The Game Census
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter cover art

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

The Astronauts · 2014-09-25

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

AdventureIndie

Modes: Single player

Releases: Aug 15, 2019 (Nintendo Switch), Sep 25, 2014 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Jul 15, 2015 (PlayStation 4), Jan 19, 2018 (Xbox One)

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a first-person story-driven mystery. Purchase this game to get both the original and the Unreal Engine 4 remaster called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux.

1
playing now
88%
positive of 9.0k reviews
Very Positive
steam rating
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
82/100
critic score (16 outlets, IGDB)
75/100
IGDB user rating (389 ratings)
4.2h
to beat · rushed 3.5h · completionist 5.1h
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$19.99
steam price (US)

1 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 02:00 UTC (census sample)

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a 2014 horror adventure video game developed and published by The Astronauts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 1 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 95 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~12/week).
  • · Review velocity up 13% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 9% of 11,312 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Estimated sales: 224k–538k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 8,974 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$3.99-80%
GOG$3.99-80%
lowest across shops (ITAD)$3.99-80%
Microsoft Store$19.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.99 at Steam (2024-07-21) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 82 of 110 observed days · $2.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
888820182026Week of 2018-01-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 4 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

502026-08-06 22:00 — 1 players2026-08-07 06:00 — 0 players2026-08-07 14:00 — 0 players2026-08-07 22:00 — 3 players2026-08-08 06:00 — 1 players2026-08-08 14:00 — 2 players2026-08-08 22:00 — 4 players2026-08-09 06:00 — 2 players2026-08-09 14:00 — 2 players2026-08-09 22:00 — 1 players2026-08-10 06:00 — 0 players2026-08-10 14:00 — 0 players2026-08-10 22:00 — 5 players2026-08-11 06:00 — 0 players2026-08-11 14:00 — 1 players2026-08-12 22:00 — 3 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 0 players2026-08-15 13:00 — 5 players2026-08-16 21:00 — 0 players2026-08-18 05:00 — 0 players2026-08-19 12:00 — 2 players2026-08-20 20:00 — 5 players2026-08-22 03:00 — 2 players2026-08-23 11:00 — 0 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 2 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 3 players2026-08-27 10:00 — 1 players2026-08-28 18:00 — 5 players2026-08-30 02:00 — 1 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$20.53$2.892015-01-012026-08-302015-01-01 — best price $13.892015-03-16 — best price $11.392015-05-15 — best price $7.992015-07-21 — best price $9.992015-10-26 — best price $19.992015-12-22 — best price $5.992016-03-06 — best price $11.992016-06-21 — best price $5.002016-09-09 — best price $5.002016-12-15 — best price $4.592017-04-02 — best price $4.252017-08-13 — best price $19.992017-12-01 — best price $19.992018-04-17 — best price $19.992018-07-06 — best price $19.992018-10-23 — best price $2.992018-12-19 — best price $2.982019-04-12 — best price $4.992019-08-13 — best price $19.992019-11-28 — best price $2.992020-02-16 — best price $18.402020-06-19 — best price $8.902020-12-03 — best price $18.992021-05-02 — best price $19.172021-10-27 — best price $10.002022-01-24 — best price $9.992022-07-04 — best price $3.992022-11-22 — best price $2.992023-03-21 — best price $19.992023-07-29 — best price $9.632023-12-05 — best price $2.992024-04-04 — best price $3.992024-07-26 — best price $5.002024-12-04 — best price $19.992025-03-06 — best price $3.992025-07-10 — best price $3.992025-11-21 — best price $8.462026-03-27 — best price $3.992026-07-30 — best price $19.992026-08-30 — best price $3.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

125612026-05-31 — 86 pageviews2026-06-03 — 89 pageviews2026-06-06 — 92 pageviews2026-06-09 — 83 pageviews2026-06-12 — 80 pageviews2026-06-15 — 82 pageviews2026-06-18 — 113 pageviews2026-06-21 — 121 pageviews2026-06-24 — 74 pageviews2026-06-27 — 96 pageviews2026-06-30 — 88 pageviews2026-07-03 — 93 pageviews2026-07-06 — 78 pageviews2026-07-09 — 87 pageviews2026-07-12 — 91 pageviews2026-07-15 — 73 pageviews2026-07-18 — 83 pageviews2026-07-21 — 77 pageviews2026-07-24 — 94 pageviews2026-07-27 — 109 pageviews2026-07-30 — 101 pageviews2026-08-02 — 87 pageviews2026-08-05 — 87 pageviews2026-08-08 — 91 pageviews2026-08-11 — 88 pageviews2026-08-14 — 90 pageviews2026-08-17 — 125 pageviews2026-08-20 — 89 pageviews2026-08-23 — 106 pageviews2026-08-26 — 98 pageviews2026-08-28 — 76 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

14
achievements tracked
41.9%
earned "Sap"
28%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsSteam CloudRemote Play on TVFamily Sharing1 DLC

6 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
PS4 (PlayStation)14,44559%14
Steam (Steam)11,42437%14
Xbox One (Xbox)1,87769%14
Switch (Nintendo)160%0

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

Player tags

IndieHorrorPuzzleMysteryAdventureDetectiveOpen WorldStory RichAtmosphericExploration

Census log

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

Players also track

LIMBODishonoredThe WitnessMurdered: Soul SuspectAmnesia: A Machine for PigsThe Cat LadyEnemy FrontSOMA

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗Reddit ↗