The Game Census
Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter cover art

Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter

Croteam · Devolver Digital · 2019-08-30

SteamGOG

ActionIndie

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Mar 21, 2001 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Nov 12, 2002 (Xbox)

Serious Sam is a high-adrenaline single-play and 16-player co-operative arcade-action FPS and Gamespot's Game of the Year 2001!

Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter is an Action and Indie game released in 2019, priced at $5.99, with an estimated 200,000 .. 500,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 3490 reviews).

5
playing now
96%
positive of 3.5k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
83/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
79/100
IGDB user rating (266 ratings)
17h
to beat · rushed 14h · completionist 19h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Unsupported
$5.99
steam price (US)

5 players in-game as of 2026-10-15 04:00 UTC (census sample)

Serious Sam: The First Encounter is a 2001 first-person shooter game developed by Croteam and published by Gathering of Developers. It is the first in the Serious Sam series. The game follows the soldier Sam "Serious" Stone, who is sent back in time to ancient Egypt in 1378 BCE to uncover information about the technologically advanced civilisation of the Sirians that could help humanity survive the attacks of extraterrestrial forces in the 22nd century. As Sam, the player traverses linear levels, either enclosed or set on open plains, and battles increasingly large waves of enemies with an expanding arsenal. During gameplay, the player can pick up new weapons and replenishment for ammunition and health, as well as review strategic information. In multiplayer, the game has two deathmatch modes and cooperative play for the single-player campaign.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 5 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 244 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~31/week).
  • · Review velocity up 45% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 8% of 28,023 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-27

Estimated sales: 87k–209k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 3,490 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$1.19-80%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.59 at Steam (2013-07-16) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $5.99 · on sale 47 of 60 observed days · $0.60 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
545420182026Week of 2018-01-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

3712026-09-16 06:00 — 7 players2026-09-17 14:00 — 21 players2026-09-18 21:00 — 23 players2026-09-20 05:00 — 15 players2026-09-21 12:00 — 26 players2026-09-22 20:00 — 14 players2026-09-24 03:00 — 8 players2026-09-25 11:00 — 15 players2026-09-26 18:00 — 23 players2026-09-28 02:00 — 12 players2026-09-29 09:00 — 9 players2026-09-30 17:00 — 16 players2026-10-02 00:00 — 7 players2026-10-03 08:00 — 18 players2026-10-04 16:00 — 30 players2026-10-06 00:00 — 11 players2026-10-07 07:00 — 13 players2026-10-08 15:00 — 23 players2026-10-09 22:00 — 12 players2026-10-11 06:00 — 13 players2026-10-12 13:00 — 19 players2026-10-13 21:00 — 10 players2026-10-15 04:00 — 5 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
463Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 8 · peak 31Dec 2012 — avg 7 · peak 43May 2013 — avg 10 · peak 57Oct 2013 — avg 5 · peak 20Mar 2014 — avg 10 · peak 33Aug 2014 — avg 4 · peak 14Jan 2015 — avg 7 · peak 31Jun 2015 — avg 9 · peak 44Nov 2015 — avg 9 · peak 41Apr 2016 — avg 7 · peak 26Sep 2016 — avg 5 · peak 20Feb 2017 — avg 8 · peak 24Jul 2017 — avg 13 · peak 48Dec 2017 — avg 13 · peak 41May 2018 — avg 13 · peak 49Oct 2018 — avg 7 · peak 28Mar 2019 — avg 9 · peak 38Aug 2019 — avg 11 · peak 36Jan 2020 — avg 18 · peak 43Jun 2020 — avg 21 · peak 49Nov 2020 — avg 18 · peak 51Apr 2021 — avg 11 · peak 32Sep 2021 — avg 11 · peak 28Feb 2022 — avg 13 · peak 40Jul 2022 — avg 9 · peak 28Dec 2022 — avg 9 · peak 25May 2023 — avg 9 · peak 33Oct 2023 — avg 10 · peak 41Mar 2024 — avg 8 · peak 28Aug 2024 — avg 8 · peak 24Jan 2025 — avg 10 · peak 29Jun 2025 — avg 9 · peak 30Nov 2025 — avg 13 · peak 43Apr 2026 — avg 27 · peak 69Aug 2026 — avg 13 · peak 35
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$99.99$1.192015-01-012026-10-152015-01-01 — best price $19.992015-06-20 — best price $14.992015-12-01 — best price $99.992016-05-05 — best price $9.992016-07-13 — best price $9.992016-07-23 — best price $9.992016-10-19 — best price $9.992017-04-03 — best price $9.992017-07-24 — best price $8.492017-11-22 — best price $1.992018-10-31 — best price $1.992019-04-26 — best price $9.992019-10-28 — best price $1.192019-12-03 — best price $5.992020-04-16 — best price $1.192020-07-09 — best price $5.992021-01-05 — best price $5.992021-06-16 — best price $5.992022-01-05 — best price $5.992022-05-16 — best price $5.992023-02-01 — best price $5.992023-10-11 — best price $5.992024-03-21 — best price $5.992024-12-04 — best price $5.992025-06-05 — best price $5.992025-11-10 — best price $5.992026-07-09 — best price $5.992026-09-03 — best price $1.192026-09-11 — best price $1.192026-09-19 — best price $1.192026-09-27 — best price $1.192026-10-05 — best price $1.192026-10-13 — best price $1.192026-10-15 — best price $1.19
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

308912026-05-29 — 124 pageviews2026-06-02 — 126 pageviews2026-06-06 — 91 pageviews2026-06-10 — 195 pageviews2026-06-14 — 135 pageviews2026-06-18 — 113 pageviews2026-06-22 — 214 pageviews2026-06-26 — 115 pageviews2026-06-30 — 137 pageviews2026-07-04 — 145 pageviews2026-07-08 — 121 pageviews2026-07-12 — 106 pageviews2026-07-16 — 109 pageviews2026-07-20 — 96 pageviews2026-07-24 — 105 pageviews2026-07-28 — 105 pageviews2026-08-01 — 112 pageviews2026-08-05 — 128 pageviews2026-08-09 — 163 pageviews2026-08-13 — 103 pageviews2026-08-17 — 101 pageviews2026-08-21 — 119 pageviews2026-08-25 — 131 pageviews2026-08-29 — 147 pageviews2026-09-02 — 211 pageviews2026-09-06 — 149 pageviews2026-09-10 — 136 pageviews2026-09-14 — 138 pageviews2026-09-18 — 124 pageviews2026-09-22 — 122 pageviews2026-09-26 — 110 pageviews2026-09-30 — 114 pageviews2026-10-04 — 110 pageviews2026-10-07 — 113 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPOnline PvPLAN PvPShared/Split Screen PvPCo-opOnline Co-opLAN Co-opShared/Split Screen Co-op

Where its players are

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

Player tags

FPSGoreCo-opIndieActionComedySci-fiClassicShooterLocal Co-Op

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsImmortal: UnchainedGentleMoon 2RICORebel Galaxy OutlawEARTH DEFENSE FORCE: IRON RAINWolfenstein: Youngblood

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗