The Game Census
Natural Selection 2 cover art

Natural Selection 2

Unknown Worlds Entertainment · 2012-10-30

Steam

ActionIndieStrategy

Modes: Multiplayer · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Oct 30, 2012 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

A fast paced multiplayer shooter that pits aliens against humans in a strategic and action-packed struggle for survival!

Natural Selection 2 is an Action, Indie and Strategy game released in 2012, priced at $4.99, with an estimated 1,000,000 .. 2,000,000 owners and a Very Positive (85% of 13370 reviews) rating.

65
playing now
85%
positive of 13k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
78/100
IGDB user rating (30 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$4.99
steam price (US)

65 players in-game as of 2026-10-15 03:00 UTC (census sample)

Natural Selection 2 is a multiplayer video game which combines first-person shooter and real-time strategy rules. It is set in a science fiction universe in which a human team fights an alien team for control of resources and territory in large and elaborate indoor facilities. It is the sequel to Natural Selection.

Trailer

Natural Selection 2 trailer thumbnail

Natural Selection 2 Trailer

≈785,932 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 65 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 130 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~16/week).
  • · Review velocity up 2% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 4% of 27,908 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Estimated sales: 535k–1.1M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 13,370 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Steam$0.99-80%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.99 at Steam (2025-12-18) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $4.99 · on sale 23 of 32 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
16516520182026Week of 2018-01-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 93 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 109 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 165 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 69 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

139152026-09-15 12:00 — 54 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 76 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 41 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 52 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 139 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 58 players2026-09-23 10:00 — 16 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 82 players2026-09-26 01:00 — 80 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 23 players2026-09-28 16:00 — 72 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 70 players2026-10-01 07:00 — 18 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 97 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 71 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 43 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 72 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 76 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 47 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 73 players2026-10-11 20:00 — 109 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 43 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 25 players2026-10-15 03:00 — 65 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
2.8k70Sep 2012Aug 2026Sep 2012 — avg 235 · peak 506Feb 2013 — avg 1,141 · peak 2,321Jul 2013 — avg 1,093 · peak 3,506Dec 2013 — avg 1,378 · peak 3,152May 2014 — avg 468 · peak 1,038Oct 2014 — avg 308 · peak 666Mar 2015 — avg 258 · peak 611Aug 2015 — avg 219 · peak 498Jan 2016 — avg 343 · peak 904Jun 2016 — avg 243 · peak 600Nov 2016 — avg 222 · peak 501Apr 2017 — avg 223 · peak 486Sep 2017 — avg 186 · peak 402Feb 2018 — avg 211 · peak 488Jul 2018 — avg 219 · peak 530Dec 2018 — avg 233 · peak 477May 2019 — avg 307 · peak 834Oct 2019 — avg 162 · peak 362Mar 2020 — avg 174 · peak 402Aug 2020 — avg 167 · peak 345Jan 2021 — avg 201 · peak 508Jun 2021 — avg 135 · peak 304Nov 2021 — avg 127 · peak 282Apr 2022 — avg 136 · peak 300Sep 2022 — avg 117 · peak 315Feb 2023 — avg 139 · peak 297Jul 2023 — avg 114 · peak 280Dec 2023 — avg 117 · peak 245May 2024 — avg 102 · peak 231Oct 2024 — avg 90 · peak 241Mar 2025 — avg 97 · peak 227Aug 2025 — avg 80 · peak 189Jan 2026 — avg 94 · peak 256Jun 2026 — avg 82 · peak 188Aug 2026 — avg 70 · peak 166
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$24.99$0.992015-01-012026-10-072015-01-01 — best price $6.242015-05-16 — best price $7.492015-12-01 — best price $9.992016-05-30 — best price $9.992016-07-14 — best price $9.992017-04-07 — best price $9.992017-11-28 — best price $9.992018-10-30 — best price $2.492019-04-27 — best price $4.992019-11-10 — best price $1.992020-06-25 — best price $1.992021-08-11 — best price $8.952021-10-02 — best price $9.992021-11-02 — best price $8.352021-12-22 — best price $2.492022-02-08 — best price $7.652022-04-29 — best price $9.992022-06-25 — best price $4.002022-07-19 — best price $7.522022-08-24 — best price $3.992022-11-15 — best price $9.992022-12-22 — best price $1.992023-02-07 — best price $2.942023-03-06 — best price $2.992023-05-05 — best price $4.992023-06-12 — best price $2.602023-07-16 — best price $4.992023-07-29 — best price $2.992023-09-01 — best price $9.992023-11-30 — best price $4.072024-03-07 — best price $4.992024-05-21 — best price $9.992024-11-27 — best price $2.492025-06-27 — best price $2.492026-02-18 — best price $3.292026-05-13 — best price $4.992026-07-09 — best price $4.992026-10-02 — best price $0.992026-10-07 — best price $0.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

496242026-05-31 — 496 pageviews2026-06-04 — 168 pageviews2026-06-08 — 140 pageviews2026-06-12 — 112 pageviews2026-06-16 — 188 pageviews2026-06-20 — 71 pageviews2026-06-24 — 72 pageviews2026-06-28 — 59 pageviews2026-07-02 — 100 pageviews2026-07-06 — 73 pageviews2026-07-10 — 51 pageviews2026-07-14 — 62 pageviews2026-07-18 — 49 pageviews2026-07-22 — 52 pageviews2026-07-26 — 44 pageviews2026-07-30 — 46 pageviews2026-08-03 — 35 pageviews2026-08-07 — 37 pageviews2026-08-11 — 43 pageviews2026-08-15 — 43 pageviews2026-08-19 — 45 pageviews2026-08-23 — 35 pageviews2026-08-27 — 24 pageviews2026-08-31 — 40 pageviews2026-09-04 — 53 pageviews2026-09-08 — 46 pageviews2026-09-12 — 47 pageviews2026-09-16 — 37 pageviews2026-09-20 — 44 pageviews2026-09-24 — 56 pageviews2026-09-28 — 44 pageviews2026-10-02 — 27 pageviews2026-10-06 — 35 pageviews2026-10-09 — 47 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
18.5%
earned "They Just Keep Coming"
9.6%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsSteam WorkshopSteam CloudValve Anti-Cheat enabledIncludes level editorFamily Sharing10 DLC

9 supported languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Russian, Finnish, Romanian, Swedish

Post-launch support: 10 DLC released, first 2014-05-01, latest 2019-11-14 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)12,5180%137

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

FPSRTSCo-opIndieActionAliensSci-fiShooterModdableStrategy

Census log

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

Players also track

Half-LifeRogue WarriorWolfenstein: The New OrderTomb Raider Game of the YearDishonoredSOMAPrey

Similarity via IGDB.

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