According to Eurogamer.net, Chinese action-RPG Where Winds Meet has reached two million players in just 24 hours following its global release earlier this week. Developer Everstone Studio and publisher NetEase Games shared the milestone, with the game hitting nearly 194,000 peak concurrent players on Steam. While this falls short of recent heavyweights like Battlefield 6’s 747,440 peak, it significantly outperforms Wuchang: Fallen Feathers’ 131,518 concurrent players. The free-to-play game is also performing well on PS5, ranking among best-sellers in the US, France, and South Korea. The global launch follows the game’s Chinese release last December and comes with 10 million pre-registered players already in the pipeline.
The free-to-play advantage
Here’s the thing about being free-to-play – it basically removes the biggest barrier to entry. When a game costs nothing to download, you get that initial surge of curious players who might never risk $70 on an unknown title. But there’s a catch, right? Free games live or die by their ability to convert those casual downloaders into engaged players who spend money on cosmetics, battle passes, or other microtransactions.
Where Winds Meet has another advantage though – its MMO-like multiplayer component. That’s what keeps those concurrent numbers high. People aren’t just playing through a single-player story and moving on. They’re building characters, joining groups, and essentially living in this Wuxia fantasy world. It’s the kind of engagement that turns two million day-one players into a sustainable community.
The Black Myth effect
Let’s be real – every Chinese developer with an action-RPG in the pipeline is looking at Black Myth: Wukong’s incredible success and thinking “we want some of that.” Wukong’s 2.4 million concurrent player peak showed there’s massive global appetite for high-quality Chinese fantasy games. But here’s the interesting part – Where Winds Meet isn’t trying to be another Wukong. It’s free-to-play versus premium, multiplayer-focused versus single-player, and it’s building its own identity within the Wuxia genre rather than drawing from Journey to the West.
I think we’re seeing the beginning of a wave here. Chinese developers have realized there’s a global audience hungry for their unique takes on fantasy and mythology. And they’re not just copying Western RPG formulas – they’re bringing their own cultural perspectives and gameplay traditions to the table.
The mobile factor
Don’t sleep on the mobile version’s contribution to those numbers. When a game launches simultaneously on PC, console, AND mobile, you’re hitting three completely different player bases at once. The PS5 performance in multiple countries suggests this isn’t just a niche title for hardcore PC gamers – it’s crossing platforms and appealing to broader audiences.
The real test will be whether Where Winds Meet can maintain this momentum. Two million players in 24 hours is incredible, but keeping even a fraction of them engaged for months? That’s the challenge. The developers say they’re committed to seasonal updates and listening to community feedback – which is exactly what they need to do. Because in the free-to-play space, today’s record-breaking launch can become tomorrow’s ghost town if you don’t keep feeding the beast.
