If you’ve ever stood on the deck of a Goldfish-class cruiser while a Spire rained Hwacha rockets down on your balloon, you know there’s nothing quite like Guns of Icarus Online. It was—and honestly, still is—the gold standard for "that specific brand of frantic teamwork." But if you glance at the guns of icarus online steam charts today, it’s easy to feel a little bit like a scavenger picking through a post-apocalyptic ruin.
The numbers are low. Sometimes "single digits" low. But numbers rarely tell the whole story of a game that refused to die for over a decade.
The Brutal Reality of the Numbers
Let's get the hard part out of the way. If you look at the recent guns of icarus online steam charts, the daily concurrent player count usually hovers between 2 and 15 people. Yeah, you read that right. In late 2025 and heading into early 2026, seeing more than 20 people online at once is basically a miracle or the result of a coordinated community event.
Back in May 2018, the game hit an absolutely staggering all-time peak of 102,258 concurrent players. That wasn't organic growth, though; it was a massive "free to keep" giveaway that flooded the servers. Before that, the game lived a healthy life with a few hundred loyal pilots keeping the lobbies active.
Today, it's a different world. The "Alliance" version—the PvE expansion—doesn't fare much better, usually mirroring those same tiny numbers. Because the player base is so small, the matchmaker is effectively a ghost. If you click "Find Match" at 3:00 AM on a Tuesday, you’re going to be staring at the lobby screen for a long, long time.
👉 See also: When Was Monopoly Invented: The Truth About Lizzie Magie and the Parker Brothers
Why People Still Check the Charts
So, why are you even looking this up? Usually, it's one of two reasons. Either you’re a veteran feeling nostalgic for the smell of kerosene and burning copper, or you saw the game on sale for $4.99 and wondered if you can actually play it.
The answer is: Kinda. The community has retreated to Discord. That’s the only way the game functions now. Organized groups like the Sunday Community Skirmish (SCS) were the lifeblood of this game for years. If you aren't part of the "veteran" circles, the guns of icarus online steam charts will look like a flatline. But inside those small circles? People are still arguing over whether the heavy flak needs a nerf or if the Galleon is still a viable competitive pick.
The Confusion Between Online and Alliance
One thing that always trips people up when looking at the data is the split between Guns of Icarus Online and Guns of Icarus Alliance.
Muse Games eventually merged the two into a single client. Basically, if you own Alliance, you have the PvE stuff, but you’re still playing in the same "world" as the Online players for PvP. When you look at the charts, you're seeing two different AppIDs for what is essentially the same community. It’s a bit of a mess, but it means the total player count is slightly higher than any single chart suggests—even if "higher" still means "under 50 people."
✨ Don't miss: Blox Fruit Current Stock: What Most People Get Wrong
The Ghost of Muse Games
Muse Games hasn't abandoned the IP, but they’ve moved on. They spent years supporting Guns of Icarus with a level of dedication you rarely see in indie devs. They replied to every email. They moderated the toxicity themselves. They lived and breathed this game.
But they've shifted focus. Recently, they've been working on Stars of Icarus, a spiritual successor set in space that’s slated for 2026. This is huge because it’s the first real sign that the "Icarus" style of gameplay—multicrew ship combat—is getting a modern reboot.
Is it Worth Jumping Back In?
Honestly, if you're looking for a "jump in and play" experience, you won't find it here. The learning curve is a vertical cliff, and the people still playing have 5,000 hours of experience. They will shoot your balloon out before you even know which end of the wrench to hold.
However, if you have three friends and you all buy it together, you can still host private matches. The game itself still works. The physics are still there. The thrill of being a lead engineer, desperately buffing the hull while the ship is literally disintegrating around you, is still unmatched by any modern game.
🔗 Read more: Why the Yakuza 0 Miracle in Maharaja Quest is the Peak of Sega Storytelling
How to actually play in 2026:
- Don't rely on the matchmaker. It's a trap. You'll wait forever.
- Join the Discord. Find the remaining community hubs. This is where the "real" player count lives.
- Watch the "Stars of Icarus" news. Since the original charts are so low, most of the remaining fans are pinning their hopes on the successor.
- Bring your own crew. The game is a masterpiece of co-op, but it requires a full 4-man crew to feel "right."
The guns of icarus online steam charts might look like a tragedy, but for a game that came out in 2012, it’s more of a long, honorable sunset. It proved that people love the idea of flying a junk-heap airship with their friends. Even if the servers eventually go dark, the impact this game had on the "multicrew" genre—influencing everything from Sea of Thieves to Star Citizen—is undeniable.
If you want to see the skies one last time, your best bet is to grab a few friends during a Steam sale. Just don't expect to find a full lobby waiting for you. You have to bring the life to the party yourself these days.
Your next move is to check the official Muse Games Discord or the Steam community hub to see when the next organized "Vet Night" is happening.