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗