The Game Census
METAL SLUG DEFENSE cover art

METAL SLUG DEFENSE

SNK CORPORATION · 2015-05-01

Steam

ActionFree To Play

Franchise: Metal Slug · Modes: Single player, Multiplayer

Releases: May 01, 2014 (iOS), May 01, 2015 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), May 01, 2014 (Android)

“METAL SLUG”, the pinnacle of 2D action-shooting on NEOGEO returns in a brand new strategy game on Steam!

METAL SLUG DEFENSE is a 2015 Action, Free To Play game priced at free-to-play, with a Mixed review sentiment (57% of 2230 reviews) and an estimated 500,000 .. 1,000,000 owners.

8
playing now
57%
positive of 2.2k reviews
Mixed
steam's rating (official)
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unknown
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: 0
Free
steam price (US)

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

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 8 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 88 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~11/week).
  • · Review velocity up 1% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 10% of 27,649 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-30

All-time low: $14.99 at Steam (2018-10-29)via IsThereAnyDeal

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
161620182026Week of 2018-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

2122026-09-15 13:00 — 3 players2026-09-16 21:00 — 8 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 6 players2026-09-19 12:00 — 5 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 12 players2026-09-22 03:00 — 7 players2026-09-23 11:00 — 5 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 9 players2026-09-26 02:00 — 12 players2026-09-27 09:00 — 3 players2026-09-28 17:00 — 7 players2026-09-30 00:00 — 15 players2026-10-01 08:00 — 7 players2026-10-02 15:00 — 8 players2026-10-03 23:00 — 21 players2026-10-05 07:00 — 7 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 8 players2026-10-07 22:00 — 5 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 6 players2026-10-10 13:00 — 9 players2026-10-11 21:00 — 9 players2026-10-13 04:00 — 10 players2026-10-14 12:00 — 8 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1793May 2015Aug 2026May 2015 — avg 179 · peak 389Sep 2015 — avg 19 · peak 40Jan 2016 — avg 24 · peak 45May 2016 — avg 12 · peak 28Sep 2016 — avg 10 · peak 26Jan 2017 — avg 9 · peak 21May 2017 — avg 7 · peak 17Sep 2017 — avg 7 · peak 22Jan 2018 — avg 7 · peak 19May 2018 — avg 5 · peak 14Sep 2018 — avg 4 · peak 14Jan 2019 — avg 4 · peak 13May 2019 — avg 5 · peak 13Sep 2019 — avg 3 · peak 11Jan 2020 — avg 5 · peak 14May 2020 — avg 8 · peak 20Sep 2020 — avg 5 · peak 13Jan 2021 — avg 4 · peak 12May 2021 — avg 4 · peak 15Sep 2021 — avg 5 · peak 15Jan 2022 — avg 4 · peak 14May 2022 — avg 4 · peak 20Sep 2022 — avg 4 · peak 9Jan 2023 — avg 5 · peak 14May 2023 — avg 6 · peak 16Sep 2023 — avg 7 · peak 17Jan 2024 — avg 7 · peak 16May 2024 — avg 8 · peak 21Sep 2024 — avg 7 · peak 19Jan 2025 — avg 6 · peak 14May 2025 — avg 7 · peak 14Sep 2025 — avg 8 · peak 18Jan 2026 — avg 8 · peak 19May 2026 — avg 7 · peak 16Aug 2026 — avg 7 · peak 17
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$29.99$0.002015-05-012018-11-062015-05-01 — best price $0.002018-06-09 — best price $29.992018-10-29 — best price $14.992018-11-05 — best price $29.992018-11-06 — best price $0.00
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
44.5%
earned "Area 1: "SOUTHEAST ASIA" conquered "
6.1%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerSteam AchievementsPartial Controller SupportSteam CloudSteam LeaderboardsFamily Sharing10 DLC

8 supported languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian

Post-launch support: 10 DLC released, first 2015-05-01 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)3,59812%64

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

2DActionArcadeCasualShooterStrategyAdventureMultiplayerFree to PlaySingleplayer

Census log

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

Players also track

Act of War: Direct ActionWorld War III: Black GoldBreach & ClearStar Control®: OriginsUnclaimed WorldENDLESS Space™ 2Black SquadEARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON RAIN

Similarity via IGDB.

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