5 launches · 25 Sept 2026
The Reception Index
September 2026
The Reception Index tracks how players receive each month’s launches: whether they recommend the game, how that changes after launch, and what they praise and criticise. We use no critic scores or press coverage.
This edition covers five September launches, with data to 24 September. Every figure links to its source.
SalesAnnounced
1 million copies sold, announced less than three days after launch.22
What players say
Performance led the complaints in the first three days, coming up in 42% of negative reviews. It has since fallen to 23%, and negative reviews now talk more about combat and story.1
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 25 September 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- Story and combat dominate the discussion.
- Nearly all of the most-liked reviews discuss the story and the combat. Performance is a bigger topic in launch-week reviews, where bugs and frame rate drove most of the criticism.2324
- Most players who finish find the time limit generous.
- Those who report their time finished the 30 days with a week or more to spare. Players early in the game worry that every chore uses up days.2324
- The writing gets the most praise.
- Story, characters and dialogue get the most praise, even from players who dislike the combat. Choices that pay off hours later come next.2324
- No negative reviews from PS5 players.
- Of the 35 PS5 reviews we read, 28 are positive and none is negative. Their few performance notes are minor, such as dips in cutscenes and no 120 Hz mode.23
Themes raised
| Theme | Most-liked, of 19 | Most helpful, of 20 |
|---|---|---|
| Story | 18 | 18 |
| Combat | 18 | 14 |
| The time limit | 16 | 12 |
| Choices and consequences | 11 | Not counted |
| Tedium | 9 | 4 |
| Music and voice acting | 7 | 6 |
| Performance | 7 | 4 |
| Bugs | 4 | 6 |
| The camera | 4 | 4 |
| Controls | 3 | 5 |
| Guidance | 3 | 0 |
| Difficulty | 2 | 2 |
| Price | 0 | 4 |
Since then
Sales · Estimate
Alinea Analytics estimates about 1.9 million copies in its first three days, about 1 million of them digital pre-orders.21
What players say
The most-liked reviews are mostly negative, and heavy-handed guidance is the main complaint. Fans praise the brutal combat and the portrayal of Logan.19
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 25 September 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- The update did not end the guidance complaints.
- Most reviews that mention guidance were critical before the 18 September update, and most still are. The complaints have spread from the scent trail to collectibles that ping, painted ledges and Logan’s spoken hints.1920
- Four problems run through the negative reviews.
- Heavy-handed guidance comes first, followed by a safe, predictable story, combat that stops developing, and a $70 price that players feel is too high.19
- Fans come for the fights and for Logan.
- Positive reviews praise the brutal combat as often as the story and characters. Some fans still find the combat repetitive and the guidance excessive.19
- Complaints about length are about the price.
- Players put the story at 12 to 16 hours. As many say it drags as say it is too short, and most who call it short tie that to the $70 price.19
Themes raised
| Theme | Reviews, of 19 |
|---|---|
| Story | 12 |
| Combat | 12 |
| Guidance | 11 |
| Price | 6 |
| Visuals and presentation | 6 |
| Length | 5 |
| Bugs | 5 |
| Sequences you can’t fail | 4 |
| Tedium | 4 |
| Voice acting | 3 |
| Difficulty | 3 |
| Performance | 2 |
| Controls | 1 |
| Music | 1 |
Since then
SalesAnnounced
More than 400,000 copies sold across platforms, announced two days after launch.15
What players say
29% of negative reviews mention AI-generated art, including 14 of the 20 that players voted most helpful. Tedium and grind come next, at 23%.13
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 25 September 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- Players want any AI use disclosed.
- Players who suspect AI point mostly to the still images in the cutscenes, and most object that the store page doesn’t disclose it. Before launch, a Lazy Bear Games co-founder said the game uses no AI and that about eight artists make its art.132829
- The grind comes from batch crafting and the faith currency.
- Furnaces and ovens stop after every small batch until you collect it by hand, and a weekly faith currency gates skills and fast travel. Buildings can’t be moved once placed, and storage only works within one zone.13
Since then
What players say
68% of negative reviews mention performance, far more than any other subject, and Konami says a patch is coming. The new first-person camera comes up in 16% of positive reviews and only 3% of negative ones.28
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 25 September 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- The atmosphere and the puzzles get the most praise.
- Most reviews praise the fog, the sound design and the score. The puzzles are inventive and tied to the island’s old technology, though the last one or two drag.26
- The first-person camera works.
- Most players who mention the camera like it, including several who doubted a first-person Silent Hill before they played.226
- St. Amelia convinces, but fans split on the Silent Hill name.
- Players who know British seaside towns say the island gets them right. Fans who object say it has no tie to the town of Silent Hill or its cults, so the name feels borrowed.226
Themes raised
| Theme | Reviews, of 16 |
|---|---|
| Atmosphere, sound and music | 13 |
| Story | 12 |
| Stealth and the stalker | 11 |
| Puzzles | 10 |
| Whether it feels like Silent Hill | 8 |
| Visuals and the look of the town | 8 |
| The first-person camera | 6 |
| Combat | 5 |
| Tedium | 5 |
| Enemies | 5 |
| The CRTV scanner | 4 |
| Performance | 4 |
| Multiple endings | 3 |
| Bugs | 2 |
| Length | 1 |
Since then
What players say
After one day there are few negative reviews, and performance comes up in 42% of them. The EULA comes up in 2 of the 20 most helpful negative reviews.10
Read in full
We read every one of these reviews on 25 September 2026 and judged each by what it says.
- Returning fans are split on Dylan.
- Some find him a deeper lead than Jesse. Others find him too passive and too easily pushed around by other characters.1025
- Most see Manhattan as a step up.
- Players like the scale and the stranger set pieces of the new city. Those who prefer the Oldest House miss its mystery and density, since the city puts everything in the open.1025
- Players enjoy the new melee combat.
- The most common complaint is enemies that take too long to kill, bosses most of all.1025
- No PS5 performance problems yet.
- Early PS5 reviews don’t mention frame rate or crashes. There are too few of them to be sure.25
Themes raised
| Theme | Reviews, of 10 |
|---|---|
| Combat | 6 |
| Dylan as the lead | 5 |
| Story | 4 |
| Difficulty | 3 |
| Controls | 3 |
| Visuals, atmosphere and music | 2 |
| Tedium | 2 |
| Manhattan | 1 |
| Length | 1 |
Since then
How to read it
Players only.
- All reviews, Day one and Latest seven days show the share of PC buyers’ reviews, in every language, that recommend the game. We work out each share ourselves from the individual reviews.
- Days are counted in UTC. Townfall’s first two days on sale were early access.
- What players say is based on every English-language review, matched to a list of themes and checked by hand.
- Read in full covers the most-liked and most helpful reviews, each read through and judged by what it says. The samples are small, so we give counts.
- Sales appear only when the studio announces them or a named firm estimates them.
- We never use critic scores or press coverage.
Sources
- 1Steam: The Blood of Dawnwalker, user reviews and review history (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 2Steam: Silent Hill: Townfall, user reviews and review history (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 3Rebel Wolves on Steam: launch at midnight CEST, 3 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 7Konami: Silent Hill: Townfall release date and Digital Deluxe early access (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 8Konami on Steam: update plans for performance issues, 24 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 10Steam: Control Resonant, user reviews and review history (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 11Remedy: Control Resonant launches worldwide on 24 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 13Steam: Graveyard Keeper 2, user reviews and review history (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 14Lazy Bear Games on Steam: Graveyard Keeper 2 launches 22 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 15Lazy Bear Games on Steam: 400,000 copies of Graveyard Keeper 2 sold, 24 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 18PlayStation Store: Marvel's Wolverine (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 19Backloggd: Marvel's Wolverine, player reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 20Insomniac Games: Marvel's Wolverine update 1.001.005 patch notes, 18 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 21Alinea Analytics: Wolverine's first three days, 18 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 22The Blood of Dawnwalker on X: 1 million copies sold, 5 September (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 23Backloggd: The Blood of Dawnwalker, player reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 24GOG: The Blood of Dawnwalker, player reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 25Backloggd: Control Resonant, player reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 26Backloggd: Silent Hill: Townfall, player reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 27Backloggd: Graveyard Keeper 2, player reviews (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 28Reddit, r/GraveyardKeeper: players' thread on the cutscene slides (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026
- 29Reddit, r/GraveyardKeeper: a Lazy Bear Games co-founder on AI in Graveyard Keeper 2, April 2026 (opens in a new tab) Accessed 25 Sept 2026