Slay the Spire 2 Survives Review Bomb With Sales Mostly Intact

Even after a coordinated review bombing campaign pushed Slay the Spire 2’s Steam rating into a tough spot, Mega Crit’s early access roguelike has managed to maintain its commercial success. A Steam market analyst shared with GamesRadar that while most games would struggle after such a review score drop, Slay the Spire 2 has shown enough resilience to bounce back.

The review bombing mainly stemmed from Chinese players protesting the game’s regional pricing. This tactic has become a more organized phenomenon on Steam. PC Gamer reported that Chinese Steam users form a powerful review bloc, capable of altering a game’s overall rating in ways that could spell disaster for a less established title.

The numbers tell a different story. Slay the Spire 2 currently holds a 93% positive rating based on 57,986 Steam reviews. This reflects recovery and ongoing player engagement rather than a game in decline. The game peaked at 132,000 concurrent players during the controversy in early May and still maintains over 80,000 active players today. That’s a retention rate that few early access titles can match.

The first Slay the Spire hit early access in 2017 and became one of the most impactful card-based roguelikes ever. That likely shielded the sequel from severe commercial fallout. Brand loyalty matters on Steam. Players who’ve invested hundreds of hours in the original probably won’t ditch the sequel over a pricing issue that doesn’t affect them directly. Mega Crit hasn’t publicly addressed the regional pricing concerns that sparked the campaign.

This situation adds to the ongoing discussion about whether review bombing actually impacts sales. For many games, a sudden surge of negative reviews usually leads to a sharp decline in daily purchases. The expert’s comment — that “in any other case you would say this game is dead” — highlights how unique Slay the Spire 2’s situation is and how franchise strength can balance out negative sentiment on the platform.

By The Numbers

Steam Review Score	93% Positive
Total Steam Reviews	57,986
Current Concurrent Players	80,373
Peak Players (Controversy Period)	132,000
Price on Steam	$24.99

Community feedback outside the bombing campaign is still positive. One Steam reviewer with significant hours pointed out issues with the game’s RNG systems. This criticism existed before the pricing controversy and reflects a real design discussion rather than a coordinated protest. That difference matters. Genuine negative feedback and orchestrated score attacks lead to very different long-term sales trends, and it looks like Mega Crit is mostly handling the latter.

What To Watch

• Whether Mega Crit will address regional pricing for Chinese players, which is the main issue behind the bombing campaign and might either ease or escalate tensions.
• How Slay the Spire 2’s concurrent player count trends over the next 30 days. Sustained figures above 50,000 would confirm that commercial damage is minimal and that the player base remains stable as it heads toward full release.
• Steam’s response to organized regional review campaigns. Changes in platform policy regarding review bombing detection could alter how these protests work in the future.