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

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!

9
playing now
96%
positive of 3.5k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam rating
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)
$5.99
steam price (US)

9 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 03:00 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
  • · 9 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 19% of 10,936 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-27

Estimated sales: 87k–208k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 3,464 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 11 of 18 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

2732026-08-06 22:00 — 8 players2026-08-07 06:00 — 9 players2026-08-07 14:00 — 16 players2026-08-07 22:00 — 21 players2026-08-08 06:00 — 7 players2026-08-08 14:00 — 27 players2026-08-08 23:00 — 18 players2026-08-09 07:00 — 7 players2026-08-09 15:00 — 22 players2026-08-09 23:00 — 13 players2026-08-10 07:00 — 3 players2026-08-10 15:00 — 16 players2026-08-10 23:00 — 5 players2026-08-11 07:00 — 4 players2026-08-11 15:00 — 13 players2026-08-12 23:00 — 11 players2026-08-14 06:00 — 4 players2026-08-15 14:00 — 26 players2026-08-16 22:00 — 14 players2026-08-18 05:00 — 10 players2026-08-19 13:00 — 16 players2026-08-20 20:00 — 19 players2026-08-22 04:00 — 7 players2026-08-23 11:00 — 26 players2026-08-24 19:00 — 14 players2026-08-26 03:00 — 10 players2026-08-27 11:00 — 10 players2026-08-28 19:00 — 11 players2026-08-30 03:00 — 9 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$99.99$1.192015-01-012026-08-302015-01-01 — best price $19.992015-06-11 — best price $14.992015-09-12 — best price $9.992016-01-04 — best price $99.992016-05-05 — best price $9.992016-07-09 — best price $9.992016-07-19 — best price $9.992016-07-25 — best price $9.992016-10-19 — best price $9.992017-01-02 — best price $9.992017-05-22 — best price $9.992017-08-23 — best price $7.892017-11-22 — best price $1.992018-05-10 — best price $1.992018-12-22 — best price $1.992019-06-22 — best price $9.992019-10-28 — best price $1.192019-11-25 — best price $5.992020-01-27 — best price $5.992020-04-23 — best price $5.212020-07-09 — best price $5.992020-12-01 — best price $5.992021-03-26 — best price $5.992021-07-08 — best price $5.992022-01-05 — best price $5.992022-03-07 — best price $5.992022-11-29 — best price $5.992023-03-23 — best price $5.992023-10-11 — best price $5.992024-02-19 — best price $5.992024-07-11 — best price $5.992025-01-02 — best price $5.992025-06-05 — best price $5.992025-10-06 — best price $5.992026-03-26 — best price $5.992026-08-28 — best price $1.192026-08-30 — best price $1.19
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

264912026-05-29 — 124 pageviews2026-06-01 — 118 pageviews2026-06-04 — 109 pageviews2026-06-07 — 144 pageviews2026-06-10 — 195 pageviews2026-06-13 — 134 pageviews2026-06-16 — 133 pageviews2026-06-19 — 139 pageviews2026-06-22 — 214 pageviews2026-06-25 — 126 pageviews2026-06-28 — 117 pageviews2026-07-01 — 104 pageviews2026-07-04 — 145 pageviews2026-07-07 — 117 pageviews2026-07-10 — 101 pageviews2026-07-13 — 115 pageviews2026-07-16 — 109 pageviews2026-07-19 — 117 pageviews2026-07-22 — 121 pageviews2026-07-25 — 119 pageviews2026-07-28 — 105 pageviews2026-07-31 — 108 pageviews2026-08-03 — 107 pageviews2026-08-06 — 107 pageviews2026-08-09 — 163 pageviews2026-08-12 — 110 pageviews2026-08-15 — 120 pageviews2026-08-18 — 109 pageviews2026-08-21 — 119 pageviews2026-08-24 — 135 pageviews2026-08-26 — 148 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

Player tags

FPSGoreCo-opIndieActionComedySci-fiClassicShooterLocal Co-Op

Census log

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

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗