naiwa 2026-03-25

A long wait and Mega Crit's strong reputation helped Slay the Spire 2 set records in the genre.
According 

to analysts, Slay the Spire 2 has become the most successful deckbuilding game to date, outperforming every other title in the genre by a wide margin. Just three days after launching in Early Access, the game reached nearly 575,000 concurrent players on Steam, while the original Slay the Spire peaked at around 57,000, Balatro at nearly 44,000, and Monster Train 2 at 18,500.The report also notes that Slay the Spire 2 surpassed Balatro's peak by more than thirteen times, even though it is currently available only in Steam Early Access at a price of $25. Mega Crit stated that the game sold three million copies in its first week, which translates to roughly $75 million in gross revenue before the platform's cut.Balatro had previously led the deckbuilder segment with approximately 1.76 million monthly active users between January 2025 and February 2026. However, early player data for Slay the Spire 2 suggests that it could overtake that position by a substantial margin: across its first eleven days, the game reportedly averaged 1.08 million daily active users without showing clear signs of slowing down.Analysts attribute the game's performance to several factors. One of the biggest was the seven-year wait for a true sequel: the original Slay the Spire did not receive a follow-up or major spin-off for a long time, which allowed demand to build steadily. Mega C…