KEY POINTS

  • "Lost Ark" holds the record for Steam's second-highest number of peak players
  • The game overtook both "Dota 2" and "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" in terms of player population
  • "Lost Ark" is currently suffering from server congestion issues in certain regions

Smilegate’s isometric MMORPG “Lost Ark” had just become one of the most popular games on Steam after a veritable horde of players came flooding into Amazon Games’ North American and European servers earlier this month.

“Lost Ark” made history by being the second MMO to breach the top 10 list of most popular games by peak player count on Steam Charts.

Since the game’s release Friday, it already hit over 1.3 million concurrent players, making it the second-most-played game on Steam, overtaking the likes of “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” and “Dota 2” while falling short of “PUBG’s” record of 3.2 million peak player count from 2018.

In less than a week, “Lost Ark” managed to shatter “New World’s” player count record. Amazon’s maiden venture into the MMO sphere managed to reel in over 900,000 players during its first month, but it failed to retain players in the following months due to technical and gameplay issues.

Lost Ark is finally getting released for the western audience
Lost Ark is finally getting released for the western audience Amazon Games

Similar to “New World’s” launch, “Lost Ark” is also suffering from server congestion due to the sheer number of players that are trying to get into the game. Queue times have become so long that Amazon has started setting up additional European servers to allow for more concurrent online players, according to PC Gamer.

Amazon and Smilegate are still trying to get the new European server up and running, and players may be disappointed with what they get. In an announcement, Amazon explained that the upcoming European server will be separate from the existing Central Europe server, which means that players will have to start again from scratch.

So far, there’s no way to transfer characters from server to server in “Lost Ark,” but such a feature may be implemented in the future. For now, players are advised against claiming “per Account” items like Founder’s Packs until they settle in a server that they prefer.

“Lost Ark” is an MMORPG with gameplay mechanics that are similar to ARPGs like “Diablo.” The game features an isometric perspective with a fast-paced combat system that oozes with the signature over-the-top visual style and flair commonly seen in South Korean games.

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