The Game Census
Observation cover art

Observation

No Code · Devolver Digital · 2020-05-21

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

AdventureIndie

Modes: Single player

Releases: Jun 25, 2020 (Xbox One), May 21, 2019 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), May 21, 2019 (PlayStation 4)

Observation is a sci-fi thriller uncovering what happened to Dr. Emma Fisher, and the crew of her mission, through the lens of the station’s artificial intelligence S.A.M.

3
playing now
78%
positive of 5.2k reviews
Mostly Positive
steam rating
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
82/100
critic score (11 outlets, IGDB)
75/100
IGDB user rating (88 ratings)
5.7h
to beat · rushed 5h · completionist 11h
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$24.99
steam price (US)

3 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 03:00 UTC (census sample)

Observation is an adventure video game developed by No Code and published by Devolver Digital. The game, described as sci-fi thriller, puts the player in control of a space station AI in order to recover from the sudden, mysterious loss of its crew. Observation was released for Windows and PlayStation 4 on 21 May 2019 and for Xbox One on 25 June 2020.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 3 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 194 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~24/week).
  • · Review velocity up 7% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (1,087 reviews).
  • · Top 12% of 11,362 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 104k–234k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 5,191 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Humble Store$6.24-75%
Gamesplanet$6.25-75%
GOG$6.25-75%
lowest across shops (ITAD)$6.25-75%
Microsoft Store$24.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.74 at Microsoft Store (2025-04-07) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $24.99 · on sale 78 of 117 observed days · $2.51 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
86786720202026Week of 2020-05-01: 867 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 220 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 300 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 73 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 187 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 54 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 238 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 100 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 76 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1202026-08-07 00:00 — 4 players2026-08-07 08:00 — 1 players2026-08-07 16:00 — 5 players2026-08-08 00:00 — 4 players2026-08-08 08:00 — 0 players2026-08-08 16:00 — 3 players2026-08-09 00:00 — 2 players2026-08-09 08:00 — 10 players2026-08-09 16:00 — 8 players2026-08-10 00:00 — 2 players2026-08-10 08:00 — 2 players2026-08-10 16:00 — 5 players2026-08-11 00:00 — 0 players2026-08-11 08:00 — 1 players2026-08-11 16:00 — 3 players2026-08-13 00:00 — 0 players2026-08-14 07:00 — 2 players2026-08-15 15:00 — 5 players2026-08-16 23:00 — 7 players2026-08-18 07:00 — 6 players2026-08-19 14:00 — 12 players2026-08-20 22:00 — 6 players2026-08-22 05:00 — 3 players2026-08-23 13:00 — 6 players2026-08-24 20:00 — 7 players2026-08-26 04:00 — 4 players2026-08-27 12:00 — 2 players2026-08-29 11:00 — 5 players2026-08-30 03:00 — 3 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$24.99$3.742019-04-262026-08-302019-04-26 — best price $22.492019-12-19 — best price $12.492020-06-15 — best price $24.992020-10-22 — best price $9.992021-01-04 — best price $24.992021-04-10 — best price $24.992021-06-25 — best price $9.992021-10-18 — best price $9.992021-12-23 — best price $8.402022-02-21 — best price $24.992022-04-19 — best price $22.492022-05-26 — best price $8.492022-08-15 — best price $9.992022-11-11 — best price $9.992022-12-23 — best price $6.242023-03-16 — best price $6.242023-05-12 — best price $6.242023-07-15 — best price $24.992023-09-01 — best price $7.972023-11-22 — best price $6.242024-02-05 — best price $9.062024-03-20 — best price $6.242024-05-23 — best price $24.992024-07-18 — best price $4.872024-09-12 — best price $6.242024-11-04 — best price $24.992025-01-07 — best price $6.252025-03-01 — best price $24.992025-04-23 — best price $6.242025-06-18 — best price $6.242025-09-24 — best price $24.992025-12-06 — best price $24.992026-02-23 — best price $24.992026-04-17 — best price $19.492026-06-17 — best price $6.252026-08-17 — best price $4.872026-08-30 — best price $6.25
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

894662026-05-31 — 89 pageviews2026-06-03 — 894 pageviews2026-06-06 — 209 pageviews2026-06-09 — 180 pageviews2026-06-12 — 140 pageviews2026-06-15 — 127 pageviews2026-06-18 — 108 pageviews2026-06-21 — 86 pageviews2026-06-24 — 135 pageviews2026-06-27 — 95 pageviews2026-06-30 — 96 pageviews2026-07-03 — 101 pageviews2026-07-06 — 125 pageviews2026-07-09 — 88 pageviews2026-07-12 — 72 pageviews2026-07-15 — 83 pageviews2026-07-18 — 66 pageviews2026-07-21 — 76 pageviews2026-07-24 — 82 pageviews2026-07-27 — 87 pageviews2026-07-30 — 342 pageviews2026-08-02 — 209 pageviews2026-08-05 — 136 pageviews2026-08-08 — 104 pageviews2026-08-11 — 105 pageviews2026-08-14 — 99 pageviews2026-08-17 — 130 pageviews2026-08-20 — 564 pageviews2026-08-23 — 255 pageviews2026-08-26 — 323 pageviews2026-08-28 — 176 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

11
achievements tracked
73.4%
earned "How did we get here?"
36.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportRemote Play on TVFamily Sharing

10 supported languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Xbox One, Windows (Xbox)8,98214%11
PS4 (PlayStation)5,60920%11
Steam (Steam)3,59511%11

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

Player tags

IndieSpaceHorrorPuzzleSci-fiMysteryThrillerAdventureStory RichAtmospheric

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsDon't Knock TwiceHouse of CaravanRusty Lake HotelPLANET ALPHARusty Lake: RootsDream AloneApsulov: End of Gods

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Discord ↗Wikipedia ↗