Manor Lords is the latest early access success to break genre records

There’s no denying that 2024 is an important year for small titles over AAA productions. We started with the surprise that was ‘Palworld’, the unconscionable fight for democracy of ‘Helldivers II’, and this weekend it was the turn of the medieval strategy game ‘Manor Lords’, proving that its large number of wishlists on Steam managed to translate into success for its sole developer Greg Styczeń of Slavic Magic.

‘Manor Lords’ launched in Early Access on PC on April 26th and sold more than 1 million copies in its first day, according to a Twitter / X post from publisher Hooded Horse. The title, which also arrived on PC as one of the latest titles for Xbox Game Pass, was a huge success on Steam, reaching more than 170,000 concurrent users on the platform in its first 24 hours, the highest for any city builder on the platform, as well as other related genres.

What is Manor Lords all about?

“Manor Lords is a strategy game that allows you to experience the life of a medieval lord,” explains the official description of the game on the Valve platform. “Grow your starting village into a bustling city, manage resources and production chains, and expand your lands through conquest. Inspired by the art and architecture of late 14th century Franconia, Manor Lords prioritizes historical accuracy wherever possible, using it to inform gameplay mechanics and visuals alike. Common medieval tropes are avoided in favor of historical accuracy, in order to make the world feel more authentic, colorful, and believable.”

For now, Styczeń is not going to rest on its laurels. Although ‘Manor Lords’ does not have a roadmap per se, the developer announced that it is already working on the next patch for the game, which will try to solve the following problems