New Tarkov and Arma rival celebrates huge first month sales despite mixed Steam reviews

Alongside big names like Arma 3 and Escape From Tarkov, there’s been an increasing number of challengers to the throne of the best tactical shooter sims on PC. Amid the likes of Ready or Not and the upcoming Exfil and Arena Breakout: Infinite, one of the strongest contenders looks to be Gray Zone Warfare. The new, ultra realistic FPS game has landed to a mixed reception from players on Steam, but developer Madfinger Games reports that its first month since launch has seen the game hit almost a million copies sold.

Gray Zone Warfare is very much all-in on the slower-paced, realistic side of the shooter spectrum. Its accurately modeled weapons are capable of dealing incredible damage, and wounds to specific body parts will impact your performance and require appropriate treatments to recover from. Despite reaching a concurrent player peak of 72,548 in its first week, initial launch issues including crashes and lag saw the FPS game plummet to a ‘mostly negative’ 38% Steam user score, but it’s since been slowly recovering – and, it seems, continuing to sell rather well.

“Gray Zone Warfare has officially sold over 900,000 base game units and an additional 475,000 DLC upgraded editions within the first month,” Madfinger writes in a post shared to the game’s Steam store page. “This achievement means a lot and has certainly left us in awe,” it continues, calling the number “an incredible milestone that speaks to the dedication and passion of our community.”

“This success ensures our long-term commitment to Gray Zone Warfare, ensuring the game will continue to improve and evolve over time,” it continues. “We are excited to bring you new content, enhancements, and experiences as we journey forward together. Thank you for being an essential part of this amazing adventure.”

Steam reviews for Gray Zone Warfare continue to climb slowly as well. A few days after launch, the initial 38% score had risen to 63%, and it now sits at a 68% positive score across the last 30 days (and 67% overall), bringing it close to escaping the ‘mixed’ rating on the Valve storefront in favor of a more positive balance.

While things look to be moving in the right direction, Madfinger says that there’s still a long road ahead. “With one month, one patch, and four hotfixes under our belts, we acknowledge there’s still much to do to enhance the GZW experience. We deeply appreciate your patience and continued support as we work to make the game the best it can be.”

One top rated review reads, “I witnessed the devs issue hotfixes on the fly as I played. Their level of proactivity, drive, and passion I find to be very refreshing.” Others, however, note that they are still suffering from performance issues, especially if playing on anything but the best graphics cards, or losing weapons due to crashes. “This game is absolutely on the right track but it runs very, very poorly,” another user review says. “I hope they fix it soon because it’s immensely fun.”

“We’re diligently optimizing the game,” Madfinger writes, “and patch two is just around the corner. Your feedback has been invaluable, and we are committed to addressing your concerns, nagging bugs, and QOL improvements. Soon, we’ll reveal our roadmap for upcoming major content updates. Stay tuned.”

If you’re planning to jump in, make sure to take a look through our recommendations for the best Gray Zone Warfare settings for max fps and performance. Alternatively, here are the best multiplayer games for plenty more options to test your mettle against the rest of the gaming world.

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