NetEase's upcoming third-person shooter, Once Human, boasts over 15 million global pre-registrations, a significant achievement highlighted by its Steam Next Fest success. However, a closer look reveals a disparity between its mobile and PC performance. While pre-registrations are impressive, only 300,000 translate to Steam wishlists. This, coupled with NetEase's PC-first release strategy, underscores the challenges of achieving comparable discoverability on PC compared to mobile platforms.
Despite this, Once Human's popularity on Steam remains substantial, attracting the most demo players during Steam Next Fest. This highlights the contrasting landscapes of mobile and PC gaming, with mobile consistently demonstrating greater reach.
NetEase's decision to prioritize a PC audience isn't inherently flawed. However, the data emphasizes the significant difference in audience size and discoverability between PC and mobile gaming. Even a major developer like NetEase faces hurdles in replicating its mobile success on PC.
While awaiting Once Human's release, explore our curated lists of the best and most anticipated mobile games of 2024. These lists offer handpicked selections of top-tier mobile gaming experiences.
