Day 7 of 30
Launch tracker
Nivalis Nights
Nivalis Nights asks players to live an ordinary life in a cyberpunk city, running a noodle bar and making friends, and the players behind its million wishlists will judge whether everyday life there holds up.
In short
As of 12 October, 74% of 3,725 player reviews recommend it. Players who get it running smoothly love the city and find the restaurant business deeper than they expected. Three patches in the first week eased the performance problems that sank its launch, and the restaurant staff now draw more complaints than the frame rate. On a PC near the minimum spec, try the settings players recommend before deciding.
Timeline
Read at Day 1, 7 and 30.
Each update compares what players recommend and say with Day 1.
Day 1
Published 29 Sept 2026
Day 7
Published 5 Oct 2026
Day 30
Due 28 Oct 2026
So far
Positive reviews, day by day.
Updated daily, with reviews up to the end of 11 October 2026 (UTC).
Each point is the share of that day’s reviews that recommend the game, in every language. Days run on UTC, so a late-night launch counts its first hours with the next day. The chart also counts players who activated a key bought from another shop, which the headline figure leaves out, so their totals can differ by a point or two.
Show the numbers
| Date | Nivalis Nights |
|---|---|
| 30 Sept | 74% of 1,659 |
| 1 Oct | 73% of 475 |
| 2 Oct | 78% of 331 |
| 3 Oct | 70% of 228 |
| 4 Oct | 73% of 247 |
| 5 Oct | 72% of 196 |
| 6 Oct | 64% of 183 |
| 7 Oct | 61% of 107 |
| 8 Oct | 65% of 88 |
| 9 Oct | 76% of 97 |
| 10 Oct | 79% of 78 |
| 11 Oct | 72% of 83 |
Day 7 · 5 Oct 2026
What players make of Nivalis Nights a week in.
72% of the 671 reviews posted from 3 to 5 October recommend it, above launch day’s 70%. Performance comes up in 35% of negative reviews after the first 72 hours, down from 64%.
- 3 to 5 October
- 72% positive, from 671 reviews32
- All reviews
- 74% positive, from 3,189 reviews32
- Performance
- In 35% of negative reviews after the first 72 hours, down from 64%32
- Patches
- Update 3 on 5 October, the third in a week39
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 6 October 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- Performance has improved, and the restaurants now draw the complaints.
- Players say the first week’s patches made the game run far smoother. The third update left managers overspending and staff standing idle, though, and players caught in that spiral lose money faster than they can earn it.32
- The quick patches win back goodwill.
- Many players credit the studio with listening to reports and fixing them within days, a change from launch week. Others feel they are testing an unfinished game and wish it had gone through early access.32
- The city still carries the positive reviews.
- Players lead with the atmosphere, the art direction and the music, and many say the stories they find in its streets keep them playing for dozens of hours.32
- Quests crowd the screen, and the life sim feels thin to some.
- Some players drown in quests that never leave the journal or the compass, and find life outside the restaurant shallower than they hoped. Others enjoy always having something to do.32
Themes raised
| Theme | Reviews, of 49 |
|---|---|
| Running the businesses | 22 |
| Performance | 15 |
| Atmosphere and the city | 13 |
| Story, characters and writing | 13 |
| The patches | 13 |
| Visuals and art style | 11 |
| Quests, map and interface | 11 |
| Voice acting and sound | 6 |
| Music | 5 |
| How deep the life sim goes | 5 |
| Bugs | 4 |
| The comparison with Cloudpunk | 3 |
| Price | 2 |
Day 1 · 29 Sept 2026
What players make of Nivalis Nights on day one.
74% of the 1,527 reviews posted in its first 28 hours recommend it, up from 70% of the 797 posted on launch day. Performance comes up in 73% of negative reviews, far more than anything else.
- Launch
- 29 September 2026, on PC33
- Price
- $24.99, with 10% off at launch33
- Wishlists
- 1 million, two weeks before launch34
- Launch day
- 70% positive, from 797 reviews32
- First 28 hours
- 74% positive, from 1,527 reviews32
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 30 September 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- Performance sinks the launch reviews.
- Frame rates drop in crowded districts even on the fastest PCs, and most negative reviews are about that alone. Players who get it running smoothly say capping the frame rate or turning off V-Sync helps.32
- Players who get past it love the city.
- Positive reviews lead with the atmosphere, the lighting, the music and streets that feel alive, and many say it gives them the everyday cyberpunk life they wanted.32
- The business side runs deeper than players expected.
- Running the noodle bar and growing into more businesses draws praise. The first hours throw a lot at new players, though, and the quest list and the map are hard to follow.32
- The characters split players.
- Some find the cast charming and the voice acting strong; others find the voices slow and badly mixed, and the character models out of place in the voxel city. Fans of Cloudpunk, the studio’s earlier game, miss its voxel people.32
- Stock replies to performance reports cost goodwill.
- Players took answers telling them to restart their PCs as dismissive, and some name those replies as a reason they refunded.32
Themes raised
| Theme | Reviews, of 50 |
|---|---|
| Performance | 43 |
| Atmosphere and the city | 15 |
| Visuals and art style | 14 |
| Story, characters and writing | 9 |
| Running the businesses | 9 |
| Voice acting and sound | 8 |
| Music | 7 |
| Quests, map and interface | 7 |
| The comparison with Cloudpunk | 5 |
| Bugs | 4 |
| Character models | 4 |
| The studio’s replies | 4 |
| Price | 2 |
Questions
Nivalis Nights, in short.
Is Nivalis Nights worth it?
Most players who have reviewed it say yes. As of 12 October, 74% of 3,725 reviews recommend it. Players praise the city, the atmosphere and the business sim, and others say to wait while patches fix performance and the restaurant staff.32
Does Nivalis Nights have performance problems?
How do you fix Nivalis Nights’ frame rate and stutter?
Players who got it running smoothly report four changes: capping the frame rate at 60 (it starts unlimited), turning off V-Sync, choosing the High preset over Very High, and lowering texture detail by one step.32
What PC do you need for Nivalis Nights?
The minimum is a GeForce GTX 1660 Super, Radeon RX 6600 or Arc A750 with 6 GB of video memory, a Core i5-11600K or Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB of RAM and an SSD, for 1080p at 30 frames per second on the Very Low preset. The recommended PC, a GeForce RTX 4070 or Radeon RX 7800 XT with a Core i5-13600K or Ryzen 5 7600, aims at 1440p and 60 on High. It takes 42 GB of space.33
Does Nivalis Nights run on Steam Deck?
The reviews we read include one from a Steam Deck owner, who reports about 30 frames per second at default settings.32
Is Nivalis Nights on PS5, Xbox or Switch?
Not yet. It came out on PC only, and 505 Games’ announcements so far cover PC.33
When did Nivalis Nights come out, and how much does it cost?
It came out on PC at 15:00 UTC on 29 September 2026, at $24.99 (€24.99, £21.99), with 10% off for launch. It isn’t free to play.33
Is Nivalis Nights multiplayer?
No. It’s a single-player game.32
What we’re watching
What Day 30 will cover.
- Reviews day by day, and whether the updates lift them
- Whether fixes to the restaurant staff end the money troubles
- How the business game and the life sim hold up past the first weeks
- Whether the quests and the map get easier to follow
Sources
- 32Steam: Nivalis Nights, user reviews and review history (opens in a new tab) Accessed 30 Sept 2026
- 33505 Games on Steam: Nivalis Nights, PC system requirements, price and release time (opens in a new tab) Accessed 30 Sept 2026
- 34505 Games on Steam: Nivalis Nights has reached 1 million wishlists, 17 September 2026 (opens in a new tab) Accessed 30 Sept 2026
- 35Steam: Cloudpunk, store page (developer ION LANDS, 2020) (opens in a new tab) Accessed 30 Sept 2026
- 39505 Games on Steam: Nivalis Nights Update #3, performance and bug fixes, 5 October (opens in a new tab) Accessed 6 Oct 2026