Manor Lords News

Hooded Horse CEO hits back at claims that Manor Lords slipped up in early access: 'Not every game should be aimed at becoming some live service boom or bust'

Over the last couple of weeks, the same old debate about what makes a game successful and how devs can hold on to that success emerged yet again. Some decided that Helldivers 2 losing 90% of its playerbase was an issue despite the live service game having a healthy 40,000 or more concurrent players each day. And now Manor Lords, the small city builder that managed to climb to the most wishlisted game spot on Steam, is also apparently showing cause for concern...
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Long Dark dev criticises Manor Lords for lack of updates, Hooded Horse CEO replies that not every game needs to be "some live-service boom or bust"

The publishers of recent city builder sensation Manor Lords and elder survival sim juggernaut The Long Dark are having a mostly gentlepersonly skirmish about how many significant updates a game should have in early access, and the potential consequences in terms of both developer overwork and players losing interest.

Manor Lords' publisher has defended the strategy game over a post that it thinks espouses an "endless growth" perspective "that causes so much trouble in the games industry."

Earlier this year, Manor Lords released into early access, and it did so very successfully, racking up two million copies sold in its first three weeks. But, like many early access games, buzz around it has died down a bit, in part because big updates haven't been released too frequently since its release. A post from The Long Dark developer Hinterland's CEO Raphael van Lierop appeared to criticise this very point on LinkedIn, saying that while they "really love what is here" there's "very little to it" and that it's a "pretty interesting case-study in the pitfalls of Early Access development."

Lierop continued, "It launched with a pretty strong base game but without much content. A heavily systems-centric game needs either a range of maps, game modes, or some amount of proc-gen dynamism to keep it fresh.

By all accounts, medieval Steam city-building game Manor Lords can be considered one of the big successes of 2024. It might not have soared to quite the highs of Palworld, Helldivers 2, or free games like The First Descendant, but it's tough to complain about two million sales in its first three weeks, a peak player count of 173,000, and a very positive Steam review score of 88% across more than 43,000 user responses. Responding to a criticism of the game's early access launch, its publisher Hooded Horse says the team is "thrilled beyond belief" with its performance so far.

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Manor Lords at Hooded Horse Summer Sale

Until July 11th, come explore the detailed world of Manor Lords and build a realistic medieval town at a 25% discount. Also, check out the fantastic opportunities on all titles from Hooded Horse during the Steam Summer Sale.

[h2]Explore the Hooded Horse Summer Sale![/h2]

[hr][/hr]Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles, and complex economic and social simulations, where you rule your lands as seasons change and cities evolve. Manor Lords' latest massive update includes several gameplay improvements, bug fixes, unit additions, and much more.
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[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]The discounts on Manor Lords and all other Hooded Horse games are available through July 11th — perfect for enhancing your summer gaming experience. We're excited to see the worlds you build and the adventures you undertake.

Happy gaming!