Fight for your survival on a raft in a survival game on Steam – now it has more players than ever before

The Steam Summer Sale has been running for a few days and the survival game Raft is the big winner of the numerous offers. The player numbers of the ocean adventure have literally exploded and pulverized the previous record. But what kind of game is it and what do the players say about the title?

What are the current player numbers? Raft has been able to increase the number of players on Steam many times over the past few days and set a new record. A genre competitor recently achieved something similar: ARK: Survival Evolved had an extreme increase in player numbers when it was temporarily available for free on Steam.

On June 26, the survival title then peaked and cracked the mark of 100,000 simultaneously active players (via SteamCharts.com). The old record was from October 2020 and had 41,946 players.

Raft is leaving Early Access

What is currently happening at Raft? The surge in Raft player numbers on Steam isn’t just down to the Summer Sale, which is currently promising a 15% discount.

Raft received the game’s final chapter on June 20, 2022, officially exiting Early Access status. At that time, the jump in the number of players can also be seen: While there were still a maximum of 15,042 simultaneous players on Steam on June 19, the numbers had already risen to 66,000 on June 20.

Within the first week after leaving Early Access, the numbers continued to increase, pausing only briefly at around 80,000 players and finally reaching the peak mentioned.

Check out the trailer for Raft’s latest update here:

Fight for survival on a raft

What kind of game is this? Raft is a survival game from Redbeet Interactive that can be played solo or in multiplayer.

In Raft you start on a raft floating on the open sea. You don’t have a lot of freedom of movement and even fewer resources. Instead of chopping down trees or collecting stones, you are first fishing.

You fish with a rope for driftwood, garbage and everything else that swims past your raft and use them to build useful utensils. Above all, it is important to invest your resources in the expansion of your raft.

The raft is not only your means of transport, but also your living quarters and the most important protection against sharks, which you should by no means underestimate. Sharks in Raft don’t wait for you to leave your raft for a dive, they also attack and damage it very specifically.

In addition to daily life on your raft, you can also explore islands in Raft and collect local resources such as food and wood. All of this helps you survive and can be used to expand your floating home.

MeinMMO author Maik Schneider has already played the survival title and explained in January 2021 why Raft is so good.

“A purchase I definitely don’t regret!”

What are the players saying about Raft? If we look at the ratings that Raft has received from players on Steam, we can see that the survival title is very well received. Out of 155,051 reviews, 93% are positive.

We show you some statements that players made about Raft:

• Michi via Steam: “I think this is one of the most beautiful survival games currently available. The story is a lot of fun […].”
• Skyfighters via Steam: “Great game! The last chapter gives the whole thing a huge extra boost!
• Damaria via Steam: All the building options, the enemies, the exploration, diving trips for resources – everything is super coordinated. How happy I was about the first bucket of milk! A purchase I definitely do not regret!
• Sirius via Steam: “Raft has a lot of good ideas without really reinventing the wheel, and convinces with functional but beautiful visuals, motivating game mechanics and a co-op mode.”
• Slider line via Steam: “Together this game can provide many hours of fun. I really enjoyed working together.”

What do you think of Raft? Does the title appeal to you or are you waiting for another survival game?

If you are still undecided which fight for survival you want to dare in 2022, you should take a look at our list of the currently best survival games.

The 25 Best Survival Games 2022 for PlayStation, PC and Xbox