The Game Census
Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition cover art

Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition

Frictional Games · 2009-01-23

SteamGOG

ActionAdventureIndie

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person

Releases: May 12, 2008 (Linux), May 12, 2008 (Mac), Feb 12, 2008 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Surrounded by enemies and assaulted by terror from all sides, Philip must collect clues and solve vexing puzzles while combating the gnawing psychological terrors that assail his mind and threaten to strip him of his sanity.

Penumbra: Black Plague Gold Edition is an Action, Adventure and Indie game released in 2009, priced at $2.49, with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (94% of 2975 reviews).

4
playing now
94%
positive of 3.0k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
80/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
80/100
IGDB user rating (82 ratings)
8.7h
to beat · rushed 3h
silver
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$2.49
steam price (US)

4 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 13:00 UTC (census sample)

Penumbra: Black Plague is the second installment of the Penumbra series of episodic video games developed by Frictional Games. The story continues from the previous episode, Penumbra: Overture, showing the protagonist Philip moving away from the abandoned mine setting of the original to explore an underground research base. Black Plague was released in February 2008 to generally favourable reviews from critics. Although originally intended to conclude the series, a further expansion called Penumbra: Requiem was released later that year.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 4 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 172 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~22/week).
  • · Review velocity up 43% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 9% of 27,649 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Estimated sales: 119k–238k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 2,975 total reviews — how this is computed.

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
515120182026Week of 2018-01-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 2 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

902026-09-14 22:00 — 9 players2026-09-16 06:00 — 2 players2026-09-17 14:00 — 4 players2026-09-18 21:00 — 4 players2026-09-20 05:00 — 4 players2026-09-21 13:00 — 0 players2026-09-22 20:00 — 3 players2026-09-24 04:00 — 0 players2026-09-25 11:00 — 4 players2026-09-26 19:00 — 8 players2026-09-28 02:00 — 4 players2026-09-29 10:00 — 1 players2026-09-30 17:00 — 3 players2026-10-02 01:00 — 3 players2026-10-03 08:00 — 4 players2026-10-04 16:00 — 8 players2026-10-06 00:00 — 1 players2026-10-07 07:00 — 2 players2026-10-08 15:00 — 4 players2026-10-09 22:00 — 5 players2026-10-11 06:00 — 2 players2026-10-12 14:00 — 6 players2026-10-13 21:00 — 9 players2026-10-14 13:00 — 4 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$9.99$0.992015-01-012021-02-152015-01-01 — best price $1.792015-06-11 — best price $5.992015-09-15 — best price $1.992015-10-29 — best price $2.992015-11-25 — best price $2.492015-12-22 — best price $2.492016-02-05 — best price $2.892016-06-23 — best price $1.992018-06-22 — best price $1.492018-10-30 — best price $1.992018-11-21 — best price $1.992018-12-20 — best price $0.992019-02-04 — best price $1.492019-04-20 — best price $2.492019-06-26 — best price $0.992019-10-28 — best price $1.492019-11-26 — best price $1.492019-12-19 — best price $0.992020-01-23 — best price $0.992020-03-06 — best price $0.992020-06-25 — best price $0.992020-10-29 — best price $0.992020-11-25 — best price $1.992020-12-22 — best price $1.992021-02-11 — best price $1.492021-02-15 — best price $9.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

163272026-05-31 — 27 pageviews2026-06-04 — 41 pageviews2026-06-08 — 48 pageviews2026-06-12 — 45 pageviews2026-06-16 — 41 pageviews2026-06-20 — 57 pageviews2026-06-24 — 52 pageviews2026-06-28 — 42 pageviews2026-07-02 — 35 pageviews2026-07-06 — 50 pageviews2026-07-10 — 38 pageviews2026-07-14 — 46 pageviews2026-07-18 — 39 pageviews2026-07-22 — 48 pageviews2026-07-26 — 34 pageviews2026-07-30 — 51 pageviews2026-08-03 — 41 pageviews2026-08-07 — 41 pageviews2026-08-11 — 35 pageviews2026-08-15 — 48 pageviews2026-08-19 — 43 pageviews2026-08-23 — 44 pageviews2026-08-27 — 74 pageviews2026-08-31 — 61 pageviews2026-09-04 — 63 pageviews2026-09-08 — 47 pageviews2026-09-12 — 37 pageviews2026-09-16 — 51 pageviews2026-09-20 — 52 pageviews2026-09-24 — 53 pageviews2026-09-28 — 76 pageviews2026-10-02 — 56 pageviews2026-10-06 — 53 pageviews2026-10-09 — 44 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxSingle-playerCaptions availableFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

DarkIndieActionHorrorPuzzleStealthSurvivalAdventureStory RichAtmospheric

Census log

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

Players also track

Amnesia: A Machine for PigsStar Control®: OriginsDollhouseSOMADon't Knock TwicePLANET ALPHARusty Lake: RootsDream Alone

Similarity via IGDB.

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