Yet another Pokémon-inspired game is popping off on Steam, with over 160,000 concurrent players for Aniimo

· 2 min read
Aniimo
(Image credit: Pawprint Studio)

Step aside Palworld, you are now merely the second most-played pastiche of the world's highest-grossing multimedia franchise on Steam. You've been overtaken by none other than Aniimo, the Genshin Impact-esque but non-gacha open world RPG, according to SteamDB. The numbers are climbing as I write this, with the game currently sitting at over 166,000 simultaneous players.

That's a lot! For reference, it's sitting ahead of likes of Rust, Delta Force, and Slay the Spire 2, with only the mighty Bongo Cat and its lessers (Apex Legends, Dota 2, etc) making up the list of eight games with more players on Steam right now. At the very top is, as always, Counter-Strike 2. Just imagine the numbers it'd enjoy if it also had cute little creatures that only say their own name.

When PC Gamer lead SEO editor Lauren Morton tried it, she wasn't wowed, saying "I can't find much about it that other creature collecting and gacha games aren't doing better"—though this was back in the closed beta from January. The game currently sits at a "Mostly Positive" rating on Steam, with many of the positive reviews praising its Pokémonishness and the negative reviews taking umbrage with its labyrinthine monetization tactics. So far, so Genshin.

If there's a lesson to be learned here, I imagine it's only that Pokémon enjoyers are still Pokédex entry #0143 levels of ravenously hungry for PC alternatives, which makes sense given that Game Freak only ever takes a break from its often Nintendo-exclusive cash cow series to give us keyboard-wielding dorks something entirely different and not as beloved.

If you decide to give Aniimo a shot, check out our list of the gift codes available at launch for some extra free stuff.

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Justin first became enamored with PC gaming when World of Warcraft and Neverwinter Nights 2 rewired his brain as a wide-eyed kid. As time has passed, he's amassed a hefty backlog of retro shooters, CRPGs, and janky '90s esoterica. Whether he's extolling the virtues of Shenmue or troubleshooting some fiddly old MMO, it's hard to get his mind off games with more ambition than scruples. When he's not at his keyboard, he's probably birdwatching or daydreaming about a glorious comeback for real-time with pause combat. Any day now...