The Game Census
Retrograde Arena cover art

Retrograde Arena

Freemergency · Neon Doctrine · 2020-05-28

Steam

ActionIndieFree To Play

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Jun 05, 2021 (Nintendo Switch), May 28, 2020 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Retrograde Arena is a multiplayer twin stick shooter where bullets don’t kill. Use weapons, physics, and your Drone to push, pull, and blast your foes into deadly surroundings in this skill-based shooter action title that redefines physics-based action.

Retrograde Arena is a free-to-play Action, Indie, and Free To Play title released in 2020, with an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 owners and Very Positive sentiment (93% of 538 reviews).

1
playing now
93%
positive of 538 reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
50,000–100,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
silver
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
Free
steam price (US)

1 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 18:00 UTC (census sample)

Retrograde Arena is a multiplayer twin stick shooter where bullets don’t kill, but the environment does! Weapons are your ultimate tools, not just for blasting enemies, but for propelling your customizable Drone around the maps at great speed! Mastering Retrograde Arena’s recoil propulsion and the impact of the various weapons is essential for victory in the neon soaked world of Retrograde Arena.(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Quiet
  • · 1 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 14 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~2/week).
  • · Review velocity down 48% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (45 reviews).
  • · Top 20% of 27,675 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

All-time low: $9.99 at Steam (2020-05-28)via IsThereAnyDeal

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
424220202026Week of 2020-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 6 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

202026-09-15 03:00 — 0 players2026-09-16 11:00 — 0 players2026-09-17 19:00 — 0 players2026-09-19 02:00 — 0 players2026-09-20 10:00 — 0 players2026-09-21 18:00 — 0 players2026-09-23 01:00 — 0 players2026-09-24 09:00 — 0 players2026-09-25 16:00 — 0 players2026-09-27 00:00 — 0 players2026-09-28 07:00 — 0 players2026-09-29 15:00 — 0 players2026-09-30 22:00 — 0 players2026-10-02 06:00 — 0 players2026-10-03 13:00 — 2 players2026-10-04 21:00 — 0 players2026-10-06 05:00 — 1 players2026-10-07 12:00 — 0 players2026-10-08 20:00 — 0 players2026-10-10 03:00 — 0 players2026-10-11 11:00 — 0 players2026-10-12 19:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 02:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 18:00 — 1 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
32.2%
earned "Sweet Victory"
3.7%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPLAN PvPShared/Split Screen PvPShared/Split ScreenSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Cloud3 DLC

6 supported languages: English, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese

Post-launch support: 3 DLC released, first 2020-06-12, latest 2020-07-31 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)4333%60
Switch (Nintendo)1160%0

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

Player tags

PvP2.5DActionArcadeShooterColorfulStylizedCyberpunkBullet HellShoot 'Em Up

Census log

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

Players also track

MiscreatedImmortal: UnchainedBorderlands 3PAWARUMIRICODream AloneMust Dash AmigosCyberpunk 2077

Similarity via IGDB.

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