The Game Census
Rivals of Aether cover art

Rivals of Aether

Aether Studios · 2017-03-28

SteamMicrosoft Store

Indie

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative · Perspectives: Side view

Releases: Mar 28, 2017 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Sep 24, 2020 (Nintendo Switch), Mar 28, 2017 (Xbox One)

RIVALS OF AETHER is an indie fighting game where warring civilizations summon the power of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Play with up to four players either locally or online.

Rivals of Aether is a 2017 Indie game priced at $29.99, with an estimated 1,000,000 .. 2,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 38184 reviews).

128
playing now
96%
positive of 38k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
73/100
IGDB user rating (41 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$29.99
steam price (US)

128 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 11:00 UTC (census sample)

Rivals of Aether is a platform fighter game created by Dan Fornace, and released for Microsoft Windows in March 2017, for Xbox One in August 2017, and for Nintendo Switch in September 2020. It received positive reception from critics, who commended its deep gameplay.

Trailer

Rivals of Aether trailer thumbnail

Rivals of Aether - Steam Launch Trailer

≈354,428 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 128 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 1,395 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~174/week).
  • · Review velocity down 3% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 1% of 49,548 Indie games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 957k–2.3M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 38,289 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Microsoft Store$14.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.74 at Steam (2018-12-20) · bundled 5×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $29.99 · on sale 14 of 21 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
89489420182026Week of 2018-01-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 184 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 37 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 102 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 138 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 128 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 203 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 74 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 163 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 677 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 583 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 559 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 711 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 509 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 668 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 478 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 725 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 894 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 451 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 634 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 837 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 554 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 576 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 609 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 411 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 404 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 415 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 282 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 397 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 364 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 244 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 374 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 474 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 560 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 584 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 530 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 612 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 319 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 353 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 320 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 333 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 371 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 307 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 272 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 325 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 309 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 335 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 359 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 345 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 340 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 411 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 326 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 347 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 551 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 344 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 341 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 263 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 367 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 636 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 409 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 265 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 339 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 241 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 233 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 324 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 441 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 263 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 169 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 260 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 262 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 370 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 301 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 161 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 192 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 172 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 166 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 170 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 260 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 186 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 138 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 147 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 142 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 228 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 213 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 166 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 137 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 124 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 154 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 143 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 175 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 159 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 7 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

500822026-09-15 12:00 — 86 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 258 players2026-09-18 03:00 — 296 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 158 players2026-09-20 18:00 — 438 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 385 players2026-09-23 10:00 — 101 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 261 players2026-09-26 01:00 — 390 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 143 players2026-09-28 16:00 — 161 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 271 players2026-10-01 07:00 — 103 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 171 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 423 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 185 players2026-10-06 13:00 — 107 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 344 players2026-10-09 04:00 — 244 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 129 players2026-10-11 20:00 — 366 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 429 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 128 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
81773Sep 2015Aug 2026Sep 2015 — avg 395 · peak 2,122Jan 2016 — avg 120 · peak 302May 2016 — avg 89 · peak 316Sep 2016 — avg 73 · peak 176Jan 2017 — avg 112 · peak 288May 2017 — avg 115 · peak 380Sep 2017 — avg 226 · peak 603Jan 2018 — avg 216 · peak 473May 2018 — avg 206 · peak 658Sep 2018 — avg 329 · peak 1,245Jan 2019 — avg 142 · peak 342May 2019 — avg 98 · peak 193Sep 2019 — avg 262 · peak 1,124Jan 2020 — avg 305 · peak 795May 2020 — avg 396 · peak 779Sep 2020 — avg 602 · peak 2,828Jan 2021 — avg 479 · peak 1,100May 2021 — avg 348 · peak 648Sep 2021 — avg 407 · peak 1,208Jan 2022 — avg 438 · peak 1,072May 2022 — avg 425 · peak 874Sep 2022 — avg 333 · peak 690Jan 2023 — avg 396 · peak 777May 2023 — avg 361 · peak 702Sep 2023 — avg 414 · peak 939Jan 2024 — avg 436 · peak 902May 2024 — avg 327 · peak 645Sep 2024 — avg 343 · peak 702Jan 2025 — avg 294 · peak 664May 2025 — avg 259 · peak 526Sep 2025 — avg 224 · peak 506Jan 2026 — avg 304 · peak 646May 2026 — avg 267 · peak 583Aug 2026 — avg 282 · peak 539
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

PositiveNegative
22222026-09-222026-10-142026-09-22: 22 new positive2026-09-22: 2 new negative2026-09-26: 5 new positive2026-09-28: 5 new positive2026-09-29: 5 new positive2026-10-01: 8 new positive2026-10-03: 3 new positive2026-10-03: 1 new negative2026-10-05: 6 new positive2026-10-09: 9 new positive2026-10-09: 1 new negative2026-10-11: 3 new positive2026-10-12: 7 new positive2026-10-13: 7 new positive2026-10-14: 2 new positive
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$29.99$3.742015-09-222026-10-092015-09-22 — best price $14.992016-03-21 — best price $14.992016-09-08 — best price $11.992016-11-29 — best price $14.992017-06-22 — best price $7.492017-09-29 — best price $14.992018-04-02 — best price $4.942018-09-03 — best price $14.992018-12-20 — best price $3.742019-07-09 — best price $14.992019-10-28 — best price $7.492020-01-02 — best price $14.992020-04-09 — best price $7.492020-07-09 — best price $14.992020-11-14 — best price $29.992021-01-05 — best price $29.992021-06-03 — best price $14.992021-09-27 — best price $29.992021-12-22 — best price $14.992022-04-01 — best price $14.992022-07-07 — best price $29.992023-02-13 — best price $14.992023-04-03 — best price $29.992023-11-21 — best price $14.992024-01-04 — best price $29.992024-07-15 — best price $11.992024-12-04 — best price $29.992025-04-01 — best price $14.992025-10-06 — best price $29.992026-02-09 — best price $14.992026-06-04 — best price $29.992026-08-28 — best price $14.992026-10-02 — best price $14.992026-10-09 — best price $14.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

509462026-05-31 — 98 pageviews2026-06-04 — 99 pageviews2026-06-08 — 78 pageviews2026-06-12 — 100 pageviews2026-06-16 — 72 pageviews2026-06-20 — 61 pageviews2026-06-24 — 95 pageviews2026-06-28 — 509 pageviews2026-07-02 — 102 pageviews2026-07-06 — 111 pageviews2026-07-10 — 73 pageviews2026-07-14 — 72 pageviews2026-07-18 — 63 pageviews2026-07-22 — 69 pageviews2026-07-26 — 123 pageviews2026-07-30 — 62 pageviews2026-08-03 — 62 pageviews2026-08-07 — 100 pageviews2026-08-11 — 64 pageviews2026-08-15 — 73 pageviews2026-08-19 — 50 pageviews2026-08-23 — 72 pageviews2026-08-27 — 55 pageviews2026-08-31 — 53 pageviews2026-09-04 — 71 pageviews2026-09-08 — 79 pageviews2026-09-12 — 87 pageviews2026-09-16 — 57 pageviews2026-09-20 — 71 pageviews2026-09-24 — 61 pageviews2026-09-28 — 46 pageviews2026-10-02 — 62 pageviews2026-10-06 — 68 pageviews2026-10-09 — 58 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Twitch viewers

18702026-10-01 23:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-02 05:34 — 2 viewers2026-10-02 11:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-03 09:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-03 15:34 — 124 viewers2026-10-03 21:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-04 03:34 — 2 viewers2026-10-04 09:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-05 22:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-06 04:34 — 3 viewers2026-10-06 10:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-07 14:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-07 20:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-08 02:34 — 3 viewers2026-10-08 08:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-09 07:34 — 0 viewers2026-10-09 13:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-09 19:34 — 5 viewers2026-10-10 01:34 — 16 viewers2026-10-10 07:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-11 05:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-11 11:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-11 17:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-11 23:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-12 05:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-12 11:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-13 09:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-13 15:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-13 21:34 — 5 viewers2026-10-14 03:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-14 09:34 — 1 viewers2026-10-14 10:34 — 1 viewers
Hourly Twitch viewers (census snapshots).

Completion

36
achievements tracked
48.5%
earned "Endless Creativity"
7.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPShared/Split Screen PvPCo-opShared/Split Screen Co-opShared/Split ScreenSteam AchievementsFull controller support21 DLC

2 supported languages: English, Japanese

Post-launch support: 21 DLC released, first 2016-05-12, latest 2024-07-15 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)18,2001%36
Xbox One (Xbox)5,8670%25
Switch (Nintendo)1480%0

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

2DIndieActionFightingModdable2D FighterControllerPlatformerCompetitiveMultiplayer

Census log

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

Players also track

BrawloutUnclaimed WorldGET EVENZigguratJudgment: Apocalypse Survival SimulationFigmentPikunikuDream Alone

Similarity via IGDB.

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