Promotional image for Jurassic World Evolution. — AFP Relaxnews
"PUBG" loses first place on the Steam bestseller for only the second time in 16 months, and this time it's to dinosaur park management simulator Jurassic World Evolution.
Jurassic World Evolution, which entrusts players with building and running a theme park attraction filled with freedom-loving, visitor-eating dinosaurs (and their vegetarian cousins) has made a larger-than-life, three-toed imprint on the Steam charts.
Based on 2015's US$1.5bil (RM6.01bil) global box office blockbuster, the new game arrived the week before sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom began a worldwide theatrical roll-out, taking well-timed advantage of familiarity with the two oversized adventure movies.
And the studio behind "JWE" has over 15 years of experience in the field, from the 2003 Xbox version of influential classic RollerCoaster Tycoon to the 2017 hit Planet Coaster, by way of Thrillville, Zoo Tycoon, Screamride and Kinect: Disneyland Adventures.
Not content with being Steam's best-seller by revenue, Jurassic World Evolution can also be found in third and fifth place on the chart.
That's because Steam's database contains entries for the standard and deluxe versions of the game in both pre- and post-release flavours; after the game launches, they retain separate entries in the Steam chart but are given the same name in the chart.
The Humble Store provides a more nuanced look at the interest greeting Jurassic World Evolution, where the more expensive Deluxe Edition takes first place, while the standard edition just scrapes the top 20.
Another dinosaur-themed game, ARK: Survival Evolved, resurfaces in the Steam top five courtesy of an extended sale, while other temporary discounts fuel the rise of Take Two's games on Humble (Borderlands 2, Civilization V, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and XCOM 2), Bethesda's catalog on GamersGate (Fallout 4, Prey), and both publishers' wares on GOG.
On Itch.io, hilariously tense schoolwork quest Baldi's Basics In Education And Learning welcomes a fan tribute into the top five by way of the scarier Advanced Education With Victor Strobovski, just as Arthur's Nightmare warps a popular children's cartoon.
Just behind that is Valheim, a Viking-themed survival game that is at last ready for public consumption as an early, in-progress, free alpha version. — AFP Relaxnews
