The Game Census
Shadow Empire cover art

Shadow Empire

VR Designs · Matrix Games · 2020-12-03

SteamGOG

RPGSimulationStrategy

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative

Releases: Dec 03, 2020 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Shadow Empire is a deep turn-based 4X wargame with a unique blend of military focus, procedurally generated content and role-playing features. Players take the seat of the supreme ruler of a small nation, with the goal of reconquering a devastated planet.

98
playing now
84%
positive of 2.0k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
20,000–50,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
75/100
critic score (1 outlets, IGDB)
70/100
IGDB user rating (3 ratings)
2
Nexus mods (47 downloads)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Unsupported
$39.99
steam price (US)

98 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 21:00 UTC (census sample)

Shadow Empire is a strategy video game developed by French studio VR Designs and published by Slitherine Software. It combines gameplay from computer wargames and 4X games in a setting of post-apocalyptic conquest.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 98 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 275 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~34/week).
  • · Review velocity up 122% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 12% of 13,925 RPG games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 39k–88k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 1,955 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$19.99-50%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $9.99 at GOG (2022-03-21)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $39.99 · on sale 109 of 157 observed days · $10.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
16816820202026Week of 2020-12-01: 168 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 7 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

122372026-09-15 06:00 — 39 players2026-09-16 14:00 — 55 players2026-09-17 22:00 — 57 players2026-09-19 05:00 — 43 players2026-09-20 13:00 — 73 players2026-09-21 21:00 — 76 players2026-09-23 04:00 — 38 players2026-09-24 12:00 — 48 players2026-09-25 19:00 — 97 players2026-09-27 03:00 — 75 players2026-09-28 10:00 — 65 players2026-09-29 18:00 — 95 players2026-10-01 01:00 — 61 players2026-10-02 09:00 — 58 players2026-10-03 16:00 — 105 players2026-10-05 00:00 — 72 players2026-10-06 08:00 — 57 players2026-10-07 15:00 — 82 players2026-10-08 23:00 — 67 players2026-10-10 06:00 — 61 players2026-10-11 14:00 — 107 players2026-10-12 22:00 — 103 players2026-10-14 05:00 — 51 players2026-10-14 21:00 — 98 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
28241Dec 2020Aug 2026Dec 2020 — avg 282 · peak 594Feb 2021 — avg 101 · peak 340Apr 2021 — avg 139 · peak 288Jun 2021 — avg 92 · peak 190Aug 2021 — avg 59 · peak 119Oct 2021 — avg 46 · peak 84Dec 2021 — avg 77 · peak 135Feb 2022 — avg 73 · peak 154Apr 2022 — avg 78 · peak 145Jun 2022 — avg 49 · peak 96Aug 2022 — avg 65 · peak 130Oct 2022 — avg 52 · peak 106Dec 2022 — avg 42 · peak 81Feb 2023 — avg 41 · peak 79Apr 2023 — avg 138 · peak 320Jun 2023 — avg 61 · peak 127Aug 2023 — avg 48 · peak 87Oct 2023 — avg 59 · peak 140Dec 2023 — avg 88 · peak 168Feb 2024 — avg 90 · peak 157Apr 2024 — avg 99 · peak 179Jun 2024 — avg 74 · peak 131Aug 2024 — avg 65 · peak 114Oct 2024 — avg 65 · peak 121Dec 2024 — avg 77 · peak 153Feb 2025 — avg 72 · peak 131Apr 2025 — avg 77 · peak 145Jun 2025 — avg 80 · peak 183Aug 2025 — avg 77 · peak 154Oct 2025 — avg 78 · peak 161Dec 2025 — avg 70 · peak 133Feb 2026 — avg 70 · peak 129Apr 2026 — avg 218 · peak 503Jun 2026 — avg 89 · peak 171Aug 2026 — avg 62 · peak 116
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$39.99$0.002020-12-032026-10-142020-12-03 — best price $29.992021-04-19 — best price $21.992021-08-13 — best price $25.922021-11-08 — best price $22.092022-01-04 — best price $30.852022-03-23 — best price $39.992022-06-16 — best price $23.132022-08-19 — best price $9.992022-11-23 — best price $29.992023-03-04 — best price $39.992023-05-04 — best price $39.992023-06-23 — best price $24.792023-08-07 — best price $17.992023-10-17 — best price $19.642023-12-13 — best price $9.992024-02-22 — best price $13.992024-04-15 — best price $25.992024-05-29 — best price $31.972024-08-01 — best price $19.992024-09-26 — best price $39.992024-11-22 — best price $18.792025-01-05 — best price $39.992025-02-05 — best price $23.992025-04-03 — best price $15.992025-05-19 — best price $12.392025-09-18 — best price $15.992026-01-03 — best price $39.992026-03-03 — best price $15.992026-04-20 — best price $16.002026-05-25 — best price $15.992026-07-06 — best price $16.002026-08-30 — best price $19.992026-09-19 — best price $19.992026-10-09 — best price $19.992026-10-14 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

90102026-05-29 — 19 pageviews2026-06-02 — 27 pageviews2026-06-06 — 20 pageviews2026-06-10 — 21 pageviews2026-06-14 — 27 pageviews2026-06-18 — 14 pageviews2026-06-22 — 39 pageviews2026-06-26 — 25 pageviews2026-06-30 — 21 pageviews2026-07-04 — 28 pageviews2026-07-08 — 17 pageviews2026-07-12 — 15 pageviews2026-07-16 — 90 pageviews2026-07-20 — 23 pageviews2026-07-24 — 12 pageviews2026-07-28 — 15 pageviews2026-08-01 — 24 pageviews2026-08-05 — 46 pageviews2026-08-09 — 17 pageviews2026-08-13 — 18 pageviews2026-08-17 — 13 pageviews2026-08-21 — 14 pageviews2026-08-25 — 34 pageviews2026-08-29 — 21 pageviews2026-09-02 — 18 pageviews2026-09-06 — 30 pageviews2026-09-10 — 26 pageviews2026-09-14 — 23 pageviews2026-09-18 — 17 pageviews2026-09-22 — 13 pageviews2026-09-26 — 23 pageviews2026-09-30 — 24 pageviews2026-10-04 — 18 pageviews2026-10-08 — 27 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPShared/Split Screen PvPCo-opShared/Split Screen Co-opShared/Split ScreenFamily Sharing2 DLC

1 supported languages: English

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2023-03-30, latest 2026-04-09 (Steam store data)

Player tags

4XRPGWarSpaceSci-fiWargameHex GridStrategySimulationTurn-Based

Census log

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

Recent updates

Players also track

Breach & ClearStellarisAdvanced Tactics GoldOrder of Battle: World War IIENDLESS Space™ 2Tears of AviaAge of Wonders: PlanetfallMutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

Similarity via IGDB.

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