The Game Census
The Ascent cover art

The Ascent

Neon Giant · KRAFTON, Inc. · 2021-07-29

SteamPlayStation StoreAmazonMicrosoft Store

ActionAdventureIndieRPG

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative

Releases: Mar 24, 2022 (PlayStation 4), Jul 29, 2021 (Xbox One), Jul 29, 2021 (Xbox Series X|S), Mar 24, 2022 (PlayStation 5), Jul 29, 2021 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

The Ascent is a solo and co-op Action-shooter RPG set in a cyberpunk world. The mega corporation that owns you and everyone, The Ascent Group, has just collapsed. Can you survive without it?

254
playing now
74%
positive of 25k reviews
Mostly Positive
steam rating
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
71/100
critic score (9 outlets, IGDB)
72/100
IGDB user rating (88 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$29.99
steam price (US)

254 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 17:00 UTC (census sample)

The Ascent is a cyberpunk-themed action role-playing video game developed by Swedish game studio Neon Giant and published by Curve Digital for Windows, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One on 29 July 2021. It was developed using Unreal Engine 4 by a team of 12 people and is Neon Giant's debut in the industry. The game received positive reviews for visuals, combat, and soundtrack, but criticism for the emphasis on grinding.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 254 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 493 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~62/week).
  • · Review velocity down 32% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (5,941 reviews).
  • · Top 6% of 10,862 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 497k–1.1M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 24,836 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Microsoft Store$29.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $2.23 at AllYouPlay (2024-06-21) · bundled 11×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $29.99 · on sale 191 of 199 observed days · $27.76 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
4.5k4.5k20212026Week of 2021-07-01: 1,730 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 447 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 4,538 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 1,403 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 466 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 193 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 233 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 109 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 802 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 125 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 436 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 141 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 300 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 125 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 216 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 87 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 222 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 96 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 143 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 44 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 129 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 41 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 170 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 225 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 84 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 259 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 105 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 171 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 276 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 112 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 235 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 102 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 189 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 84 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 218 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 106 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 133 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 69 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 149 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 72 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 197 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 134 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 60 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 143 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 135 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 115 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 98 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 98 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 109 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 94 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 107 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 23 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 177 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 95 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 119 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 55 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 96 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 101 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 69 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 95 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 85 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 37 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 86 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 219 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 123 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1.2k942026-08-06 21:00 — 888 players2026-08-07 05:00 — 492 players2026-08-07 13:00 — 809 players2026-08-07 21:00 — 1,025 players2026-08-08 05:00 — 583 players2026-08-08 13:00 — 1,041 players2026-08-08 21:00 — 1,025 players2026-08-09 05:00 — 640 players2026-08-09 13:00 — 1,073 players2026-08-09 21:00 — 997 players2026-08-10 05:00 — 416 players2026-08-10 14:00 — 658 players2026-08-10 22:00 — 680 players2026-08-11 06:00 — 330 players2026-08-11 14:00 — 536 players2026-08-12 21:00 — 414 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 183 players2026-08-15 13:00 — 376 players2026-08-16 21:00 — 435 players2026-08-18 04:00 — 172 players2026-08-19 12:00 — 174 players2026-08-20 19:00 — 269 players2026-08-22 03:00 — 163 players2026-08-23 10:00 — 185 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 233 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 130 players2026-08-27 10:00 — 102 players2026-08-28 17:00 — 178 players2026-08-30 01:00 — 145 players2026-08-30 17:00 — 254 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$30.12$3.992021-05-182026-08-272021-05-18 — best price $26.992021-08-06 — best price $26.392021-11-18 — best price $16.642022-01-05 — best price $29.992022-03-01 — best price $30.122022-04-10 — best price $29.992022-06-02 — best price $29.992022-07-27 — best price $9.122022-09-15 — best price $29.992022-11-14 — best price $25.192023-01-06 — best price $24.892023-03-10 — best price $7.622023-04-28 — best price $7.022023-06-26 — best price $26.392023-08-28 — best price $8.992023-10-20 — best price $6.922023-12-05 — best price $8.992024-01-31 — best price $29.992024-04-04 — best price $8.992024-06-05 — best price $5.992024-08-02 — best price $3.992024-10-28 — best price $3.992024-12-24 — best price $6.992025-02-27 — best price $7.492025-05-12 — best price $29.992025-08-12 — best price $29.992025-10-29 — best price $7.492025-12-11 — best price $22.842026-01-20 — best price $22.872026-02-22 — best price $29.992026-03-30 — best price $22.392026-05-11 — best price $22.942026-06-17 — best price $22.602026-07-22 — best price $22.252026-08-27 — best price $29.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

1.4k512026-05-30 — 63 pageviews2026-06-02 — 81 pageviews2026-06-05 — 80 pageviews2026-06-08 — 105 pageviews2026-06-11 — 84 pageviews2026-06-14 — 64 pageviews2026-06-17 — 370 pageviews2026-06-20 — 350 pageviews2026-06-23 — 139 pageviews2026-06-26 — 108 pageviews2026-06-29 — 135 pageviews2026-07-02 — 108 pageviews2026-07-05 — 108 pageviews2026-07-08 — 98 pageviews2026-07-11 — 89 pageviews2026-07-14 — 66 pageviews2026-07-17 — 77 pageviews2026-07-20 — 66 pageviews2026-07-23 — 74 pageviews2026-07-26 — 75 pageviews2026-07-29 — 179 pageviews2026-08-01 — 75 pageviews2026-08-04 — 393 pageviews2026-08-07 — 125 pageviews2026-08-10 — 99 pageviews2026-08-13 — 75 pageviews2026-08-16 — 109 pageviews2026-08-19 — 101 pageviews2026-08-22 — 85 pageviews2026-08-25 — 761 pageviews2026-08-27 — 680 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
90.7%
earned "We're just getting started"
16.3%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerCo-opOnline Co-opShared/Split Screen Co-opShared/Split ScreenSteam AchievementsFull controller supportCamera ComfortColor Alternatives9 DLC

9 supported languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Xbox Series, Xbox One, Windows (Xbox)49,5031%66
Steam (Steam)23,2392%66
PS5 (PlayStation)14,4757%67
PS4 (PlayStation)5,3546%67

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

Player tags

RPGGoreCo-opIndieActionShooterViolentAdventureCyberpunkIsometric

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsImmortal: UnchainedBorderlands 3Force of NatureEternity: The Last UnicornRebel Galaxy OutlawTorchlight IIICyberpunk 2077

Similarity via IGDB.

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